Asking for a Raise

[brucedragon]

Hello,

I've been at my current hospital for more than 7 months now and have in total 1 year and 2 months of experience. My co-worker who also has the same experience applied to a new position from another hospital and got a salary base of approx 15% more. He has therefore tendered his resignation.

My question is can I request from my hospital a pay increase of more or less the same as my friend who got the new job ? How should I phrase my letter to state that I like my current job but another opportunity may be open and instead of me leaving (and their cost of re-hiring/re-training,etc) , it might be for their best interest to give me a raise of 10% to 15% raise ? Apparently, their yearly increase of current employees from what I heard is about 2 to 3 %.

Please I just want to know your opinion on how to approach the raise and no flaming because of this or that about people without having jobs, etc. I am just looking for myself / my family and looking at it from a market/opportunity perspective.

Thanks for reading this and look forward to your thoughts !

[RNperdiem, RN]

Usually the topic of raises comes around at your yearly evaluation.

If you do want to bring up the topic, you need to do your homework.

First you will need to be clear why the hospital should pay you more.

What is in it for them?

Are you a rank-and-file member of the staff or are you a star? Have you picked up extra responsibilities like precepting, taking charge nurse role, being always available for filling in, any special certifications?

Ask your friend about benefit packages, shift differentials and other perks; sometimes a higher base salary is not all it appears to be.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

You can request it, sure. In today's economic climate I would not expect it.

[NoviceRN10]

I'm pretty sure you get raises when everyone else gets them, you don't go asking for one when you work for a hospital. I just got a whopping .12 per hr raise. Yippee. That is an increase of $1.16 with two other small raises over 22 months working the same unit.

[ckh23, BSN, RN]

it might be for their best interest to give me a raise of 10% to 15% raise ?

I would stay away from statements like this or you may find yourself without a job.

[bill4745, RN]

quote from brucedragon

it might be for their best interest to give me a raise of 10% to 15% raise ?

i

would stay away from statements like this or you may find yourself without a job.

i agree. i recently saw it happen.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Even in non-union environments, compensation structures in hospitals are very tightly controlled in order to maintain equitability. This means that the organization cannot increase one person's salary without bumping everyone else who is also in the same job. The one exception would be for annual merit increases that are tied to performance targets - but even these are highly controlled so that everyone with the same rating gets the same amount of increase.

Salary equitability is a very important concept - if it deteriorates, an organization is open to claims of discrimination based upon unfair treatment.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

It is highly unlikely that your manager even has the ability to alter your particular salary structure out of line with others', even if s/he wanted to for some reason.

Also consider -- as a nurse with only one year of experience, why do you believe you are worth more compensation than another nurse in your unit?

Look at the big picture.

[brucedragon]

Thanks for all your comments and thoughts.

to @Altra, you said "Also consider -- as a nurse with only one year of experience, why do you believe you are worth more compensation than another nurse in your unit?"

My point is because my colleague has the same year of experience as I do and he will be moving to another hospital, and so I am tempted to do the same as there are opportunities there too last time I checked so before I start applying to other hospitals, I would like to ask my current place of work if they can bump the salary up to match the other(s) opportunity in the market.

[ckh23, BSN, RN]

There is more to it than just pay. Perhaps the money is more at the hospital, but benefits may not be as good. Perhaps less paid time off, health insurance, 401k, etc. sometimes when hospitals offer less money the benefits are better, however this not always the case. One pice of advice I will give you is to make sure you have another job secured before leaving. There is nothing in the rule book that says you can't apply and go on interviews while still working.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I haven't seen 10-15% combined in the 5 years I've been at my hospital. If someone at my institution requested this, they'd be told not to let the door hit them in the a$$ on their way out. If the hospital has max raises of 2-3% then they have max raises of 2-3% and you usually get your raise at your annual review. I've never heard of a staff nurse getting that big of a raise after 7 months... you don't get anything until a year in most places. I'm guessing requesting 10-15% is going to be met with a big fat NO.

[caliotter3]

You can request it, sure. In today's economic climate I would not expect it.

When I remarked about a similar inequity one time, I was given a line of malarkey. Their refusal to correct the situation showed their lack of respect for me and the quality of my job performance, and more importantly, showed me that I should seek work elsewhere (you know, camel's back and straws). You have to accept that by speaking up for yourself, you might not like the results. But if you don't speak up, you will most likely continue to be taken for granted. However, I would not be looking for a raise after only seven months with the employer. I would however, like to be shown how a new hire merited more compensation than me, all things being equal. The easy solution is to go where your friend got a better offer.