Pay disappointment
It appears the new financial year has brought mixed fortunes. A few of you missed out, a couple have questioned their pay rise of 3 per cent and one person was crushed with a pay rise of 6 per cent. Interpreting your pay rise - or lack of a pay rise - is a skill in itself.
As I wrote in my column a few weeks back, most companies only award pay rises to people doing a good job. The norm is CPI plus a little extra. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the national average CPI increase for March 2006-March 2007 was 2.4 per cent but it differs from city to city.
My research showed a range of 1.8 per cent to 4 per cent around the country so check the ABS site or the Ask Kate archives for the list. Accordingly, a 6 per cent pay rise is pretty good and 3 per cent is fine although pay rise reaction is a personal thing. If you did not get a pay rise, what was the reason? Had the company gone badly in the last financial year?
Did you only join the company recently? Was your performance review poor? If your performance was good and you can see no good reason for not getting a pay rise then it's time to look for another job. If you really want to stay put without looking like a push over, then you need to ask for some non-pay rewards.
Possibilities include time off to study, internal training or financial support for an external course, flexible hours or better resources to do your job like a laptop or a company mobile phone. If you can link the reward to improving your work performance over the next year, all the better.
By Kate Southam, Editor of careerone.com.au
For more useful tips read the other stories in the Job Hunting Advice section and Ask Kate Column.
