I find myself in an unusual situation. I work for a company (company A) that supplies Statement of Work services to a major (top 3) technology company (Company B). Company A is my employer -- they handle my payroll, benefits, I have a project manager, I negotiated my salary with them, etc.
The project manager at Company A is super-excited about my work and has created a new role for me on his team. It's a step up from where I was before. I'll be in charge of more process and training and managing schedules and responsibilities for new employees. These employees will not report to me as such -- we all report to the same project manager at Company B.
I have learned, however, that the Statement of Work contract between the two companies has been altered at Company A's request. Company A is now paying more for my work than they were last week.
My employer, however, is calling this a "lateral move" and is putting me off on whether they will pay me more.
At the very least I consider this unethical -- they are being paid more for my services because of the excellent work I provided to the customer. Isn't that, in essence, my money?
How do I handle this conversation with my employer? I'm not sure I'm even supposed to know about the contract revision.
Thanks for any advice.
I don't see it
I don't have all of the details about what your boss said to you. If he said you were getting a raise then maybe you could argue your employer is being unethical in not giving it to you. I also don't know where you work or whether there any specific laws about this.
However, it is not unethical for a company to like the work of an employee and give them more responsibility WITHOUT changing their job title or giving them a raise. And companies raise prices all the time. That is definitely the company's money -- not yours. Of course your high performance level may very well result in additional pay over time, but the linkage is not necessarily automatic or immediate.
Thanks for the
Thanks for the response.
For clarification, my on-site manager has let me know that they are paying my employer more for my services than previously -- and my responsibilities have increased as well. Now maybe he should not have let me know that, but he did. They pay XX dollars per hour for certain roles and my role has changed, so they are now paying my employer 5% more for my services.The company didn't raise my price -- the client offered more money for my services and changed my role and increased my responsibilities. The contract has been revised and my employer is making more $$ for my services.
I understand they may be under no obligation to pay me 5% more because they are receiving 5% more.
I am asking advice on how to open the conversation and what to say. I do believe I deserve that extra 5% -- or we can even split it! How do I engage them in that conversation?
Probably just like any other time you ask for a raise
I don't really recall MT guidance related to "how to ask for a raise" but I think what I said before still applies -- there is usually no direct linkage between what your company is paid and what they pay you. The fact that you found out about the price increase from the client may mean that your employer doesn't know you know. I'm not sure I have a good recommendation of how to bring this up, but whatever you do the discussion should be based on your accomplishments not on the price increase. That's not your money. For example, if I find a $100,000 cost savings for the company, I can't very well go to my boss and demand a $100,000 bonus. Nor can a salesperson claim 100% of any new business they bring in. Of course it all goes into the general equation of how much you're worth to the company and likely translates into more pay. But if they're only paying 5% extra, your company may very well be correct to classify the move as lateral (maybe that % was just an example).
In any event, sounds like your performance is certainly quantifiable and noted by both your company and the client. So I'm sure your success will translate into your financial gain.