Raise the Roof

Well, not the roof actually.

Jordan just got a raise!  Woohoo!  Great timing with the renovations about to start and me about to go on Maternity Leave.  The excitement is because we have no idea when these changes happen - is workplace doesn't do formal communications.  It's just a cost of living adjustment, but it's a happy new year surprise.

I actually also got a raise effective Jan 1, 2019 which is pretty great too - we'll have just one, maybe 1.5 paydays at my new rate before going on leave, but it's enough that my employer paid EI top up will based on the new rate instead of the old one.

So, Raise the Roof!

Employer Paid Top Up

How did 15 weeks go by already?

Back in October, when I was waiting for Little Man to arrive, I mentioned that one of my benefits was a salary top up.  When on an eligible maternity leave, and approved for Employment Insurance, my employer tops up a mom's EI benefit to 70% of their salary for 15 weeks.  The idea is to help transition the family from regular salary, down to EI with a 'step'.  It's a huge help!  Normally, the employee must return to work for a minimum of six months after the leave or the benefit must be repaid.

In my case, I don't, because just before my Maternity Leave started, I was laid off.  As part of my termination package, I do not have to repay the benefit.

Not Little Man, but Super Cute!

The last Friday in January marked the end of my top up.  So going forward, it's just EI.  eek!  Good thing the house has sold so we will only have a mortgage payment for the month of February, well, until we buy our new home that is.

Salary Review

Well, it's that time of the year again...salary review time.

Most of you know that my career in in Human Resources. Specifically right now, I work in the Learning & Development department of my organization. I've been with my organization now for about 7 years, and have about 8-9 years combined experience.

Given the state of the economy right now for my industry, there's not a lot of butter to spread around - but that said, I'm feeling very good about the review of my salary.

I'm technically still below the 100th percentile (the mid-point for my job), but received a 5% wage increase when the average was closer to 2.5.  I feel like my manager really went to bat for me, and was able to get an increase that is fair and reasonable.

drumroll please...

I've gone from $75K, to $78,750.  Wahoo!

Jordan's Job

Back in January, Jordan started a new job much closer to home.  His commute was cut from 45 minutes, down to about 7 minutes.  It's lowered both our gas and insurance bills and has immensely improved his job satisfaction.  He was put on a salary guarantee for the first three months to keep him at his old jobs wage ($54,000), with the intention that he would go down to a base of $30,000 plus commission starting in April.

April's here.

But....he's impressed them so much, that a promotion is in the works.  They will be keeping him at his current wage for the next month or two, until they get the details of the new job sorted out.  He'll be managing 4-6 people (currently he manages none) - responsible for their individual performance and the overall performance of their new team.  I have no clue what a managerial wage for this new type of position would be in Alberta in the Automotive sector.  I've done a lot of research, but I'm coming up empty handed.

My gut puts him around $60K, but then there is the commission piece which is a big part of the work they do....so we'll see what they come up with.

For now, it means we have a couple months of solid debt-snowflakes!

PayDay!

It's my pay day...and my raise went through! 

My salary is now $75,000 or $38.46/hours (I work a 37.50 hour work week).  After that my bi-weekly deductions include:

• CPP/EI - $192.70
• Federal/Provincial Taxes - $599.40
• Long Term Disability Insurance - $19.12
• Dental - $27.29
• Pension - $144.23 (which is matched by my company)
• Shares - $50
• Parking - $17.5

After all that, I'm left with $1,834.37/bi-weekly...not too shabby at all.

More Overtime!

Well, I got a bit of a surprise this past Friday.  I was expecting 10-15 hours of overtime being paid out, and instead, due to a clerical error, I'm getting 53.50 hours paid out!  This translates to about an extra $1,150 this pay day.  This puts a hiccup in vacation plans, but my manager will let me take some unpaid days if I don't earn the hours back (it's likely I will but not a guarantee).

So...that means it's time for snowflakes!

I'm resisting the urge to move the money now and am going to wait until my first pay in the month and do the sweep then.

Jordan's got a new Job!!

