Employee Claims They Were Only Given An 18 Cent Raise After The Company Made Over $5 Billion In Profit
The employee believes that they are entitled to a higher amount, however others argue that they are only doing the bare minimum.
iVSky / Shutterstock / Reddit After a company earned billions of dollars in profit, the staff was expecting a significant raise for all of their hard work. However, one employee was insulted after learning at their performance review that they would only receive a scrap of the money as a bonus, despite being told that they were meeting the required expectations while on the job.
The company allegedly received $5 billion in profit.
The employee shared their story to the subreddit, r/antiwork, revealing that they work at a discount retail store where the company often displays “corporate propaganda” on television, which in one instance acknowledged the company's performance.
“The CEO giving out the ‘earnings report,’ said in 2022 the company as a whole made $5 billion in profit,” the employee wrote.
Recently, the employee had a performance review meeting with their manager and was told that they “meet expectations” on the job.
“In other words, I do my job and nothing less or nothing more,” they clarified.
Since they have obviously been working hard, the employee expected to receive a generous raise. However, what they actually received was an amount so minuscule it was nearly laughable.
The employee claims they were only given an 18-cent raise.
“By doing just my job alone garnered me an 18-cent raise. Not even a full quarter!” the employee wrote. “I am getting the paid equivalent of what $8 dollars an hour was eight years ago.”
Photo: Ground Picture / Shutterstock
The employee added that they are currently searching for other jobs and that they were not the only worker to receive an insulting “raise.”
“I am close with another co-worker, on their performance review they got an ‘exceeded expectations’ and in turn got a 28-cent raise,” the employee shared.
Many Redditors were disgusted by the company’s treatment of their employees.
“Now imagine if they just handed out 18-cent raises to everyone. They might only make 4.5 billion and that's completely unacceptable!” one user sarcastically commented.
“18 cents is so...insulting I got higher raises working in retail,” another user wrote.
“I got no salary increase or bonuses for three years in a row but my company always makes a profit. I was told is a tough year every time but I had colleagues in different departments getting raises,” another user revealed. “Bottom line: they lie.”
However, other users believed that the employee should not expect a higher raise for seemingly doing ‘the bare minimum.’
“If you're just ‘meets expectations’ you're definitely not entitled to a raise,” one user pointed out. “If you're fine with doing the bare minimum why shouldn't the company fine in giving you the bare minimum?”
“You’re wanting a large raise for doing just your job and nothing more,” another user added.
However, other users claimed that even the most productive employees at a company can be overlooked when it comes to performance recognition, and will only be told that they “meet expectations” and receive an insignificant raise.
Employees can be entitled to a pay raise for a variety of reasons, including exceptional performance reviews, the state minimum wage increase, and if an employee has been working for a company for over a year. The specific amount of the pay raise depends on these factors and the company.
Although employers are generally not required to give their employees raises, if an employee believes that they are well-deserving of one, they should arrange a meeting with their boss to discuss the manner and work together to decide on what the best course of action is.
It is essential that employees feel appreciated and seen by the companies that they work. By recognizing their employees’ hard work and awarding them with an appropriate raise, managers can promote a positive and productive work environment that will incentivize their employees to work even harder.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.