merit wage increases...inquiry

[blinks]

hi,

i am new to board. i come with a question. i have been working for the same company for 5 years. during that time i have been promoted from med nurse to day charge to clinical care mgr to nursing assessment coordinator. this last position includes all the duties of the previous job plus m.d.s., care planning, etc. which goes with assessment job. during all of this i have received 2 "time served" raises and a wage increase when i took the clinical care mgr position 3 1/2 years ago. i have requested merit increase in wages for the last 2 years and have been shuttled back and forth betw the DON and Administrator who have played this good cop-bad cop game with me. now...we have a new administrator who has asked me to join a committee of co-workers to suggest a merit increase/evaluation format for licensed staff. i suspect that this is another form of avoidance. the truth is i don't care about changing the system, i just want a raise. all that being said, my questions: if i do join this committee, are there resources out there for researching the pros and cons of the merit system? is a merit system too subjective if there is no union to support the staff? what other issues should i consider? what questions should be asked of the administration?

[pieWACKet]

You write "i have requested merit increase in wages for the last 2 years and have been shuttled back and forth betw the DON and Administrator who have played this good cop-bad cop game with me. now...we have a new administrator who has asked me to join a committee of co-workers to suggest a merit increase/evaluation format for licensed staff. i suspect that this is another form of avoidance. the truth is i don't care about changing the system, i just want a raise. "

Your administrator and her predecessor appear to be oblivious to the damaging effect of the LOSS of salary you have experienced during the two years of your current job title. In fact, they have done the opposite, they have diminished your salary, not even providing an increase corresponding to inflation.

It makes me angry to read what you write. That you need to go about documenting that you deserve to not LOSE pay when you obviously are merited fit for the job by your employer [you still work there] . You aren't even getting an inflationary increase.

As to merit raises, well I don't know about documentation for them, but they should be APART from an inflationary increase. I would go in to your next meeting consistently referring to your NEED [not desire] for an "inflationary balance increase" for the two years in question. Point out that your performance has NEVER included anything that implies you should now have diminished pay over that with which you were hired into the position. Try, if you can, for her to immediately answer your request for an inflationary increase.AND the percentages [best if you can just find that out] should be compounded I don't have my hand on them . ie, if inflation was 2.1 % [just a random figure I chose, not fact] in 2001 and 4.3 % [just a random figure I chose, not fact] in 2002, you should get 2.1 % added to your salary for 2001, take THAT number and add 4.3 % for 2002.

GO TO http://www.westegg.com/inflation/, and put in your salary for 2000 then what it would be in 2001, and do the same for 2001 for 2002. This will give you the amont of dollars needed for each year to accomodate inflation.But it doesn't give you the percentages. I don't know where to tell you to go to find them.

Then I would say to her, and I will be happy to serve on your Merit Pay committee. I'm certain that all the nurses would be pleased to see a movement towards recognition for outstanding work.