Business

How to Ask for a Pay Rise

Listening 5 min Article Advanced

Vocabulary - 1 Noun, 1 Adverb & 1 Adjective

Grammar - 2 Phrasal Verbs & 1 Expression

Exercise

Tap all the highlighted words in the text below to see their definition. ⇩

When we’ve worked at a place for a long time and put in effort, we expect our effort and hard work to be rewarded accordingly. In reality, however, if your boss doesn’t approach the topic of a pay rise, it can be awkward to bring it up, but it’s necessary.

Organising and stating your request

Keeping in mind the fact that this is a personal matter, it’s vital that you and your boss have this discussion in private. Tracking down an ideal time for both parties involved can be challenging. These examples will show you how to ask your boss when they’re free:

Excuse me, Bob, do you have a minute to discuss something?
Good Morning, Heather, would now be a good time to discuss an important matter with you?
Hi Sarah, would you be free for a brief meeting on Thursday at 3pm?

When it comes to the actual meeting itself and stating the purpose behind it, it’s important to remain very polite but also be confident in yourself when stating why you asked to meet. The following will help you politely state your request:

Hi, Diane, I was hoping we could talk about my salary.
I’d like to revisit my salary, Bob.
I organised this meeting with you to ask for a pay rise.

“It’s not very common for our boss to turn around and agree to our request without questioning the motive behind it.”

How do we justify our request?

Being realistic, it’s not very common for our boss to turn round and agree to our request without questioning the motive behind it. It’s very common for them to want to know why we feel like we deserve a pay rise. When this moment occurs, the following sentences will help you to justify why you feel like you deserve it.

I have been working here for 2 years now. In that time I’ve taken on quite a few new responsibilities.
Since I’ve been in charge of the customer service department, the complaint rate has dropped by 38%.
I have thrown myself into the new international expansion project and, thanks to this project, the company has achieved its best turnover figures to date.

Remember to be precise

Without being too forward, you can let your boss know what your expectations are so that you lay the groundwork in their thinking of what to offer you, if they offer any. Ways to express your desired salary or increase could be the following:

I would like a 10% raise
I think a 10% raise would be deserved based on my tasks
Based on the job market, a person with my post and responsibility should be earning at least

What happens next?

After you have made your feelings clear in regards to your pay rise, the ball will now be in their court and it will be up to them to decide what happens. If you choose, you can agree to arrange another meeting to discuss any potential changes. Above all, remain patient and continue to work hard.