Telecommute vs. salary: the mommy trade-off?
I like my job. I office out of my home, which is great since I've learned to do my job while caring for my toddler and can avoid daycare costs/have more flexibility. I work overtime nights and weekends at critical points and I'm the company's go-to person with a can-do attitude. We're only ten people. I've taken on extra duties and only took a week of maternity leave after a c-section since we're not FMLA eligible (less than 50 employees). I'll have been at the job five years in March and it's practically perfect except that I've never been offered a raise. I've asked. The answer is the same: there's no budget for raises, we'd all like raises. Yet, we've hired two other people in the past two years. Clearly, there's money to pay them. My boss thinks she has me over a barrel since I like the work from home thing and child care is expensive. I'm expecting again in the spring. She knows it'd take a lot higher salary to have two in daycare if I were to look for something else. It's kind of a trade-off to see my children more. However, I work harder at this job than any other I've had and consistently go above and beyond. We don't get yearly evaluations. She simply won't do them. I feel I've earned a raise. Another employee who's been there half the time I have made a case about how much she's added to the company and was turned down too. The longest employee has been there 15 years part-time and is earning the same as in 2002 when she started. I work 50+ hours, though, and have 12 years' experience/am bilingual. Do I just have to accept a relatively low salary with no overtime? She got nervous when mandatory overtime pay was a possibility earlier this year.
No, you've clearly laid out the two options. See your kids less and potentially have more cash flow but less overall money (daycare etc) or stay at your role. Btw, having survived some startups your boss's reaction to mandatory OT pay tells me that the company is very money tight. The writing might be on the wall and it wouldn't be a bad idea to start refreshing the resume. Also, there's a lot of companies who offer remote today. Check out Zapier, Buffer and other companies via HackerNews "who's hiring"
This is a tough situation. Based on the info you've provided, it seems clear that your boss is unwilling to offer you a raise regardless of your performance. Based on this, from my perspective you have 4 options: 1. Retain your current position with the understanding that your salary might never change. Be ok with this and reduce the overtime you put in without compensation if you're unwilling to continue to do so without appropriate compensation. 2. Have a conversation with your boss where you ask her: what do I need to do to get to the next level in my career in terms of pay and job title. This conversation has risk and you may receive the same answer you have before. If you don't get a positive response, default to 1, 3, or 4. 3. Search for another remote or full time job and, after you receive an offer, use that offer to negotiate your current salary with your current boss. Understand that you may not get what you're asking for when you present this offer to your boss and this may lead to you having to leave the role as a result and take the other role. 4. Similarly, search for a job that will provide you with similar flexibility as well as addition pay/promotion opportunities. Don't inform colleagues or boss about your intentions until you've accepted another offer. Move on to a hopefully better and more supportive situation. As I mentioned, you're in a tough situation and having another child on the way increases the challenge. If I were you, I would probably maintain my current role until after I had the baby and keep an eye out for new role and interview when I could. All of that said, talk with people you trust and get their reaction/thoughts on the situation. Those closest to you can sometimes provide insight a stranger can't. Hope this helps.
Get the hell out. Stop selling yourself short. There are plenty of great gigs out there. No raise for that long of a time is actually a demotion. You are being used.
THIS!
You are not articulating the value you have to the company- you are only indicating how much you work. Drive impact, get paid according to your impact. If you do not, then leave. If you do not justify a raise based on your impact, then change what you are doing. The other stuff is irrelevant. Stop talking about your Mommy trade off and start acting like a business person.
This isn't a parental issue. This would be happening to you if you were childless, a father, etc. The problem here is that either you're not being valued or your organization is not doing well. If they can't even afford cost of living raises, do you really believe in their longevity? If they can actually afford it but opt to not give you a raise then either they think you won't/can't leave or they don't care.
The lack of even cost of living raises is a huge red flag. With inflation, you are slowly effectively taking pay cuts over time. If the company is not even keeping up with inflation, I have zero faith they will ever give you a raise based on what value you bring and/or look at what another company will pay me. Also, if your boss is consciously using tbe birth of your second child and free childcare from working from home to justify not paying you more, that is pretty low. You haven't said as much, but I wouldn't be surprised. It comes down to a cost benefit analysis when comparing your current job vs a prospective onsite job. Salary and childcare expenses and commuting cost/time can be quantified; mother time and the no-pants factor (my figure of speech for people working from home being as casual as they want) cannot, not easily. It just depends on how you value those things in your personal value structure. Me personally, I would need a big salary jump to make that change.
Where is ur babydaddy? You are definitely being used yeah
Keep actively looking for a telecommute job. I am in my second remote position in 5 years, so I understand how hard it is to find one. However, there's no urgency, so it won't hurt to toss your resume out there and see if anything sticks. If you find something, don't let them convince you to stay if they match salary or you'll be in the same place a few years down the line.
Can't tell you what to do, but no pay raise for 15 years? Hard to keep up with cost of living, right? Keep us posted. Love you
Right. I'm director of marketing for a media company.
I might put my feelers out there. I am sure there are companies out there willing to offer telecommute as well. Could get the best of both worlds. Gotta love the little ones. What a blessing.