She Rejected A Job Promotion Because Her Employer Couldn’t Give Her A Clear Answer About Her Salary Increase, And Her Husband Is Furious She Didn’t Just Take It
This 27-year-old woman is a software engineer, and recently, she got married to her 33-year-old husband– who works in construction management.
Since she grew up very poor, though, her current salary makes her feel like she is loaded. Apparently, she makes $120,000 a year; meanwhile, her husband makes about $80,000.
“I’ve gone from counting literal pennies because my budget was that tight to not having to worry about buying anything we need,” she said.
But recently, her boss decided to offer her a promotion– specifically a Program Manager position. During that conversation, though, she was told that her salary would not be reviewed until the next review cycle.
So, she decided to do a bit more research and grabbed a drink with two men– one who had the job now and one who had the job before.
While speaking with them, she ultimately learned that the current guy was essentially cheated out of a raise because he took the promotion when a salary increase was implied. And that raise just never came.
The guy who had that position before had a similar story, too. Apparently, he was making less money than she was currently. Yet still, his requests for raises kept getting rejected.
Afterward, she decided to talk to her husband about what happened– detailing how she wasn’t sure if she should take the promotion or not. Once he heard her out, though, he still encouraged her to take the position for her resume.
So, she went to work the next morning and decided to ask her boss what the salary would be for the promotion. But, her boss just claimed the compensation would be up to HR during the next review cycle.
PHAISITSAWAN – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
She had also heard that HR tended to give the absolute minimum salary they could get away with.
“And honestly, that role on the job market was valued at $150,000 to $180,000, so I’d be majorly undervalued,” she explained.
“I was starting to think I would have to be a sucker to take that offer.”
That’s why, in the end, she told her boss that she was grateful to be considered for the role. However, she claimed she just was not comfortable taking on any new role until the complete employment terms– including compensation– were more clearly defined.
Later that night, she also arrived home and filled her husband in on what happened– revealing that she had declined the promotion. And to her shock, he was very angry about that.
Her husband claimed that the promotion was something they should have discussed more rather than her just making the decision on her own. He also pointed out how she knew he did not agree with her.
She stood by her own perspective, though, explaining how if she took that job, she would be doubling her workload for compensation that doesn’t reflect her extra effort.
But, her husband apparently didn’t really see the problem with that– claiming that she would still have something to show on her resume.
Then, he believed that afterward, she would be able to negotiate a higher salary elsewhere– since the experience would open other management opportunities for her.
Quite frankly, though, she admitted to liking her current position as an individual contributor. She was also honest and said she just would not enjoy a management position since it really is not something she cares about.
At that point, her husband became really agitated, asking, “It’s all about you, isn’t it?”
Then, he claimed that since they were now married, she was unilaterally impacting both of their financial futures because she “didn’t want a hard job.”
Her husband also didn’t see the issue with the unclear salary terms and said it was normal to accept additional responsibilities before having a salary review.
“I just didn’t know because I am too young and have never been promoted since I job hop too much,” her husband added.
But honestly, she thought that was just an old-school way of thinking– implying that she needed to work hard for free while hoping she would be rewarded.
She had already done that at her first two jobs, too, and that’s why she ended up quitting those positions.
“All it does is tell them you’re cheap and gullible!” she vented.
Still, her husband just called her naive and claimed she was being way too idealistic.
So now, she has been left wondering whether declining the promotion was actually a jerky thing to do or not.
Should you ever take a job or promotion without the terms clearly defined in writing? Since it’s her job, was the decision ultimately up to her? Can you understand why she rejected the promotion? Does her husband have a right to be angry, especially since their combined salary is already quite high?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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