how to decide when to let people walk.
by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor
question: i have a longtime employee who asked me for a 33 percent salary increase, or she said she would have to explore options. how do you suggest i handle this?
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additional information: she works five-hour days every day and is paid by the hour. she gives me no added time during tax season. she also gets paid for an extra six days – which is for half of the firm’s allowed holidays – and for eight days for combined sick, vacation and personal days, and i pay her for half of her required cpe time (payment for 20 hours) and all the registration costs.
in actuality, she gets paid for 260 five-hour days but works 226 days. i pay all required payroll taxes but do not pay her for medical insurance because her husband’s plan covers her. i match 401k contributions up to 6 percent of salary, but she does not contribute anything to it. she does not give me any extra hours during tax season.
there is added value for her because she had been with me three years and knows all my systems and the clients. she is good, and i don’t find many errors when i review her work. she does not supervise or mentor anyone. i gave her 5 percent salary increases each of the last two years, and she asked for the increase when i told her about this year’s 5 percent increase.
answer: people who work part time usually get paid a little more per hour than full-time people doing comparable work because there are no benefits or extras. it seems that you are paying the extras, except for medical insurance. her salary rate per hour is actually 15 percent greater than the rate you are paying her because of the reduced hours she works. she works 226 days but gets paid for 260 days. also, her not supervising or mentoring anyone and being unavailable for added time during tax season puts a damper on her value.
right now you have an employee who is getting work done for you. if your goal is to build a firm, then she is not going to help you with that, and that makes her less valuable. if your goal is to remain as you are, then she is helping maintain the status quo, and that has a limited value based on how high you can increase your fees to cover her cost, which doesn’t seem probable. so this also makes her short-term.
one other thing is that if she was worth the higher rate and by you not recognizing it earlier and paying it makes it seem like you were taking advantage of her. granting the increase now is a form of admission that you were underpaying her. it would also make her feel like a sap for not asking sooner.
my advice is to do one of the following:
- in the event that you were truly underpaying her, admit it, apologize for it and give her the raise and perhaps a “make-up” bonus.
- offer her more than you were going to pay her, but not as much as she asked for. in effect pay her what you need to keep her, and immediately start looking for a replacement.
- stick to what you offered, recognizing that you offered her the right amount for what she is doing and is worth to you. it is possible that she is mistaken and acted precipitously, and i suggest you should overlook her “demand.” she will find out the reality, and the relationship should continue as it was (for better or worse).
- same as the previous item but re-evaluate the relationship not giving her the benefit of the doubt of being mistaken; and even if she accepts your offer, start looking for a replacement.
based on what you told me, she is not long-term and will not help you grow or manage your practice. regardless of your long-term goals, she will not fit in. keep her as long as you need to until you have a satisfactory replacement. if it means doubling up for a short period, look at that as an investment in your firm’s future.
3 responses to “employee demands a raise she doesn’t deserve”
frank stitely
i agree with ed. money likely isn’t the underlying issue here. if it is, she may be in financial trouble. when you get a demand for 33%, you have a short timer and the clock is running. you have been way more flexible than normal with a part time person and the economics of her demand likely don’t work for the firm.
michael chaffee
3/3
another suggestion that hits across several of her possible career goals would be her development as a rainmaker for the firm. offer an attractive commission structure. this would help her make more money immediately. it could lead to a promotion for her. for your firm, her success in bringing in new clients would help contribute to its growth. it would also be more valuable than someone grinding out more hours during tax season.
conclude with asking her what she can do to bring in more value to the firm. just existing usually isn’t worth 33% more year over year.
in summary, listen to her thoughts about her career plans, especially as they relate to the firm’s future. offer her actions to take to meet her goals. point out what she can do to meet your needs for the firm (more contribution during tax season, rainmaking, etc.) knowing both what she wants and what you want, ask her what her career action plan is now.
bottom line: encourage her to grow into a more valuable contributor to the firm, while sticking to your 5% raise for now. offer to revisit this discussion with her in 90 days. challenge her to make valuable changes in her contributions by then.
michael chaffee
i love this breakdown!
ed, may i stand on your shoulders to add my 2 cents?
for ed’s response choices 3 and 4 above (especially 3), explain her value as it currently is with the focus on how she can increase her value to the firm (while sticking to your original 5% pay raise offer). point out that you want to grow this firm and as a valued employee (3 annual raises in a row, good work quality, her knowledge of your systems and clients, etc.), you see ground-floor opportunity for her. then explain what she’s currently lacking. but do not point out your additional wants from her as value she is lacking; rather, frame your wants as what she can do to bring additional value to the firm.
have a face-to-face meeting with her. find out what her goals are. what does she want from her career and this job in particular? see if you can help her build bridges to the accomplishment of those goals.
for example, if she says she wants more money, you can offer her more time, especially during tax season. more time equals more money, especially during tax season. (you did mention this twice as something she is not doing). also, you can point out that she can get an additional 6% increase immediately by contributing enough to the firm’s 401(k) to collect the firm’s match.
if she wants a promotion, suggest she start with mentoring interns or others in your firm as appropriate. propose letting her supervise a job or two on a test basis. teach her how to supervise/mentor, i.e. mentor the mentor for better mentoring.
if she wants more time off to spend with her family, offer her time off in the summer and autumn in lieu of paying her for additional hours during tax season. if that’s not permitted in your state, you can pay her her 5% increased rate plus unpaid (or paid, up to you) time off in the summer and autumn. example: pay her whatever legal rate during tax season for overtime and give her 1 hour off during the summer and autumn (again, paid or unpaid, up to you) for each hour (or 2 hours, or whatever) worked over 40 hours per week in tax season.
if she’s bored, ask her if she has given any thought to developing special expertise in a niche. have her give some thought to it and come up with a list of specialties that interest her. it’s so easy to come up with a list. just look at leading edge cpe, or articles in magazines, print and online. some examples today may include bots and automation, cryptocurrency, cannabis, blockchain, ecommerce, etc. match her list to the firm’s current or potential niches, looking for common ground. offer to support her in her pursuit of developing a niche expertise that fits the firm’s plans.
another suggestion that hits across several of her possible career goals would be her development as a rainmaker for the firm. offer an attractive commission structure. this would help her make more money immediately. it could lead to a promotion for her. for your firm, her success in bringing in new clients would help contribute to its growth. it would also be more valuable than someone grinding out more hours during tax season.
conclude with asking her what she can do to bring in more value to the firm. just existing usually isn’t worth 33% more year over year.
in summary, listen to her thoughts about her career plans, especially as they relate to the firm’s future. offer her actions to take to meet her goals. point out what she can do to meet your needs for the firm (more contribution during tax season, rainmaking, etc.) knowing both what she wants and what you want, ask her what her career action plan is now.
bottom line: encourage her to grow into a more valuable contributor to the firm, while sticking to your 5% raise for now. offer to revisit this discussion with her in 90 days. challenge her to make valuable changes in her contributions by then.