A reader writes:
At my one year review, my boss gave me a pay raise. I noticed on my following pay stub it didn’t show up. I asked her about it and she said to remind her before the next pay day. I did, still no raise. I asked her again and she said it will be on the next one.
Should my check show a prorated amount from the prior two? If I don’t get the raise on my next paycheck, should I say something again? I think this is odd.
This is weirdly common. Either your boss hasn’t submitted the paperwork or the person who runs payroll is slow/disorganized/has lost it. (There’s also a small chance your boss hasn’t had the raise officially approved yet, but it’s more likely one of the other two.)
You need to speak up. A week before payroll is next run, say this to your boss: “Since payroll didn’t correct my salary in the last two paychecks, is there anything we can do before next week’s payroll run to ensure it’s correct this time? Should I reach out to them?” (Even if she says no, this may prompt her to take action herself.)
You should also ask if the raise was effective on the date of your review or on some other date, so that you know if the prorated amount that was missing from the last two checks should be added to the next one or not. (And if she says that the effective date was indeed two paychecks ago, and you don’t see that prorated amount added in, you’ll need to follow up on that as well.)
Then, if the raise still isn’t shown on your next check, go back to your boss and say this: ”This is the third check that hasn’t included my raise. I’m concerned about the money that’s being lost here. What specifically do I need to do to ensure that my salary is corrected in the payroll system, and to ensure that the missing amounts from the last three checks are included in the next one?”
Do you have the raise in writing, ideally with an effective date? If so, that gives you some backup on all of this. If not, you may be at the mercy of your boss, unfortunately — until she makes the raise go through, you may still be earning at your old rate of pay.
Keep following up, politely but firmly, until this is resolved.
And I really don’t know why it doesn’t occur to some managers that most people take their income very seriously.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree that this is common. It’s happened in my place several times. Most times it’s because HR didn’t input the change (happens with other things such as 401k and insurance enrollments also). A couple times it was because the manager didn’t send in the necessary paperwork. Definitely ask what date the raise was effective. If it was two weeks ago, you should definitely see the missing amounts in your next check.
I have been lucky at my current job, the raises are instituted on time, and retroactive to the date agreed upon.
At previous jobs, however, this has not been the case. I found that the most effective tactic was to be straight up about my concerns re: lost wages with the continually delayed salary increase as AAM suggested.
This is why it’s so important to get anything said that is *official* in writing. If there’s a problem, you have supporting documentation.
This is crucial – I’m a bit of a paranoid pragmatist, so for me if it isn’t in writing it didn’t happen.
If you aren’t offered the raise/promotion in writing I would send an email referencing the details so you have a trail of the specifics and their agreement.
I would also do all follow ups about the delay in the raise in writing as it will make it easier to prove retro pay is owed.
I know it’s a common problem – but that baffles me. Payroll is a sacred duty – it’s something that needs to be right every single time.
How can managers forget that salary is a very big deal…it’s kind of why we all show up everyday.
This sorta happened to me. When I was given a promotion, I received a raise. HR changed my title, but missed (or forgot) to update my salary. In my next pay check when I noticed that the title changed, but not the salary, I brought it to my boss’s attention. She was able to fix it that day by refaxing the necessary paperwork to HR. My next check had the new salary amount along with the prorated increase from the last pay period that I had missed.
I echo the previous comments by saying I hope you have the raise in writing with an effective start date.
I don’t understand why this happens all the time!
At the beginning of this year I had my commission structure adjusted, as well as a nice raise. When I got my check nothing was changed, I had to keep reminding my boss!
Very annoying.
Interesting, I’ve had arguments with fellow managers about what the most important part of a manager’s job is, and I’ve always said pay… employees will forgive a lot but you can’t mess up their pay, and if it get’s messed up, it should be the #1 priority to fix it. Aside from simply being the right thing to do, I think employees appreciate knowing that their manager takes these kind of issues seriously, and won’t let it drop.
9 years ago when I started this job I had a problem with 10% of my paycheck that was supposed to go to a savings account. 9 years later, I remember exactly what the problem was, how the company messed it up, and fondly remember the HR lady that took my issue seriously, made some calls and got me a check over-nighted.
You’ve got to take salary-related stuff very seriously. Blows my mind that some people don’t.
I have a funny/sad raise-related story. Due to a financial downturn, my previous employer gave everyone “virtual” raises. We got the letter stating what the raise was but the increase in pay would not go into effect until a undisclosed future date.
What could we do but laugh? My co-workers were joking about the “virtual” cars they were going to buy and paying their “virtual” mortgages. We eventually got the raises some months later…not pro-rated.
So glad I got laid off from that place.
Good example of an employer trying to do something to help morale but messing it up and achieving the opposite!
I think it’s awesome that you have a sense of humor about that – I wouldn’t have.
A conversation about money being tight (if true) and a definite date to reconvene to discuss the raise – that I would understand.
Calling it a virtual raise and giving it a dollar figure but no start date? I would have a very hard time not waiting for my “virtual raise” and gotten to work updating my very non-virtual resume.
Well intentioned people need to run this crazy stuff by someone with common sense to see if it passes the sniff test. And as a general statement people shouldn’t try to be cute with office policy – I’m not alone in hating cute.
Did anyone “virtually” show up for work?
Everywhere I search I says get it in writing. Okay I have mine in writing so what leverage does that give me? I’ve shown it to higher ups and still nothing.
I’m having a huge issue with my boss where he offered a raise and then actually gave me less than promised when the raise went into effect. When I brought up this issue with him, he’s saying that the amount I’m getting is what he actually said and will not budge. I’ve really lost my motivation for my job now.