I'd state after 90 days employment(which is probationary period in lots of places) you'd like a raise.

Unfortunately, "priveleged" information can't be used so therefore is really no good to anyone ;o) I would agree with nodakgal and also let them know that you've done your "research" (which you should), and have found out that XYZ Daycare, and ABC Daycare are both paying higher salaries for the same position. If they won't raise your salary, I'd ask them if you could take a step down, not be in "management", and just be a FT worker. BTW, what's the difference between what you do and what a regular FT employee does, other than the title? If there's minimal pay with more responsibilities, you may be better off seeking other employment. Are they the only daycare in town? If it's anything like our area, they're on every corner.

mrsmarv, there are lots of other Daycare Centers in this area and they all pay their Assistant Supervisors the same rate I am currently making. It just happens that my own company seems to be the first to increase the wages, as they all appear to be hard put to keep their employees. I am not in management, I am a full time worker in a 30 child daycare room, working along with another woman who is my senior. "Supervisor" and "Assistant Supervisor" are merely our titles. My partner earns more, rightly so, since she has a background in Early Childhood Education. So I am just wanting to earn the same as the newly hired Assisant Supervisors who are starting at a higher rate than what I currently earn.

How about you just say that you need a higher rate to make ends meet or you will have to look elsewhere. And if you want to add about the others wages, say something like, "It came to my attention that new hires started out at so and so rate and I'm just interested in having my salary match my peers."

I think that the best way to approach it is to say that you have now completed your probationary period & are asking about an increase since you are now a full-time employee. Most employees at our company used to get a small raise after their first 90 days. The amt. you mentioned is a pretty good raise & they may not want to give that to you even if they're paying that to new staff. On the other hand, if they are hiring new staff in at that rate in order to decrease turnover, they may agree to that in order to keep you.

The big question is, are you TRULY prepared to walk out if they don't give you a raise? If not and you threaten them, you'll have no credibility and lose out on future raises.

This is a similar situation to ones I was in both as an employee and as a supervisor. I had cashiers who were hired at minimum wage, at the time $4.25/hr and when I took over the store, I would hire people at $5-$5.25/hr. Rightly so, the other employees weren't happy. But does this mean I should not pay more to the newer people? My hands were tied because I wasn't allowed to give a 25% raise to employees my the office. I tried to make it up to them in other ways, but that's a different story.

Just last year I worked for a company where people doing the identical job in different divisions earned more money than we did. I do understand and appreciate your situation and frustration.

IMO, you have only one appropriate option and that's to talk to your supervisor after deciding how much this really means to you and if you are willing to walk if you don't get what you want. They might be amenable to giving you larger raises as time goes on to bring you in line. I know that as a supervisor I would never bow to threats. Once you do, you're toast. Do you like the job? That can mean a lot more than a few dollars. If you prove yourself to be a valuable employee and there is turnover, you'll be more likely to get a raise than to get more later if you make a stink now.

Sounds like it's more of a principle thing. It's a tough situation. Kind of like when a sports player signs a contract to play for "X" amount, then finds that a co-player signs a contract for more and then they want a new contract. You were hired at a rate you agreed to. If they were to start hiring people at a lower wage than you're making, would you be willing to take a cut to match what they're making so you'll make the same? No offense, but just trying to point out a few things to think about.

Employment, like life, isn't always fair.

O.K., I've got to get my confidence up and write the letter. I don't want to reference the raise request in connection with my probationary period ending, as they may also give the new employees a 'post probationary' increase, (in November) and then I'd still be working for less wages than them : (

I hope they'll understand that any current employee would obviously want to be paid the same rate as someone newly hired for the same position.
How does something along this line sound?

"I very much enjoy my job in the field of child care as an Assistant Supervisor for SoandSo Daycare Center. I have established bonds with the children in my care and also enjoy a good working relationship with their parents/guardians. At this time I would like to respectfully request an increase in pay, in order to be brought on par with new employees in the same job description. I look forward to continuing my employment with SoandSo Daycare Center and hope to hear from you at your earliest convenience."

I'm new to all this, is there anything you would change?