Yes, a new job!

After all that nonsense over his last raise, Jordan entertained an interview request from a connection he had made on LinkedIn.  Several weeks later and some negotiations - he's accepted their offer!  They are going to match his vacation, he'll have a more comprehensive benefits package and salary will be a combination of base salary as well as commission.  He'll rotate working some Saturdays, but when he does - the following weekend will be a three day one.

His base salary will now be $30K, but the potential is as high as $63K.  This is a huuuge variance with Jordan's current salary being just under $55K.  They are going to guarantee his salary at $4,500/month for the first three months as they don't want him to earn less by making the switch; they want to give him enough time to establish himself and to learn the job.

He starts on January 6th and his pay will be bi-monthly - I've never budgeted for an income that was bi-monthly - especially one that has commissions and end of the month and quarter bonuses - so it'll take some work to match that against all of our weekly payment/savings cycles - anyone have any suggestions for that??

His last day will be December 20th, so we'll have a nice long holiday off together - it will be the the first two week holiday we have ever taken together during the Christmas holidays...I'm so excited!

Jordan's Raise Finally Went Through

It only took almost two months of fighting - but Jordan's raise has finally gone through.  What is actually slightly funny; is that as much as they were bickering over $600; that actually wound up increasing Jordan's salary by another $200/year...so the difference is now $400 from what they had originally agreed on ($55K).  It's was all so petty.

His take home pay is now $1,551.86 - a gross increase of $123.08 which nets us $75.62/bi-weekly to add to the budget.  I would say that's a couple of months that were worth fighting for.  I think we are almost ready to plan the 2014 budget...

$7,900 in Teeth

Jordan was born with two congenitally missing teeth - every since he was small; his benefits have only provided for a flipper/mouth piece that give the appearance of teeth.  That appliance after 20+ years is now starting to wear on his existing healthy teeth causing more problems.

So...given that for the past year we have been exploring alternatives to the mouth piece.  There are two - either bridge or surgical implants.  For a variety of reasons; primarily longevity, quality and ease of maintenance Jordan has chosen implants.

After many quotes, and many arguments with our benefit providers and dental surgeon...we have a plan.  The total cost of the two implants is $7,900 - are combined benefits will reimburse us $3,000 each calendar year....that led us to the tough decision to plan for two surgeries rather then one.

Jordan's already undergone the first surgery to implant a screw into his jaw bone and now we wait 2-3 months for it to heal. Once healed (end of December), the implant/screw will be fitted with a tooth.  Then, and only then - when the first tooth is considered 'complete' can the dentist submit the expenses to our benefit providers.  So, Jordan and I have had to pay cash (read use the credit card) for the first part of the procedure (and will continue to pay cash each time something happens related to the procedure).  In January we should get our first reimbursement; and then we'll promptly schedule the second surgery.  

Our debt load is getting a bit scary, but we have a plan and will eventually be reimbursed.  Jordan and I would both rather pay the interest now for him to have a happy and healthy mouth before we have kids or anything else when there are more demands for the money.

Jordan Got a Raise....Sort of.

Almost a month ago, I shared with you all that Jordan got a raise.  He had an incredible performance review and was left feeling valued and confident.

Four weeks later and it's all gone to crap.  I won't get into all the details other to say that he works for a company that is perhaps the least organized and professional that I have ever seen when it comes to managing performance/salary expectations.

His pay raise has been reduced from $300/month down to $250/month and he will not receive the increase in pay until November.  Effective November 4th - both pays for the month should show the new rate.  A month of stress, anxiety and b*ll sh*t for $600....it's pretty pathetic that the leadership at his company chose to behave that way.  He will also start getting a flat $40/month to cover part of his cell phone bill has he's expected to take off-the-clock work phone calls.

His new annual salary of $54,400 ($26.15/hour) will net about $68.62 more each pay, or $1.784.13 a year - which is about $462.02 less then we were anticipating. I'll be updating the 2014 budget with the new numbers this week as we get closer to posting it.

