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Do I have rights regarding
my raise?
Q. I'm
writing regarding my raise.
When I was hired, the director of
HR, who is no longer with the company, promised me a raise after six months of
service and one year thereafter. Half the year I was working for an executive,
and the other half I worked in human resources.
Now the company is telling me I am
overpaid and need more experience and, therefore, do not warrant a raise even
though my evaluation was very good. When I entered this department, I had one
week's training to take over from my coworker who went on maternity leave. I was
on my own for 3 months with one other person in the department. I've learned
almost everything I needed to know. Is it fair that they don't want to give me a
raise?
Also, I was on disability for two
months and just returned to work a month ago. Do I have rights regarding my
raise?
A. There are
several issues here. The first is, did you get your initial offer in writing? If
you do, you should remind the HR director of what was promised to you when you
accepted the offer.
The second issue is, what is your
company's policy regarding short-term disability? I doubt your leave of absence
had anything to do with the company not giving you your raise.
Then there is the issue of your
performance - which you said was very good. But did anyone tell you during your
performance review that there were certain areas in which you needed to improve
in order to receive your raise? If you received no such feedback, I would speak
to your HR director, using a copy of your performance review as a guideline. Ask
the director to review the company's performance review program so you can
understand how the company establishes its expectations, and how they determine
how an employee can meet those expectations.
If the company did not give you any
feedback during your review, I would remind them in writing of what was
initially promised to you. I would further say that during your review no one
said any performance issues were going to get in the way of your increase.
Unfortunately, other than putting
the company on notice, there is little you can do. I would recommend that you
consult an employment lawyer explaining that the company never informed you of
any performance problems.
Good
luck.
- Erisa Ojimba, Certified
Compensation Professional
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