Hi again, pickyshopper,

I'm not familiar with the child care game, but this is the beginning of a work year for various parts of our economy, and it could be that there are a substantial number of new workers at present accepting work situations and needing child care. The day care company may feel that in order to recruit the needed staff, they must offer the rate that they are if they have a hope of recruiting the number of new people that they require right soon.

It may have nothing to do, in their mind, with staff already on board, in a similar situation to yours.

As you say, the other day cares in the area are paying at the same rate for people in your category, so there's little hope of finding a better situation in that field elsewhere in your area.

As cynic said with regard to relations with one's employer, and you almost certainly learned as a parent with regard to your offspring, it's not wise to ever threaten anything in such a situAtion that you're not willing to carry through on. They bluff you just once and you back down: you're lost!

(B T - D T!).

What other employment possibilities may there be for people with your qualifications in your area?

Are you interested in taking on more work, in addition to what you are doing?

Do you have a skill that you could market, as a consultant, etc.? Currently, it would have to be something that you could do in off-hours, as you are busy all day.

Someone on a site where there was discussion of part-time work the other day suggested that a person who can offer a skill that's useful in their local market can usually make more working for themselves than by working for someone else, especially if it's more or less a routine type of work, not requiring special skills (that many people can qualify for).

Do you have some family living at home (kid in high school, didn't you say)? Perhaps it would be time for them to pitch in to help with keeping the household running smoothly: think of the skills that they'd be acquiring, looking to the day when they'll be going out to live on their own!

That might help free up some time for you to work toward honing current skills, or acquiring some others, that would enable you to build a good business.

You're helping one aspect of the needs of working-outside-the-home mothers now ... would there be some other aspect of their needs that you could help fill?

You've got to know some of them well now ... how about asking what other service that they might need that perhaps you could fill?

When you have some free time ... how about giving some thought to what kind of service you might be able to offer, whether locally or on the internet, etc.?

For example, are there a number of seniors living alone locally who are finding it a bit too much, but who are reluctant to move into a residential home, disliking the prospect of institutional living, e.g. required breakfast at 8:00 ... and ... you know the prices that they charge!

Are you a friendly, affable, courteous person who can jolly people along when they're in a bad mood and sweeten it up some? Get people to cooperate? Does everyone enjoy being around you? Could you find several seniors who would like to get away from their place and might be willing to share a house with others for a while, until they needed nursing home care? Could you find a big house and rent it, moving several people in there to share living, with you as house mother?

There'd be several advantages ... someone to talk to, to keep people's minds more active (use it or lose it!), shared daily household chores, much less onerous than when one has to do everything in their own home ... and shared chores are less burdensome. With you doing heavy cleaning, etc. Possibly shared recreation (euchre, etc.). More assurance of safety: if someone falls, takes a spell, etc. ... there are others on hand to assess the situation and get relevant assistance coming, quickly.

None of those situations available currently ... and ... the cost, even with some profit for you, would be far less than the fees in a residential or nursing home! Far less!

Worthy of some consideration??

Good wishes as you consider various possibilities that might be relevant ... and possible ... for you ...

... picky (and smart) shopper!

ole joyful

Life is not fair. You agreed to work for a set amount. Just because someone else is making more doesn't mean you should also be making that amount. What if all salaries are in a big budget and your raise caused someone else to have to take a pay cut or get fire?

I managed a department and everyone was paid differently. Some had degrees, some were working on them, some didn't have them. Some worked in the field for years, some didn't have any experience; some were a lot smarter than others. Some were naturals at the jobs, some had to work on it. Some we really needed when we hired, some were hired for favors when we didn't even need them. The salaries were all over the place. Bottom line, we paid them what we thought we could get them for.

You shouldn't know what others are being paid.. for this very reason. No one will be happy. Marge will think she should make more than you because she's been doing it for years. Gloria has a masters in child development, she thinks she should get more. George has been with the company 18 years and is still making less than all of you. You accepted a job at your rate. That's YOUR contract, more or less. I mean, yes, of course, you can demand more, but it doesn't sit well or seem professional to me. Hopefully, they'll make it up to you at raise or bonus time if they really like you. Otherwise, yes, you may just have to live with it. My brother just told me someone was hired at his place and is making $23,000 more than someone who has been with the company for 20 years (they started at a much lower rate and just never caught up) and doing the same thing. Not fair. But that's life. Welcome back to the working world.

