Re: promotion vs. pay increase

[Mike Pope <mikep -at- ASYMETRIX -dot- COM>]

Is it too obviously cynical to say that, as a rule of thumb, employers pay
whatever the minimum is they can get away with? Very few companies go
through the formality that you find in, say, the federal government of
defining job classifications and paying accordingly. Your situation happened
to me earlier in my career, but then, so did the reverse: a new boss came in
and announced that he was horrified at the low wages being paid, and
promptly upped them. (This is a true story.)

Somehow employers seem to think that an underpaid employee won't discover
what an equitable (or comparable, anyway) salary should be. Doesn't exactly
buy a lot of employee loyalty ...

 -- Mike Pope
mikep -at- asymetrix -dot- com

PS as it happens, I haven't felt underpaid in my last couple of positions,
I'm happy to say. It may be more of a problem in what people perceive to be
"entry-level" positions. Do others find that to be true?

 ----------
>From: TECHWR-L
>To: Multiple recipients of list TECHWR-L
>Subject: promotion vs. pay increase
>Date: Monday, April 25, 1994 4:20PM

>As a "Staff Assistant" in the Department of English, I gradually assumed
>the duties of a computer geek and left off my work as a secretary and
>staff writer (though I still must write several annual reports and some
>public brochures, catalog copy, etc.). After my timid request for a raise
>was turned down "regretfully" for lack of available money, I began a very
>obvious & public search for a job in computer support, training or
>writing--and my bosses came forth with a better job offer immediately:
>promotion to "Computer Services Specialist I," paying 2 grand more than I
>was making (and 2 grand less than the positions for which I was applying,
>but I like it here). The promotion was a cinch, they said; all that was
>required was the rubber-stamp approval of the Dean of the College of
>A&S....who then declared he only reviewed promotion proposals in April (he
>was new, so we weren't prepared for this), several months away. This is a
>state university; there are all sorts of fiscal-year rules including the
>one stating that promotions take effect at the beginning of the fiscal
>year; thus I waited from April, when the Dean finally begrudged me my
>promotion at the absolute minimum of the range of salary (in late April)
>until July 1, when the fiscal year changed and my paychecks began to
>reflect my new salary. There was no question of back pay; I wasn't
>entitled to it until the official promotion, which took place July 1.

>For six months I had all but the name, and none of the extra cash.
>Considering the time I had spent performing the work as a Staff
>Assistant, plus the time I spent convincing my own department to
>instigate my promotion, I worked as a comp. spec. for 1.5 years before I
>began to be paid for it.


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>[O][_][O][O][_][O][O][_][O][O][_][O][O][_][O][O][_][O][O][_][O][O][_][O][O]
>James Poulakos                  engjcp -at- gsusgi2 -dot- gsu -dot- edu
>Department of English
>Georgia State University       __________________________________________
>University Plaza               |ASK ME how the Georgia Board of Regents |
>Atlanta, GA 30303-3083         |&/or Kaiser Permanente are DEFRAUDING me|
>(404) 651-2900                 |and other GSU employees!                |
>                               ==========================================
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>**All postings from engjcp -at- gsusgi2 -dot- gsu -dot- edu: (c) James Poulakos, 1994,
>unless otherwise noted therein. All rights reserved.**
>___________________________________________________________________________
>[O][_][O][O][_][O][O][_][O][O][_][O][O][_][O][O][_][O][O][_][O][O][_][O][O]
>[[ OPINIONS AND EXPRESSIONS HEREIN ARE NOT THOSE OF GA. STATE UNIVERSITY ]]
>___________________________________________________________________________