Jordan Got a Raise

Jordan is meant to have a performance and salary review around June of each year - though, as is typical it didn't happen on time.  As it turns out, Jordan made exactly the right call when decided to postpone pushing is manager to have the conversation with him.

The summer is a very busy time of year and this past was no different.  By waiting, Jordan was able to ensure that his boss-man was in a positive state of mind, and not stressed from the hectic season.  He took that extra time to make sure that he was performing at the top of his game and even took on extra responsibilities (that he wasn't advised of and expectations weren't clarified) without griping.

I'm so very pleased to share that Jordan received a 6.55% raise - he's now earning $55,000. From $51,400 it's an additional $3,600 gross annually - I've calculated a net pay increase of $86.39 every two weeks.  On top of this, his employer is also looking at either paying 50% of his cell phone bill, or getting him a work phone.  If they pay half the bill (our favorite option), that will work out to be about another $400/year.

Here's a picture of his five year pay history:

What an accomplishment! Over 5 years, he's increased his pay by $16,600 or $7.98/hour.

Congratulations Love!

Increase in Company Share Value!

Most of you know that as of yet, Jordan and I don't do any significant investing in the stock market.  We do however; own shares with the company that I work for.  I cannot share details about the structure of the program, or where I work, but I can say that the value has never gone down.  Not ever.

It's a very good investment.

The value has gone up again, from $46.36 to $51.48.  We only have 160 (so far), so the net increase in value is $819.20.

The ask..

If you've been following along the past few weeks, you know I've been exploring the work you can do before asking for a raise - so that you are armed with facts, rather than feelings.  If you missed them, these were the first three posts in this series:

#1: Compensation Philosophy and Knowing if Your a Good Performer
#2: Market Research Strategies
#3: A Summary of Salary Research

The last part of this process, is actually asking your manager for the raise.  Armed with the knowledge of your performance and your market research - how do you actually present this to a supervisor?

Here's how:

1. Practise - the first time you ask for a raise shouldn't be when you meet with your manager.
2. If you don't already have a time booked, book some time - 30-45 minutes.  You want to approach this as professionally as possible.  If you know your manager has more energy/patience/time - pick that period during the day.
3. Speaking of professionalism, on this day, dress it.
4. Start the conversation light - thank them for making time for you
5. ASK.

Okay, so perhaps you're looking for more information then just 'ask'.  Here is a bit of a script that Jordan can use as he's the example I've been referencing.

"Hi (boss man),

Thanks for taking the time to meet with me today - I know it's been a busy time in the shop.

{Boss Man Responds: Yup, it sure has been}

I've really enjoyed taking on XYZ responsibility, and getting XYZ project off the ground.  I really feel like I was able to contribute to the success of XYZ.

{Boss Man: I've appreciated all your hard work lately}

I wanted to meet with you today to talk about my salary.  It's that time of the year again, and based on all of the work we've been doing together, I think my performance merits an increase.  I've also done some research and I think that an increase of $1.00/hour would bring my salary up to market competitiveness.

{Boss Man: We gave you a big increase last year, and the market hasn't changed that much year over year.  Why do you think you're worth it.}

Well, it's just as we've said.  I took on XYZ responsibility this year, which led to XYZ proficiencies and XYZ in cost savings for the shop all around.   I've been your go to in the shop when you've been away and have been training so and so which has increased his ability to do his job well too.  I also continue to add value to the shop through my recent accreditation in Parts Management through XYZ.  With the recent change to the structure of the company, I've been a resources to so and so and so and so and the number of off-hour calls on my personal cell phone have increased.  The market hasn't changed much, but the cost of living did change by about 1.5%, which makes a difference when you add up small increments over the years.

{Boss Man: Alright, I hear what you're saying and I agree, you're an asset to the shop.  Leave it with me, and I'll see what I can do.}

Thank you.  I really appreciate you looking into this for me.  When you do, I'm wondering if you can also have a look at a work cell phone for me.  I've started taking a number of off hours calls over the weekends and while I'm happy to do that, It does take time out of my day to support our customers and the service center.  If a separate work phone isn't available, I would also be interested in talking about compensation in lieu. 