If someone I just hired caught wind of a recent pay hike and more or less demanded an increase themselves, I may let them go and hire someone else (yes, even at the higher price). It's one thing if you have been with the company for a while and they value and like your work, but to ask for a raise so earlier on when you agreed to a different pay just a few months ago, just wouldn't sit well with me.

Thanks for your responses. You have all made some very good points. ole joyful, my highschooler already has his own part time job which certainly helps. You also made some very good suggestions, but this area seems to be booming in young new families, and very few retirees live around here. If I didn't work at a Daycare Center, I could probably easily pick up a job doing daycare in someone's home, which I've done before. However I've found that parents seem to respect the rules more at a Daycare Centre, than they do when someone is caring for their children in their own home. For example, I found that parents chronically came home just inside the time frame where I charged a late fee, and always pleaded 'bad traffic.'

I'm really confused now because some of you have advised me that it would be very offputting to have an employee ask for a raise after only 3 months, and sometimes this is just how things go, in business. However the acquaintance in Head Office is urging me to request the raise. She said that obviously the company will not go back and notify those hired in May that the newly hired will make $2.00 more per hour. But she said that the company is really desperate because they have enough children waitlisted to open four more centers, but not enough staff to do so. Their newspaper ads don't mention the salary, or I'm sure the employees from the other local Daycare Centers would probably jump ship and apply with our company. I'm sure they assume we're still paying the same rate as all the other centers here.

It has been suggested that my request would be viewed as a 'demand' or 'threat.' Does this mean employers automatically assume the employee will want to leave if the answer is no? I certainly wouldn't want them to think that. I thought phrasing it "respectfully request an increase in pay..." would not come across sounding like a demand. Maybe if I rephrase it to end with a question mark they will know it is clearly a query, not a threat. Or perhaps my sentence "I look forward to continuing my employment with SoandSo Daycare Center..." could be misinterpreted. I want to stress that I look forward to CONTINUING employment with them, regardless. Do you think it comes off the opposite, making it sound like I'm assuming they'll give me the raise, kind of like "thank you in advance?" Carla, thank you for welcoming me to the working world, ; )

Of course I haven't work in every field or on every level, but if you are in a professional level type job, then I would think your salary is generally set for a time (until the next bonus and reveiw session). Now, if you are in a position that does review and offers raises at the 3 month mark, then yeah, you could easily ask for a raise then. I guess it's just all it how the industry and your job does it. I'm looking at it like you accepted a job at a rate, now you are reneging and asking for more. Let's put it another way, if you didn't know about the pay hike for newbies, would you still be considering asking for a raise? If it was a real option and consideration for you before you knew the info, then go for it.

Another thing to consider, and I'm not trying to get all moral on you. But, you have been given access to infomation... about others raises and about the company from 'friends' that probably shouldn't have shared that info with you. It's kind of like the insider trader concept. You shouldn't have an upper hand (knowing what others are being paid, that you could get paid more, etc). If you want to take a risk and ask for a raise, take one but try not to use info that shouldn't have been given to you to make your decision. I know it's hard.

.

my first question was just how sure are you that the "insider" information you got about the new pay rate is absolute and you have no question about it? Just imagine that the info you got was not quite correct and you are basing all of this on that info. Unless I actually saw it in writing not sure I would jeopardize my job over info that may or may not be written in stone.

Personally I would let it go for a while and see if I could get info to back up those claims in the meantime. Then you have more time with them and might have a better understanding of the actual pay rates and why they happened etc to use as part of your request for an increase. They would be more likely to respect your request if you have stuck with them for a longer period.

I think your letter is very well worded. Polite, concise, and to the point. You go, girl!

;-)

I'd like to say, "Welcome back to the world of work!" (outside of the home for pay, that is: when you were a SAHM you did lots of work, as you can attest!).

