Timeline for Should one threaten to quit to get a reasonable pay-raise request fulfilled?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
25 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Nov 24 at 18:52 | vote | accept | aimedaca | ||
| Nov 19 at 11:42 | comment | added | coffee_into_plots | See also this discussion regarding the E13 and E14 pay scales with previous experience (academia.stackexchange.com/questions/134088/…). | |
| Nov 18 at 13:20 | comment | added | xLeitix | I should also say that HR most likely is not "incompetent", they just have different priorities. Their mandate is to protect the university overall, not support individuals or individual chairs. That usually means saying "no" a lot, lest other people get ideas the university cannot afford. | |
| Nov 18 at 13:15 | comment | added | xLeitix | Honestly HR is most likely right. What you describe pretty much sounds like every postdoc I did in the German-speaking area - your boss is absent for significant stretches of time, and it falls to you to supervise students and ensure research progress gets made. That in itself is not exceptional, and certainly not sufficiently exceptional to push you up into an entirely different pay group. | |
| Nov 18 at 12:36 | answer | added | allo | timeline score: 0 | |
| Nov 18 at 5:03 | comment | added | TAR86 | Regarding DCTLib's suggestion: the Worker's Council is likely to be called "Personalrat" at a state-run institution like a university. | |
| Nov 18 at 0:22 | answer | added | Ben | timeline score: 4 | |
| Nov 17 at 21:36 | comment | added | DCTLib | Nobody mentioned yet asking a representative of the "Betriebsrat" what they think the denial of moving to E14. They are technically on the side of the employee but are also often involved in putting people into the payscale groups and have experience in what reasons are appropriate for which payscale. It makes sense to have an informal chat. Some members of the "Betriebsrat" may be able to give tips or even tell why this particular request was denied. | |
| Nov 17 at 16:20 | answer | added | academic | timeline score: 3 | |
| Nov 17 at 15:25 | answer | added | Ian Sudbery | timeline score: 9 | |
| Nov 17 at 12:57 | comment | added | TAR86 | IMHO, the threat to quit would mean nothing to HR, even if the postdoc could show that a Nobel prize is forthcoming. HR and the financial department have interest in not creating a precedent along the lines of "PI offloads duties on postdoc and then gets the university to pay for it'. So, the threat to quit should be adressed to the immediate boss with credible alternatives. | |
| Nov 17 at 11:00 | comment | added | DonQuiKong | HR doesn't give a damn if she quits and the influence of her boss on HR will probably be very low. So why do you believe threatening to quit will do anything? | |
| Nov 17 at 10:00 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Nov 17 at 8:34 | answer | added | Wrzlprmft♦ | timeline score: 47 | |
| Nov 17 at 7:00 | history | edited | Wrzlprmft♦ | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 17 at 6:34 | answer | added | MisterMiyagi | timeline score: 19 | |
| Nov 17 at 5:04 | comment | added | Anonymous | Perhaps the difference in task difficulty will become more "recognizable" if she stops doing the work she isn't being paid for and continues doing only the job for which she was hired. (It is possible that this is a bad idea for other reasons; I suspect only she is in a position to make that judgment.) | |
| Nov 17 at 4:36 | comment | added | yourfriendlyresearchadmin | I manage payroll at an R1 university in the US. Usually, the pay rates are set for more mundane reasons like how much money is available, requirements by sponsors, minimum wage laws, etc. The only times I see PIs considering the individual, the variance is very low, like $1-2k, maybe $5k for someone truly exceptional. At least in the US though, there is more pressure to keep rates exactly the same for everyone, so mundane reasons are what rule the decisions. Also, never make an ultimatum you won't carry through with or you just lose respect and gain nothing. | |
| Nov 17 at 3:05 | answer | added | Significance | timeline score: 7 | |
| Nov 17 at 2:51 | comment | added | aimedaca | There is a reasonable chance, yes. | |
| Nov 17 at 2:15 | comment | added | A rural reader | Is there a reasonable chance this postdoc is overestimating her unique value to the university? | |
| Nov 17 at 2:07 | comment | added | aimedaca | AFAIK, no plan B yet. HR doesn't care. The group leader and the university president cares. | |
| Nov 17 at 2:06 | history | edited | aimedaca | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 17 at 2:04 | comment | added | Jon Custer | If you are going to threaten to quit you have to be prepared to quit (or get let go). Are they actually going to quit? What is their Plan B? Why do they think HR cares given the data so far? | |
| Nov 17 at 1:59 | history | asked | aimedaca | CC BY-SA 4.0 |