[michah]

I had a job change in the last year and I was promoted to a team lead in my college. I was told the promotion would raise my salary by 5%. I was never told that the promotion would affect any kind of merit increase. When I was given my merit increase 4 months later I was told that because I was promoted, that part of my merit was included in the promotion piece 4 months ago. But my friend who is also a lead, wee shared the increase amount and it appears we were both considered to be above average employees for the year and our merit increases were about the same but when we compared our actual increases her increase was significantly higher than mine. When I was hired I was hired at the top of the pay scale and my friend was hired at the middle of the pay scale. There may have been an equity adustment for her pay but should that really affect the differences with merit? Upon comparison she made an annual increase of 12% and I received an annual increase of 4.39%. The actual merit increase for my friend was 4.13% while my actual merit increase was 1.46%. The college average for merit was 4% and since my performance number show I have above average statistics I was assuming I would get an increase above 4%.


Current Salary: $42,478
Annual $ Increase: $622
New Salary: $43,100
Months Since Change: 4
Actual % Increase: 1.46%
Annualized % Increase: 4.39%
University Average % Increase 4%

Another question would be: Shouldn't the promotion of 5% be considered separate from the merit increase? I think it's very deceiving to offer a promotional raise and then adjust it off the merit later.

Employees are not suppose to talk about their wages. It's confidential. After I got over the initial feeling of being deceived I realized the big picture is that I make a pretty good salary for what I do and I love my job.

[Wildsporty]

We give our employees a merit increase with the promotion. There are not two separate increases given.

I can tell you that the increases for employees can vary depending on several factors.

One of the largest factors affecting an increase amount is responsibility.

The more responsibility the job carries the larger the increase.

Some of the factors which will weigh in on the determination of an increase are the following:

Wage scale of that particular job in the area according to the wage surveys and occupational handbooks and surveys. Different jobs in different sectors carry differnent wage scales

Cost of living index
Responsibility
Independent Judgement
Independence in working
Ability
Experience
Loyalty
Adherence to policy and procedures
Attendance
Job performance
Productivity
Interpersonal Relationships (communications with mgmt and other employees)
Teamwork
Flexibility
Changes in job duties and responsibilities
Budgeted amount for job or for department

Those are some, but not all, of the factors that could result in a variance between employees when deciding the final figures for a promotion or for an increase in pay. As they may differ from job to job and employee to employee so may the increase.

Shirley