Employee quits 3 months after senior-level promotion when company refuses to give him a raise: 'My manager called me unprofessional during the resignation meeting'

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Sep 28, 2024 7:00 PM EDT

After putting in countless hours of extra work on a big project, this employee thought a promotion would be his ticket to finally being compensated for all the extra effort. His managers gave him plenty of praise, so when the senior-level role opened up, he threw his hat in the ring. But what should have been a reward for his hard work quickly turned into a nightmare.

After multiple rounds of interviews and weeks of waiting, he landed the promotion—only to find out there wouldn't be a raise to match his new responsibilities. Instead, he was told he'd have to wait a full year for them to "reevaluate" his pay. More work, no extra pay, and lots of empty promises. He tried to stick it out, but after three months of feeling completely disrespected, he decided enough was enough. When he resigned, his manager had the nerve to call him "unprofessional" during the resignation meeting, as if expecting fair pay for hard work was somehow out of line. But in the end, he knew he made the right call—because respect shouldn't have to wait for a yearly evaluation.

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  • 01
    r/ r/WorkAdvice • 2 days Scary-Mushroom-1996 Promoted but no pay raise. Boss got upset even I resigned. Am I being unprofessional? Typo in title: "even" -> "when"
    via u/Scary-Mushroom-1996
  • 02
    In March, I was assigned a large scale project which was budgeted for a more senior technical role. Basically I was doing 2x the work with the same pay. I worked my axx off because I thought I could be promoted to said role after the project (i was
    via u/Scary-Mushroom-1996
  • 03
    given high praise by mgrs throughout and expressed explicitly my desire for the promotion). However two months later, It turned out the company posted a generic job listing for similar role in my team. I went through the full-length
    via u/Scary-Mushroom-1996
  • 04
    I went through the full-length interviews (2 tech+2 mgr rounds, lasting 1.5 months), aced it, beating 50+ candidates and got the role (with the word "senior" in the title). Later to be informed that I would only know the pay increment in March NEXT YEAR(subject to project review)
    via u/Scary-Mushroom-1996
  • 05
    because I "missed the review cycle". And we were only in June. I asked the mgr twice if the salary review could be done sooner, given my new role and workload, only to no avail (didn't even give rough range). Earlier in September, I gave my
    via u/Scary-Mushroom-1996
  • 06
    two weeks' notice, only 3 months into the new role. The workload was only tolerable but most importantly I felt disrespected. My skip mgr called me "a bit unprofessional " during the resignation meeting, mentioning
    via u/Scary-Mushroom-1996
  • 07
    1) all the effort they put into interviewing candidates, 2) "investment" into me(none yet) and 3) leaving in the middle of the project. Am I being unprofessional? *Edit1: how much would this
    via u/Scary-Mushroom-1996
  • 08
    negatively affect my future career when I have to do reference check? *Edit2: thanks for all the supportitive comments (i can't like them all!). I admit I came here wanting to rant but read so many similar stories in the comments. I hope this post
    via u/Scary-Mushroom-1996
  • 09
    provides some consolation for those people in the same sucky situation as me! *Edit3: yes I got a much better offer elsewhere :) *Edit4: they did try to counter- offer but I respectfully declined because 1)I found it offensive to
    via u/Scary-Mushroom-1996
  • 10
    try now, 2)couldn't/wouldn't accept anyway and 3) didn't want to burn bridges. I absolutely did not say anything negative, only appreciation to maintain the relationship, but still got called names. It is a big corporation btw.
    via u/Scary-Mushroom-1996
  • 11
    Multispice 2d ago your manager. Calling you unprofessional after they gave you a "promotion" without a pay raise and made a future pay raise conditional is absolute
    via u/Multispice
  • 12
    NeitherMaterial4968 • 2d ago Don't do any extra work unless you are getting paid for it.
    via u/NeitherMaterial4968
  • 13
    Phoenixlllini • 2d ago. I understand raises being tied to review cycles for those who don't change roles. But your situation doesn't make sense. If they had hired an external candidate would they have not paid the new hire until March? You did the right thing by resigning.
    via u/Phoenixlllini
  • 14
    PoppysWorkshop • . 2d ago Edited 2d ago • Nope, you are looking out for yourself. Move on. Do not tell your boss where you are going. And block his phone number and emails. Your response should have been: "Well you're a bit cheap heaping on more work on me, giving me the promotion, and NOT giving me a commensurate pay raise. Now you will have to go back into the interview process, spend all your time and money AND most likely be
    via u/PoppysWorkshop
  • 15
    paying a lot more for the new person. No.. It's YOU who are being unprofessional." Being stupid has its consequences, and your old boss is now finding out. WAR STORY: I was at a long-time job and got recruited to a Fortune 500 Defense company at a much higher pay. I put in my notice. A few days later when my current boss slipped a piece of paper across to me with a counteroffer, I refused to turn it over. I told him if I turned it
    via u/PoppysWorkshop
  • 16
    over and it even came close to matching my new offer I would be insulted as he could have been giving me better than $300/year pay raises for the last 7 years, he didn't value my work in those 7 years. If I flip it over and it is not anywhere near I will be insulted, as he certainly does not value what I bring to the organization as i have saved them millions of dollars, and have brought their technologies to the cutting edge in the industry. He was not happy, his face and neck were turning red.
    via u/PoppysWorkshop
  • 17
    • OliverClothesOff70 2d ago "If being professional is an important quality here, you should probably ask yourself how professional you were being when you made the intentional choice to not compensate me fairly for the additional work you demanded."
    via u/OliverClothesOff70
  • 18
    • jerry111165 2d ago • Not being unprofessional at all and you're being taken advantage of. We get up in the morning and go to work for one single reason... Remember that.
    via u/jerry111165
  • 19
    drtij_dzienz • drtij dzienz 2d ago • No it's just business, they are being unprofessional by giving you a sour taste as you leave. Unfortunately it's common
    via u/drtij_dzienz
  • 20
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    via Unsplash (Getty Images)

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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salary promotion boss employee job revenge work i quit raise Horrible Bosses entitled company karma quitting employment
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