How to determine the level of your pay raise

Getting a pay raise is part and parcel of most industries. However, it is often left to the discretion of management of an organization or department to give the authority for the level of pay raise. This can lead to discrimination, as many employees are not in a position to determine the actual raise they should be given. Find how to ask for a pay raise.

The problem is that most people do not have enough salary information to make salary comparisons between similar jobs in different organisations or simply do not have enough knowledge of occupational pay. This leaves them in a position of unable to determine the level of salary increase they should expect.

Below is a comprehensive list of factors to determine how much of a pay raise you can expect or ask for.

Financial salary survey

• Make salary comparison between jobs. Try to find out if you are given the same/similar level of pay as people doing similar jobs in other organizations.

• If there is a substantial discrepancy from what you are paid to what someone is getting in a similar job elsewhere, this gives substantial power for negotiating salary.

Trend of pay increase

• Make sure you aware of the size of increase in pay that is usually associated with the job you are doing. In most industries, pay raise is given from time to time and there are many financial surveys that provide details of the trend in pay for your particular industry.

Pay increase based on performance

• Some organizations may set in place a policy of awarding different levels of pay increase to people doing the same job because the level of raise is based partly on job performance.

• Make sure you know what those policies are and are fully aware of the levels of increase involved for meeting or exceeding particular targets.

Pay raise for job promotion

• Getting a job promotion usually entitles you to a salary increase. However, there might not be a set figure that you are entitled to as a result of being promoted. Check with other employees who have gone through similar promotion on how much they were remunerated.

• This is important because if it is solely left to the discretion of your manager, they may short-change you, so to speak. Your input could be crucial to maximise your value.

Ask a fellow employee

If you are friendly with a fellow employee that has been in the same or a lot longer, you can ask them the frequency and the rate of pay increase they were awarded. Sometimes getting confirmation from a fellow employee will give you more insight than company literature on what to expect on such matters.