But I was working, in the late period part-time, until just about 10 years ago - till I was about 70. Security guard ... and I wouldn't work more than once or twice at a place where I had rounds, etc., work for the client of more than about 10 min. per hour ... plus I wanted a place to stay that was warm and well-lighted, with a desk/table ...and where I could plug in my radio.

And, being a financial planner, do my reading, writing, planning, etc. Not bad to get paid for doing non-billable admin./competency upgrading work related to your own business! I didn't sell any financial products (no conflict of interest), so charged my clients by the hour for helping them increase their personal money-managment skills ... not worried about working myself out of a job ... lots more folks needing to learn how to use their income and assets smarter - and pay less income tax (or defer it)!

I had a regular stint weeekends at a trucking company, and when the mechanics came in about midnight Sun. and saw me graphing price charts of stocks, they'd comment that they wouldn't want to do that.

I asked them that, were I to offer them $5.000. to do so ... how long would they be willing to do it?

Or ... maybe $1,000.

Or, just possibly, and almost certainly, sometimes - lose a couple of thousand.

That was not their cup of tea!

"Everyone to his own poison", as Dad used to say.

What about doing daycare at your place? How many can you have and stay below the radar, i.e. operate without all of those regulations? Would you need a licence issued by the municipality?

No middle-person/agency to skim the cream.

What kind of professional type of skill-training did you have in an earlier life?

Can you build on that?

Good wishes as you decide what path to follow.

ole joyful

P.S. How many of these young families know where to go to get the best service when they need some? e.g. plumber (in the middle of the night when the pipe breaks) ... if you knew of someone with such a skill who's just starting out and hungry for clients, no doubt s/he'd come at midnight with minimal surcharge.

Especially for the kind of service that most families seldom need, e.g real estate operator?

Suppose, over time, you could build a list of competent practitioners in various such fields that people could call on? Make sure that the people on your list are competent ... if they're willing to work in unusual circumstances, so much the better.

And charge the clients for the referral service.

Before long you'll get to be known as the clearing house who can be depended upon to provide competent leads. And, once someone gets above-average service ... repeat business.

During which time, you're working on building your list of above-average service people.

For example ...

... many people say that they'd like to find a competent, more or less unbiased, advisor as to how to use their income and assets more effectively ... someone who isn't selling stuff, so works only for them ...

... but doesn't know where to find such.

If they could find someone willing to help them learn how to do it better on their own, so much the better!

(Trouble is ... when they find one, many are unenthused about paying by the hour - "Why should I pay the guy directly ... when many of those guys/gals do it without my writing them a cheque?").

Many financial planners are licensed to sell mutual funds ... but not stocks. How many of them are going to suggest that you buy individual stocks (as a matter of fact, in most jurisdictions, for most, it would be illegal for them to do so).

Many others are really sales people of insurance - guess what they recommend?

(Ask me about the "Christmas gift" that I've offered the folks here for the past four or five years, somewhat related to the above, that I claim should save the average family (lacking having one foot in the grave) hundreds ... more likely thousands ... during their lifetime).

Isn't giving the same gift over and over ... sort of tacky?

o j

Ole Joyful, I'm not considering doing daycare out of my home for the same reason I don't want to do daycare in anyone else's home. The parents know you will not leave their child unattended, so they tend to take advantage. When I did it before, I charged a small fee if they were over 15 minutes late. The parent/guardian would chronically show up 14 minutes late. It just seems daycare taking place in a building garners more respect than private daycare, in my experience.

Carla, you're quite right in that I wouldn't have considered asking for a raise if I didn't know that the newly hired people are starting off at a higher rate. As well, I hate the fact that I shouldn't know this, but since I do, it is upsetting knowing the new Assistant Supervisors will be making $400 a month more, (which is a lot of money to me) for the exact same job. We are not considered 'professional' as none of us in the Assistant position have any formal education with respect to childcare. Those who do, were hired as Supervisors, and we assist them in everything throughout the day.

I think I will follow the old addage, 'when in doubt, do nothing' until I'm absolutely certain what to do. Thanks everyone, for giving me different viewpoints.