{Boss Man: My phone calls have gone up too, alright - I'll get back to you in a few days.}

Thanks Boss Man.

__ end scene.

Okay.  So it might not go that smoothly necessarily - but hopefully you get the flow.  It's important to be clear, share your facts and get the point.  Don't hold back with sharing what you've done well, and who else you might have helped helped over the last year - it's your job to make sure your manager knows how amazing you are.

Salary Research: Jordan's Summary

If you've been following along this week, you know I've been talking about negotiating a salary for yourself, using Jordan as my example, and the research behind making your request for a raise based on facts, rather then feelings and impressions.  If you missed them, these were the first two posts in this series:

#1: Compensation Philosophy and Knowing if Your a Good Performer
#2: Market Research Strategies

Below is my summary of salary data for Jordan.  You'll see each job title on the left and each salary survey/database resource at the top.  The corresponding salaries fit in the middle.


Note - The median is the middle value in all of the data points in a given set. Using the median ensures that outliers (extreme lows and highs) don't factor into the data. 

Click on the image to see a larger version.

I'll explain each point.

#1: Averages
I have averaged the median value for each job title and shown the value as an annual salary and an hourly rate (based on a 40 hour work week)

#2: Averaged, the averages
Next, I averaged, the averages.  This give me a single market relevant salary for Jordan's job.  We come up with $53,638.97.

#3: Added 1.5% for inflation
The consumer price index (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/cpis02a-eng.htm) is one way of looking at the cost of living or inflation.  All of the research I did above was based on salary surveys conducted in 2012, so we must adjust the data to account for CPI.

Based on a CPI of 1.5%, I have shown five different ways that Jordan can approach discussing the actually dollar value of the raise he wants.  You can see it as a annual dollar value or percentage as well as monthly, weekly, or hourly rate increase.

Next up, now that the research is done - is the asking part.  I'll talk about that in the coming days.

Market Research - Your Salary

On Monday, I began to talk about how to negotiate a better salary for yourself.  It started with a look at your companies compensation philosophy in general and then a bit about considering your performance at work.  Today, I'm going to write about market data.

Before you can conduct your search, you have to know your job title.  This is obvious right?  Well, maybe not so much.  Some companies like to make up job titles because their company is so 'unique' which doesn't help when you need to use industry job titles in order to do your research.  I would suggest that you spend a bit of time on Google, to get two or three different ways to describe your job (if you don't already know) - so that you can look up each job title.

The next thing you need to know is the typical education, and years of experience someone would need in order to get your job.  This isn't your current education and experience, but what someone external to the organisation might need in order to qualify.  Most of the salary databases/resources you use will provide a job description that include these details - this will help you narrow down your search.

I'm going to stick with using Jordan as my example.  He is called a Repair Dispatch Manager - which after a quick Google search will tell you employer's do use from time to time but enter that title into a salary survey database and you won't have much luck finding it.

The job titles I found that describe what he does include:

• Fleet Maintenance Supervisor
• Fleet Supervisor
• Warehouse Supervisor
• Transportation/Logistic Supervisor
• Dispatcher Sr./Manager
• Equipment Coordinator
• Maintenance Planner
• Dispatcher

Okay, so I'm a bit ridiculous - that is a lot of titles, and you probably don't need that many but I like to be thorough so I used each and every one.  As you enter the job title into each online salary resource, you'll find that not every resources has every job (another reason why it's good to use multiple titles and multiple salary resources/databases).

The job descriptions for each of these titles was similar, as was the years of experience and credentials - and he does a bit from each of these jobs - but no single one matches his profile exactly.  So collecting data from each source is going to help us get an accurate picture of a reasonable salary for him.

There are a lot of free sources of data you can explore online - these are some Canadian resources that I like.

