Would you ever turn down a raise? (rates, mortgage, principle)

[flyonpa]

YES,
I once worked for a small company ( I knew I would not be there long term). I was offered a promotion & raise. The promotion would have made me a Except Employee. Taking the promotion/raise would cut my pay. As non-exempt I got overtime. Taking the raise would have cut my pay by about 15%.

[debtmonger]

Only you can make this decision. Whatever you decide, you will have to live with the consequences. In the end, what's a raise worth to you if your company goes out of business? Sounds like you make more than you need. Good luck with your decision.

Originally Posted by daddiesgirl

I am sure that I'm the odd one out here, but I agree with your decision to decline the raise.

While it makes logical sense to take the raise (as you can see from the overwhelming "are you stupid?" response), there are many other factors that people don't really consider when it comes to the job. The questions you have to ask yourself are:

1) Do you really enjoy the job and the people there? If the business fails, it doesn't do anyone any good. The argument that "they wouldn't give you a raise if they can't afford it" doesn't always make sense because small businesses have to stay competitive to keep better talent. For all we know, your boss might be giving you a raise from his home equity loan just to stay competitive and keep the business doors opened.

2) Do you really need it? Sure everyone likes money, but if a raise in pay for you also means letting two other lower level guys go, you may have to look at things differently.

3) Trust your instincts. None of us here really know you, your job, your boss, or the co-workers and people you know. We type things on a computer screen and make wise cracks to kill time while we fight off insomnia, but at the end of the day, you're the one who's going to face your wife and your co-workers. You know the company situation well and I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Who knows, maybe by turning down this raise, you just saved a few others and maybe a year or two, the owner of the business will look back and say "Gee that Thinking Man guy did something no one else would and now that the company is doing much better, I should give him a more better salary."

[duster1979]

I may be in a situation shortly where I will have to make that choice. Due to a cash flow crisis about a year ago all of our salaried employees were "asked" to take a 15% pay cut. I was exempted because I was fairly new and had left another job to take this one. Since that time the pay cut has been reduced to 7.5%, but there is still no word on when they might get the rest of their pay back.

In the meantime they have restructured salaries of the outside sales staff to be more heavily based on commission in order to encourage them to bring in new business. My job is to support the sales staff by processing quotes and handling customer service issues when the salespeople are out on the road. Because the focus on growth will create more work for me and because i will be working by myself more often the sales manager wants to propose a base pay increase and a small commission for me. I could always use more money, but I'm not real comfortable accepting a raise when everyone else is still working with a cut.

[mistygrl092]

Originally Posted by CaptainNJ

i think you need to see a psychiatrist. if i offered an employee a raise and he turned it down, i would not look at that as a good thing. i at least thought you were going to talk about extra responsibility or a change in position that you dont want. to just turn down more money for the same job is insane.

I agree with this, although you might not need a shrink.

[goodlife36]

Originally Posted by Thinking-man

hi everyone,
i was wondering about what i'm going to do.....i work as an Engineer with 7-8 years of experience. I've been at the current small company for 2 years now and my review is up.
i've performed well over the past year, obtained my PMP, have several satisfied customers from the past year, and i'm sure that i will be offered a raise....but i'm content with how much i'm getting paid. It is more than 20k more than my friends working elsewhere, and the company is not doing as well as it could be doing right now (although things are turning around rapidly). The reason i'm considering declining the raise is the facts mentioned above, as well as the thinking about the higher paid folks being cut first, should there ever be a downsizing.....

my question to you is whether you'd ever turn down a raise, and what's the best way to go about doing that strategically if you were to do that? should i ask for something else instead? (like more Vacation time, etc.?)

I do not think you should. The company would have informed you if they could not give you a raise. It happened one year at my company. I would not worry about making more money than your friends. Engineering is not a profession to sneeze at; the curriculum is extremely challenging. I would recommend that you be smart with your money. You do not know what will happen down the road. They are people that commanded 6 figures once upon a time and now feel lucky to have a job paying $40,000. Celebrate yourself!

[Gandalara]

Would you ever turn down a raise?

Go to work for your state government and you won't have this conundrum.

I haven't seen any kind of raise (longevity, COLA, or merit) since my June 30 2008 paycheck.

[ambient]

Originally Posted by Thinking-man

hi everyone,
i was wondering about what i'm going to do.....i work as an Engineer with 7-8 years of experience. I've been at the current small company for 2 years now and my review is up.
i've performed well over the past year, obtained my PMP, have several satisfied customers from the past year, and i'm sure that i will be offered a raise....but i'm content with how much i'm getting paid. It is more than 20k more than my friends working elsewhere, and the company is not doing as well as it could be doing right now (although things are turning around rapidly). The reason i'm considering declining the raise is the facts mentioned above, as well as the thinking about the higher paid folks being cut first, should there ever be a downsizing.....

my question to you is whether you'd ever turn down a raise, and what's the best way to go about doing that strategically if you were to do that? should i ask for something else instead? (like more Vacation time, etc.?)

I think it would raise some eyebrows and make your bosses nervous. In the company world, people like it when people play according to the money game - i.e., you incentivize people to meet performance standards by paying them if they do it. Management likes to see that people react to the standard incentives. Also, the people who will be let go in a downsizing will be those who are the most easily dispensable...so make sure you're not one of those.

[yellowsnow]

Take the money and ask for more vacation. Or play lets make a deal. Take a little extra money and more vacation.

Not being paid what you are worth is no guarantee of keeping your job. A lower salary just makes it harder for you when you look for your next job.

Engineers are disposable workers these days. If you have a decent job, be happy and make as much as you can. Just make sure you give your employer good value for his money.

[Zyngawf]

Take the raise. If they offer it you must deserve it and they will only think you are nuts if you turn it down and it will make you look bad.

[Spraynard Kruger]

Originally Posted by Thinking-man

don't you think it's a bit different at a small company?
also, don't you think it might be different from company to company?

Define small. How many employees? Is there a lot of potential for future revenue? How does the business stack up to comparable businesses in the marketplace? Unless you have some sort of potential for becoming a partner or decision maker, I can't imagine too many scenarios where I would put myself in the voluntary position of taking responsibility for business decisions (not taking the raise.)

There are some factors to consider, but flat out refusing the raise shouldn't be one of them unless you feel your skills don't reflect your value in the marketplace. Perhaps you generate sales in addition to providing remarkable services and they want to reward you? Do you provide measurable cost savings to the company? You deserve to be compensated for those things. Depending on the size of the company and my familiarity with its financials, if I knew management was making decisions that adversely affect their future profitability, I might start looking for other opportunities.

I can empathize with the mentality of "I'm thankful I have a job." I've known of companies who faced the decision to either give a raise (or bonus in lieu of a raise) because a raise might have priced them out of the marketplace.