New duties and "promotion" but the same crappy pay - any options?

herya

What happens if a person has been given far more duties and responsibilities, basically replaced a far more senior colleague who's been let go, but they are still on their old salary and the company has pay freeze policy?

My friend is in this situation, he was recruited for a junior post in which he's done very well but just before he was to get a pay rise they announced pay freeze. They then let his senior colleague go and he's taken over his duties, did a lot of training and now basically does two jobs. He's a very good and solid employee and saves the company a lot of money now. The name of his position has changed as to reflect this "promotion" and is now more senior but he is still on his first junior salary (the colleague was earning almost twice as much). He receives very good feedback - they say he's much better than the previous person - but not a word money wise.

Is there anything he can do to negotiate a pay rise, legally speaking re: new duties, "promotion" etc? He's aware that he's being taken for a ride and is looking for a new job but obviously it's not so easy now. His manager is not the fighting for his team type so if he just asks him "don't you think I deserve better pay" he will agree and bring up the pay freeze policy and that will be the end of it. Any better arguments?...

hullaballoo

I'm assuming he's private sector?

Although there are some legal avenues that can be explored, it's really not worth the risk for anyone to start going down that road. If he likes his work and is good at it, he should persist on his current salary until the company can afford to offer him better pay.

It's a major if, but IF he manages to get a job offer from someone else in the meantime, he can obviously take that to the negotiating table.

He might decide that he'd prefer to do his old job for the same pay somewhere else, or that he'd like to gain the experience of being senior staff, and take that added experience forward.

Realistically, his best option is to just ask whether there might be something his employer can do, given his extra responsibilities.

I suppose that's the best advice I can give without knowing the relationship he has with his employer, or what kind of management policy they have.

the_syco

herya wrote: »

pay freeze policy

Get him to double check the wording of that. In some companies, a "pay freeze" means your pay only increases if you get promoted, and not for doing well.

AARRRGH

Did they offer him the role and a pay increase, only for a pay freeze to kick in, or did they offer him the role while telling him there won't be a pay increase due to the pay freeze?

herya

I think it sort of crept on him, he was just given a lot of new responsibilities and only when it turned out that they now form the majority of his work was the name of the position changed. No mention of any pay rise or review though, the management acts as if it was only natural and gradual that he now does more and more. He'll bring it up at his next yearly review but all the employees were warned that due to pay freeze there will be no pay rises or bonuses this year. I wonder if there is any argument he could reasonably use - it's not the same position after all?

His strategy is to gain experience and learn and possibly move on if there's no other way but apart from being tightfisted it's a decent company so he'd preferred to stay if only his work input is acknowledged. His direct manager doesn't really entertain such conversations apart from their yearly reviews when he can't escape the questions.

the_syco

herya wrote: »

but all the employees were warned that due to pay freeze there will be no pay rises or bonuses this year.

A pay rise usually happens when you excel at your work. A promotion changes the job title, and the pay. An odd thing to do, but tightfisted it is.

Sleepy

I'm guessing that initially they couldn't promote him into the position as otherwise the redundancy used to let the former employee go wouldn't have stood - as his/her job wasn't actually redundant. If a decent amount of time has passed that they're giving your mate the same title as the person he replaced, he should have a very good case for a salary increase.

Kipperhell

If you are offered a new position there doesn't need to be any pay increase. The only thing is he should make sure his contract now says what the extra responsibilities are. It is the classic "we see work as it's own reward" "expect to be rewarded twice as much" line of management. The best option s really to take the work and learn as much as possible and then get a better job when things pick up with the experience you have gained.

ixus

6 months to a years experience in a senior capacity will see him/her earning senior level wages from here on in at other companies. But, he/she has to get the experience first.

Some multinationals give employees new positions but not an increase until the next financial year during salary review. I've seen it plenty of times at a certain multinational I worked at previously.

herya

Cheers all, this is very helpful reading and sounds very relevant to his situation. I will pass your advice on.