• http://www.payscale.com/
• http://monsterca.salary.com/CanadaSalaryWizard/LayoutScripts/Swzl_NewSearch.aspx
• http://www.salaryexpert.com/
• http://alis.alberta.ca/wageinfo/Content/RequestAction.asp?format=html&aspAction=GetWageHomePage&Page=Home
• http://www.hays.ca/salaryguide/index.htm

In the coming days, I'll share with you my summary of Jordan's salary data and what (if any) raise, I think he should ask for this year.

Salary Negotiations

Over the weekend I shared with you my good news, the raise and new position I recently achieved.  Today I thought I'd share a little bit about the compensation philosophy in general, and how to negotiate a salary increase for yourself.  I'm going to use Jordan as an example over the next few days as we look at this subject.

A company's compensation philosophy is their plan for how employees will be paid.  It often includes a matrix for base pay, how the  matrix is determined and what factors are involved when considering adjusting an employees rate of pay.  They may include bonuses and benefits - but more often than not, a compensation philosophy is a part of a bigger, total compensation strategy.  Things like profitability, market competitiveness, industry and size all play a part in a company's pay strategy.

Jordan's company does not have a set salary review process/timeline that is actively communicated to it's employees.  He knows that his performance is reviewed in the early summer (usually June), but a review of his pay is not a guarantee.  We learned his first year with them, that it's his job to approach his manager about a request for an increase in pay, and be able to be very clear about why he thinks that's what he should earn.

It's not transparent, and it's difficult - but over the years (and my HR background), we've developed strategies that garner increases in pay for Jordan year after year.  None of these conversation tools would work, if he wasn't excellent at his job, always seeking out increased responsibilities and being an asset of his workplace.

To have a conversation about your salary with your manager, you first need to have a really clear picture about your performance.  I don't mean what you tell your buddies, or your mom - I mean you have to know if you would give you a raise.  If you are a top performer or an under performer.  If you really don't know, I would guess your the latter - or just really not self-aware.  Consider asking yourself the following questions to gauge yourself:

• Do you show up to work on time?
• Do you ever disappoint your colleagues or your supervisor?  Even if they don't tell you, you can see it on their faces.
• Do you have to be asked to complete the same task, or for a status update on a task, over and over again?
• Do you get regular praise for a job well done?  If you don't, either your not telling people what you do well, or not doing things well - either that or you have a crappy boss which is a whole different topic.
• Do you enjoy what you do?  If you don't, I would bet that others know it.
• Since your last performance review, did you take the feedback you were given and actively work to improve?

This list is certainly not exhaustive, but it may help you align your thoughts around your own performance.

Once you have a sense of your performance, you must do some market research - don't count on your management team to tell you the going rate for your job in the industry.  This is usually the part that people struggle with the most - they have no idea what they should be paid, just a desire to be paid more.  Well I'm afraid folks, that a desire is not enough - you must have facts.

When doing this type of research, you must remember your particular skill set, experience, education and credentials - not too mention industry.  All of these factors weigh in on your  marketability.

In the coming days, I'll continue with some market research sources and some of the data I've come up with for Jordan.

Jessie Got a Raise (and a new job!)

http://www.risesmart.com/blog

I can’t believe it’s been two weeks and I haven’t told you my good news yet, I recently got a raise (technically two), and a new job!

Every April, my company goes through a salary review process where every single employee has their performance reviewed, and a determination is made if their salary will be adjusted. Our salaries have two parts – one, it must align with our market competitive salary bands, and two, there are adjustments made due to performance.

My salary (previously $63,000), was within the range, however; it was on the lower end of the scale. I could talk for hours about compensation philosophy as for those of you that don’t know, I am in the Human Resources profession – but I’ll spare you all of the details. My supervisor brought me up to $66,969 (a 6.3% increase) which was much closer to where I thought I should be in the band – but I had actually requested to be at $67,500 which is what I thought would be a reasonable market competitive salary for my position. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fair salary increase however; it was still short of market competitiveness considering my education, credentials, experience and performance.

Much to my delight, within the same week as that salary increase, I was offered an internal transfer from a local team, to a Global team. I’ll be working my old Manger and a few other folks that had joined this global group a year and a half ago and there are a few new faces too, which will be a fun challenge as we learn to work together. I love this team, the people are amazing. They are professionals – all committed to doing the very best job that they can for our clients.

