'[I] asked for a raise... Got fired:' Overworked employee asks for reasonable raise but gets terminated instead

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Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Nov 18, 2023 7:00 PM EST

Have you ever been fired? It never feels fair. But maybe after a few weeks, when you've cool off, it starts to feel like the right path for you anyways. However, sometimes you're getting fired and you know it's a gross injustice and it will never not be there. What can you do about that? Well, this Redditor decided to burn some bridges on his way out. But honestly, good for him. All OP did was ask for a raise, and instead he got canned. He's the only employee who has been there since he stated (red flag #1 tbh), and he trains all the newbies, who also tend to not stay very long (red flag #2). So when he asked for a reasonable raise, the manager used every tactic in the book to get around it. OP wasn't having it and instead just walked away. So that lead to him being fired, a gross injustice, but hey, welcome to corporate America! 

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  • 01
    Posted by u/Travelinglogan Asked for a raise...got fired Today I asked to meet with the VP of ops at my job to discuss a possible raise. After being blown off twice we finally sat down. I told him what I wanted and his response was "or what?"
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 02
    I was taken off guard by the response so I said we'll see I guess. I then asked him why he doesn't think I should get it. He proceeded to explain how he'd love to give everyone $100/hr but it has to be even and fair across the board. I reminded him that I'm not asking for $100/hr.
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 03
    At my job, which is a team of 4 people including a manager, I'm the only one with knowledge of how to fully operate the production line. I've trained others in the past but nobody stayed long enough to do it on their own. I told the VP that it doesn't make sense for me to be making the same as the new hire who knows nothing yet. He said that's unrealistic. So now I
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 04
    had to remind him that for the last 6 months not a single finished product would've left the facility if it hadn't gone through me. At this point he began to belittle me and tell me I'm not special and I'm no superstar and that anybody could do my job. I said ok, where are they then? I'm the last one left. All these other people have not lasted. He said
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 05
    that's the wrong perspective to have. I asked what would you do if I wasn't here? He said they'd figure it out. So I said I think this conversation is over you've made yourself clear. I then went out into the shop to continue prep for the days run.
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 06
    The manager brought me back in whereHR was now present. The VP stated as soon as I walked into the office that effective immediately my employment has been suspended. I said go yourself and went to grab my keys. They all followed me out proceeding to tell me I'm handling this wrong. I approached the VP and said I asked you for a raise, to be compensated fairly and your response was to fire me? Go yourself you idiot.
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 07
    EDIT: Wow, the response has been absolutely overwhelming! I totally expected nothing to come from this post. I was really just using it as a way to recount what happened for myself, but everyone's overall support and positivity has really turned out to be a great motivator in moving past this stupid job. I read about 2k comments yesterday and I'd like to address a couple things.
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 08
    1. YES! This really happened. It's really not that far fetched of a story. Incompetent leadership is a plague and exists in most corporate level jobs.
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 09
    2. NO! I will not name names. Unfortunately this company sneaks in a tricky little clause in your employment contract that you won't bad mouth the company by name. As much as I'd like to crucify them I must allow them to remain anonymous as to not end up in litigation as well as risk any UI benefits.
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 10
    3. I will be filling you all in on what happens within the next couple of weeks. While I don't expect them to be calling me back(due to the Molotov I burned the bridge with) I do expect some other shenanigans to occur. I will keep those interested updated.
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 11
    UPDATE: So it's been a couple weeks and I figured I'd give an update to the story for those who were interested. As expected I got no phone call from the company begging me to come back. Although that would've been a sweet conclusion to the whole thing,
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 12
    I've been working on just trying to put them and the experience behind me and all that would have done was brought them back to front and center of my focus and energy. So I'm happy they seem to be trying to do the same. However, they are trying to first class mail me a letter that I'll likely never be around to receive. That could be something but I'm not sure and I'm not really sure I even care.
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 13
    I've been searching for work and unfortunately, the area I live isn't rich in available jobs. I'm sure many of you are experiencing this where you're from. While on the topic of jobs, I'd like to thank those in the comments who have offered jobs to me. That's a truly nice gesture and I appreciate it. It
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 14
    isn't really feasible for me to move across the country for some of those offers but I am thankful for the offers. I'm confident the right job will become available. In the meantime I'll be falling back on my work as a filmmaker. Prior to this job I was producing commercials and social media content for local businesses and brands. It's a passion of mine and at times has been fruitful to me allowing me to survive.
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 15
    That's it really. Not very exciting or juicy, but I'm just a regular dude living in a small town. This is as riveting as it really gets around here. Again I'd like to thank everyone who had positive thoughts to share. Thank you to those who showed any kind of support. This sub is providing a great space for people to share their stories and I'm happy it was there for me when it was. Much Love
    via u/Travelinglogan
  • 16
    Away_Location. he'd love to give everyone $100/hr I've heard similar responses in the past. They throw back these numbers to make your request sound more ridiculous. To him, any is more than you deserve. Good for you for getting out of there!
    via u/Away_Location
  • 17
    ranky26. It's less about making your request ridiculous, and more to derail the conversation to become about everyone else's work/performance/etc. I once asked to discuss salary and had my boss give me the line "If I give one to you, I'll have to give it to everyone else". Never mind that other people doing exactly the same work were on twice my salary.
    via u/ranky26
  • 18
    It was an effective strategy at the time, I didn't know how to respond and it just shut down the conversation entirely, but the correct answer to any of these types of questions is "I'm not here to discuss other employees, this is about me and my work". At other times he tried to use the companies performance (i.e. net revenue) to prevent employees from re-negotiating remuneration, which is also completely irrelevant.
    via u/ranky26
  • 19
    In the longer term it didn't work for my boss, I found another job 3 months later paid nearly 50% more than I'd asked for so jokes on him.
    via u/ranky26
  • 20
    ThaddeusJP . here for the memes The reason they say stuff like this is the same people that say why don't we just make minimum wage $100 an hour. It's because to them an extra dollar might as well be a hundred, might as well be a thousand. They make it so outlandish because the thought of giving someone a raise is outlandish to them.
    via u/ThaddeusJP
  • 21
    whatsmypassword73. I know a truck driver that was amazing, the best one this giant company had, he was their star and because he was also super personable and an all around excellent person they had him take the most important jobs which were always done perfectly. He
    via u/whatsmypassword73
  • 22
    could do twice the work of the other drivers, he asked for a $2 an hour increase as they didn't increase his pay when they kept increasing the new hires. They blew him off, he quit and it took two drivers to do his route and they lost a multi million dollar account because of all the ups. For less than $100 extra a week, some companies are just too stupid. You are going to be so much better somewhere new, cheers!
    via u/whatsmypassword73
  • 23
    Day MantisToboggan 2 yr. ago Owners at my last place of employment literally said, "I'd rather go out of business than to unionize." Fired employees, kept his family and his close friends and got his wish--out of business by the end of the year. I don't understand the logic of people
    via u/DayMantisToboggan
  • 24
    FIRED
    via ANTONI SHKRABA production via Pexels

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