Company Refuses To Give Employee Raise, Employee Refuses To Do Extra Work

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mattstaff
Nov 9, 2021 12:00 PM EST

Honestly, it's hard to figure exactly what the company expected to happen when they went ahead and refused to give this employee a well deserved raise. Like, naturally people aren't going to want to fill their plates up that much more if they're not receiving the right amount of money for the heftier workload. So, it's no surprise that people in the comments section were in agreement that the employee wasn't in the wrong at all for holding their work "hostage."

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  • 01
    Font - AITA for "holding my work hostage." Not the A-hole I've worked for a lab for almost five years now. I've gone from a part time worker to a full-time worker. I was hired on to lead studies, do data entry, train people, and manage data. Early on my boss had me do some simple application design which I did in PowerPoint. Our programmer denied a lot of my ideas, which frustrated me to the point I just started to learn programming on my own. I've spent roughly 1.5 years teaching myself various
    via u/theallwaystnt
  • 02
    Font - I learned full stack web development. I made a rough version of our desired website over the course of a few weekends and showed it off. I wasn't using the right web stack. I then learned the new web stack, reimplemented it over another few weekends, and showed if off again. They agreed to let me start working on the website for them. While I learned programming, I was still expected to do my full-time job. I repeatedly let them know that the only time I had to do programming was outside
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  • 03
    Font - Last week I had my performance review where my boss told me that he still wanted me to do both web development and my normal duties. He informed me that he believed it was just a time management issue and we could move some of my duties off my plate. However, a solution could not be found during my performance review as to what duties could be removed nor who they could be given to. We have recently lost a few employees and finding new hires has been difficult.
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  • 04
    Font - At the end of my review, I asked for a raise as I was now expected to do web development for them. Once I asked for money for the additional work I was doing, he started questioning my credentials. Whether or not I had a computer science degree (he knows I do not) and which certificates I had. These questions were not raised when he had asked me to do the web developing for him. They never directly said no to my request, however, the questioning of me and the general reaction felt like a
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  • 05
    Font - As they never said yes to my request for a raise and they started to grill me with questions about my qualifications, I sent out an email stating that I would not be doing web development for my lab. I stated that they saw my web development as valuable, but not enough to give me a raise to do it. They called me in the next day to inform me that I was being highly unprofessional, and I was holding my work hostage from them. AITA for "holding my work hostage." I am still doing my job. I st
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  • 06
    Eye - AvaAutumn25178 · 20h Partassipant [1] 3 1 Award NTA. If they didn't pay for it, it's not theirs. It was created in your own time as you were not being paid to do it. 6 Reply 4 5.9k 3 ...
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  • 07
    Font - StAlvis · 20h Prime Ministurd [424] NTA They called me in the next day to inform me that I was being highly unprofessional, and I was holding my work hostage from them. That's NOT what "holding hostage" means. You can't hold your own property "hostage" – in this case, your skills. By their logic, everyone should work for everyone for free. 6 Reply 1.4k
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  • 08
    Font - NTA This is why you never work for free. It's like you said OP when you were doing it for free on your time they could care less but as soon as you start asking for money they shut you down and said well we can't do that. From now on just focus on your job and your job only. If they want you to continue doing web design or whatever they can pay you extra for it. Also if you can get a log of all the extra hours you've put in and bring it up with the labor department. G Reply 79 3 ...
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  • 09
    Font - RachelWWV • 20h NTA. They decided to play dirty to save money and you outed them publicly, which they were not prepared for. Nothing you said was false. They'll either come around or try to fire you ASAP at this point, so be prepared. G Reply 575 theallwaystnt OP • 20h They have told me that contacted HR over my behavior. I just truly can't even believe it. I have started to send out my resume already, but l've just been questioning everything since then. 4 465 3 ...
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  • 10
    Font - 2 Tschudy · 20h Partassipant [2] NTA but make sure you keep records of what you've made of the should decide to get litigious. If you've developed all of this off the clock, then they cant lay claim to any of it unless theyve got a contract with you aaying otherwise. If you uave a contract, id seriously consider getting a consult from a lawyer on the matter. G Reply 4 257 3 ... theallwaystnt OP · 20h They can keep the code l've written for them it's fine with me. I don't want to deal with
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  • 11
    Font - NTA - you're not holding your work hostage, you know your value. They can either pay for the work or not. It's not okay for them to expect you to do extra work for free. G Reply 4 37 3 ...
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  • 12
    Font - crazeyal · 20h NTA. "Professional" is code for easily misled. You set limits and expect to be compensated for extra work. They may retaliate, but you are not being abusive to them by refusing to do unpaid overtime. You did not say if the company paid for the extra classes. If they did, there may be a bit of a claim on your services, but it sounds like they are just trying to strongarm you. É 6 Reply ↑ 35 ...
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  • 13
    Font - NTA You aren't holding the work hostage from them since they aren't paying for it as you are doing it on your own time. Check your contract to see if they have claim over any work you generate during your employment. Certainly start looking for another job and highlight your programming responsibilities in addition to your lab work - you will likely get a bigger offer than what you're getting paid which if you otherwise love the company you currently work for, you can use to negotiate hig
    via u/theallwaystnt
  • 14
    Head - NTA: I work for pay. You took your personal time to learn new skills. They want you to use them for free, no thank you G Reply 4 11 ...
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  • 15
    Font - NsxKght · 20h NTA - see your contract and point them where it says you need to do programmation. G Reply ...
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  • 16
    Product - steinmas · 19h Partassipant [1] Who'd you send the email to? G Reply ... theallwaystnt OP • 19h My boss, my supervisor, and two other devs on the project with me
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  • 17
    Rectangle - tubbyx7 · 19h NTA - sorry boss, I have only X hours in the day, which work do you want me to prioritise. how much overtime has been approved for pay or TIL? G Reply ...
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  • 18
    Mammal - NeverRarelySometimes · 18h Partassipant [3] You should look around. There is probably a job available for you, somewhere, that would actually pay you for the work they find valuable. Good luck, OP. G Reply ...
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  • 19
    Font - itscoldouttherebrrr • 18h NTA So you are good enough without a degree to do the work, but not good enough to pay you for the work. You aren't holding the work hostage. They are holding your compensation for the work hostage. They release the compensation & they'll get all the work. G Reply 仓29 ...
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  • 20
    Font - nuicybear • 18h NTA... Check your employment through HR and point out what exactly they are paying you for, then ask for the raise they offer to full time It admin normal fee because that's two entirely different jobs... plus your Good luck! G Reply ...
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  • 21
    Human body - HWGA_Exandria · 18h NTA. Go where your time and work is valued OP. Time to spruce up the ol' resumé. G Reply ...
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  • 22
    Rectangle - Difficult_Doctor2793 · 17h NTA. You're not holding your work "Hostage" you're only holding on to YOUR work until you are compensated for it like you should be. You worked on it on YOUR time! G Reply ..
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  • 23
    Rectangle - dessertandcheese · 17h NTA you should probably start looking for a new job too and maybe get some certifications along the way. I dont know how your job will treated you now going forward but better to be safe thank sorry G Reply ...
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