Not only was I offered this new position, with a group of people that I really enjoy working with in a job that will challenge me, they also increased my salary again.

They increased my salary to $71,000 – an additional 6.02%, or a total salary increase of 12.70%.

This is a very market competitive salary – I’m certainly not overpaid, and I am still within the salary band for my position. It is a very generous increase, and I was so absolutely thrilled.

Here is a breakdown of my salary increases since I joined this company:

You might notice that there were a couple of increases in the month of October as well – sometimes, our company does an adjustment in that month to ensure market competitiveness, this is not typically an increase due to performance.

This Christmas

This Christmas was hard.

It was the first without my dad.  It was also the first without my brother (he's moved to Winnipeg).  It was Jordan's first without his mom and his brother (they were on a trip together).

I tried to stay upbeat and positive, mostly I faked it until I could make it.  I think for the most part people believed that I was in good spirits, and that put me in a better mood then I would have been otherwise.

I had a lot of lists.. I always do, but this year it felt a bit more mechanical.  That helped get through I think...task lists...accomplishing things.

To distract myself, I made a lot of Christmas gifts this year.  We also spent a lot - but instead of telling you how much we spent (I don't 100% know just yet... haven't added up all the receipts), I would like to share with you some photo's of my creations...

Homemade Chocolates

Hand Painted Christmas Bear

Home Made Spice Blends

Stocking Stuffer for Jordan

Scarf for Jordan's Cousin

Scarf for my Mom

Scarf for My Cousin 

Jordan Got a Raise

Jordan and I are both so very excited to share that he completed his Journeyman Parts Technician program. He took that, along with the last four years of yard work and dedication to his boss and asked for a raise - and he got it!

He's going from $44,400 to $50,000.

It's going to be a two part raise - the first he's already received, so he's up to $48,000 now and in October, he'll get the last bump up to $50K.

I've already started playing with the budget to see where we can but his raise so it does the most amount of work for us - but we haven't decided on anything yet.

Quite a bit of this is the same as always - bills listed under fixed expenses (Mortgage, Utilities, Car payment, insurance, taxes, cell phones ect).  You may or may not recall that Jordan and I have two chequing accounts.  Once is for all of the above mentioned expenses, and the other is for our day-to-day spending - things like groceries, gas, haircuts, clothes ect.  It's like our 'jars' but it's one pot attached to a debit card. That's the monthly spending line.  It's been $1,200 which has felt pretty tight - often leaving us reaching for the MasterCard if we take a single extra trip outside of driving to and from work - needing gas money.  I think $1,600 is probably too much to start with - but I was just playing with numbers.

Anyways - personal allowances are the same.

Changes are in the variable savings items - including a baby bank, emergency fund, house fund and RRSPs.

I have a pension at work that vests this October (they match 5% of my salary) and Jordan does not - so fr that reason, I think we should start putting more towards his RRSPs than mine.

As always, if you have any thoughts - we would love to hear them.

~Jessie

I got a Raise

It's that time of year again at my company and I'm pleased to share that I received a raise.  This year, I moved up 6.8% to $63,000 (I was at $59,000).  I'm really quite satisfied with the increase and feel as though my contributions to my team and my company have been recognized.  In a time where many people aren't receiving increases (still! which I think is crazy!), I was a bit hesitant to share the numbers - but Jordan and I are really pleased plus it means an update to the budget once again (we're crossing our fingers that he'll see an increase this summer as well).

Here's a bit of a snapshot for those that are curious of my salary progression since starting with my company:

So..you may be wondering, how much I will be taking home?  That's the question I wanted to know too.  I won't show you all the math (there was a lot, including adjusting for my benefit deductions) - but i'll give you the summary:

The first two boxes are what may pay was (bi-weekly) based on $59K the second two boxes are based on my bi-weekly pay at $63K.

The net increases is $175 and some cents (no I didn't share the math for the two months where there's three pays, but it would basically be the same w/out the benefit deductions).