The Salary Chronicles: I Negotiated A $6,000 Raise As An Hourly Retail Employee

Welcome to The Salary Chronicles, where we’re bringing transparency to negotiation and salaries, one story at a time. We ask women to share their experiences negotiating their salary and what their advice is for others doing the same. We share these stories anonymously so they feel comfortable speaking as openly and as freely as possible.

This week we’re speaking with a woman who was offered a promotion, without an accompanying raise. Here’s how she approached the conversation.

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Title: Assistant Manager, retail

Original salary: $17.00 per hour

Negotiated salary: $19.75 per hour

What was the situation when you decided to negotiate your salary?

A year ago I started working for a retail brand that was just launching in the US. They had a significant presence internationally and were expanding into our market. I was really excited to be a part of the process of opening a store and quickly went from a part-time employee to a full-time employee once the store opened.

The company itself is great. This was my first full-time job and I received benefits that I was desperately looking for like health insurance and 401k contributions. They also prioritize investing in their employee development, which is something you don’t normally see for a retail position. We had multiple professional development days and training and I was encouraged to think long-term about how my career could progress within the company. 

I was doing really well and as the one year mark was approaching, my manager began having conversations with me about my career. I knew I was well liked and that I’d done an excellent job in my first year. During my annual review, she gave me a raise from $15.75 to $17.00 per hour and hinted that a promotion could be coming soon.

I was initially really happy with the raise and excited to see what other opportunities would open up for me.

Two weeks later the assistant manager left and I was immediately offered the position. It came with a lot of new responsibilities and would be a major change in my job. I’d need to be on call and it would be much more difficult for me to take time off. I was initially thrilled to receive the offer for promotion, but when my manager followed up our conversation with an email outlining the new role, I saw that my hourly pay was going to stay the same.  

I figured that the hourly pay must have been an oversight, so I sent an email to her to clarify explaining that the hourly pay in the offer was what I was currently making. She quickly responded that my pay would remain the same as I just received my annual raise. My pay would be adjusted again next year during the annual review process.

How did you decide what to ask for?

I was initially angry and confused. Did they expect that I’d take on a promotion without an increase in pay?

I called my mom to get her advice on the situation. She works on the corporate side of a different retail company, and I thought she’d have insight into how best to approach the situation.

She initially helped to calm me down and reminded me that it was up to me to either take the promotion or to continue in my current role. She also explained that if I was frustrated, I needed to do some research to determine what a good market rate for my position would be and if there was a discrepancy between market rate and what I was making, I should negotiate. And lastly, she reminded me that this didn’t need to be a combative conversation. They wanted me in a new position and I wanted to be in that new position if it made sense financially. It could be an easy conversation that left both parties feeling like they got what they wanted.

After looking around online and speaking to some friends, I decided that $20 an hour would be a more appropriate rate for the position. I knew I needed to negotiate because not only was this going to be my pay for 40 hours a week, it affected everything else. I routinely worked overtime and on holidays. My overtime pay would go up. In a management position, I was also eligible for quarterly bonuses based on store performance, which was calculated as a percentage of my hourly compensation. And my retirement contribution was based on a percentage of my pay, so making more would affect that as well.

How did you approach the conversation?

I hadn’t officially accepted the new position, though it was assumed I would. I sent my manager an email saying that I’d appreciate clarifying some of these pieces in person during my shift on Monday before I agreed to accept the new position. I spent the rest of the evening practicing what I’d say.

How did the conversation go?

It was fairly easy. During my shift, we went back to her office and I started the conversation. I told her how excited I was to be offered the position, but my only hesitation was with the pay. I outlined all of the additional responsibilities that I’d be required to take on, which supported my rationale that I should receive a raise with the promotion.

She responded that it was company policy to only offer annual raises and I’d be eligible for a raise again in a year.

I was completely honest with her and I told her that if the pay wasn’t going to increase, I wasn’t sure it made sense for me to take the promotion. As soon as she saw I was really hesitating with whether or not to accept, she asked what I wanted for pay. I responded that $20 was fair based on my research. She immediately countered saying that she could authorize $19.75.

I agreed and happily accepted the new position.

What advice do you have for other women?

I was intimidated by the idea of negotiating because I thought it was going to be a combative conversation. Talking with my Mom and having her reframe the objective for me helped. The conversation didn’t need to be adversarial: they wanted a new assistant manager and I wanted to be paid for that new role. When it broke down like that, it was a really easy conversation.