If you’re hoping that the new year will bring a new salary, time is running out for you to make a case to your employer for a year-end raise. Here are the answers to common questions you might have about raises, including how to ask for one, how much to expect and what to do if your performance hasn’t been great this year.
— Is my employer required to give me a raise? No law requires employers to give raises. If you have a contract or union agreement that specifies particular raises at particular times, your employer is bound by that. If not, it’s purely up to your employer’s discretion.
— What if my employer normally does year-end raises, but I still haven’t heard anything about getting one? If you just want to know whether your employer is doing company-wide raises this year, you could just ask, “Does the company plan to do year-end salary increases like it has in past years?” But the stronger move is to put together a case for a raise and present that to your manager. In fact, it’s smart not to wait passively for your employer to offer a raise, but to proactively open the conversation.
— What’s the best way to make the case for a raise — or one that’s higher than the initial offer? First, spend some time reflecting on your achievements in the last year and the impact you’ve had on your team and organization. What have you received especially positive feedback about? What results are you most proud of? Where have you made the biggest impact? Then, put together a short case for why you’re now contributing at a higher level than when your salary was last set.
— How do I kick off a conversation about a raise? Be straightforward. You might simply say something like, “I’ve really appreciated the chance to take on new responsibilities and more challenging work over the last year, such as projects X and Y. In light of accomplishments A and B, I’d like to talk about adjusting my salary as we go into next year to reflect this higher level of contribution.”
— What kind of raise is reasonable to expect? It depends on your company norms. Some companies only do cost-of-living increases that are pegged to inflation or have fairly rigid schedules that control how much your pay will go up each year. Others give managers one pool of money for raises and leave it to them to figure out how to distribute it among their teams. Some companies do small percentage increases of 1 percent to 3 percent. In fact, 3 percent is the national average for a raise for 2016, according to a survey from Towers Watson, a global professional services company. Others are more generous, sometimes significantly so. It can be helpful to talk to colleagues to get a sense of how your company approaches salary increases so that you can calibrate your expectations and have an idea what parameters might be possible.
— Can I still ask for a year-end raise if my performance hasn’t been strong this year? If you’re not performing well and had a lot of critical feedback from your boss — especially if you had a mediocre or worse performance evaluation — you probably shouldn’t be asking for a raise right now. Raises are recognition that you’ve been contributing at a higher level than when your salary was last set. If you’re not meeting expectations at your current level, you’re not in a position to make a convincing case for boosting your salary. You want to have about a year of high-level performance before you can credibly ask to have your salary increased.
— What if I was promised a raise, but it hasn’t shown up in my paycheck? First, make sure that you know when the raise is supposed to kick in. For example, it’s pretty common for year-end raises to not go into effect until Jan. 1. But if you know that you should have seen it by now, then before the next payroll is run, say to your boss, “I haven’t seen my salary increase show up on my paycheck yet. Is there someone I can talk to in payroll to make sure they have everything they need to get it on my next check?”
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Hoping for a Year-End Raise? Here’s What You Need to Know originally appeared on usnews.com