‘I’m furious. I’m disgusted I work for this company’: Boss offers employee a $1 promotional raise, then hires someone in the employee's current role before he accepts the offer

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Sep 26, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

Let's be honest: We're approaching a recession, if we aren't already in one. Times are tough, and nobody can afford their bare minimum lifestyles. It feels like all of our hard work has amounted to a big frown and a chuckle from the C-suite executives at our respective companies. When will they stop treating employees like cattle and instead treat them like human beings with significant assets? Your answer is as good as mine, but it seems like nothing about this dreadful power imbalance changes in this next story.

An employee who has been at his company for nearly two years was vying for the opportunity to be promoted within his company. Career advancement in this hiring climate is few and far between, but he was delighted to hear that he was chosen for the opportunity—until he realized the promotion consisted of a mere one-dollar raise.

A stronger role in a company is usually paired with a sizeable but appropriate pay raise. This is the bare minimum, yet higher-ups are attempting to train employees below them to take what they can get. It's a travesty. Nothing will come from accepting offensive, lowball offers. So the employee refuses to accept, even when his current role is no longer available.

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  • N "I do not care how it is built into the budget, do not offer the promotion if you cannot pay for it."
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • "Am I right to be upset with my employer after forcing me into a “promotion”, giving away my job before I accepted, and giving me a $1 increase?"

    I have worked for my current employer for 2 years now, and have loved it. I have felt they are a great company, who cares about their employees.
    via CapitalM-E
  • I made $24/hour. Well I expressed interest in chasing an upcoming promotion, and one day it was offered to me! I was so excited.
    via CapitalM-E
  • It would mean great career advancement and I would gain so much experience. It would over double my work load, but in my interview when they told me that I was eager for the challenge.
    via CapitalM-E
  • Then my boss goes "The pay starts at $25/hour." I told them I could not accept the position for $1/hour more, and she said she would have to talk to the regional manager.
    via CapitalM-E
  • I asked her a few more times and she kept just saying "He hasn't responded." Then a few days later, she made a big announcement that someone else in the office had been promoted to my old position.
    via CapitalM-E
  • boss shaking hands with new hire who is replacing another employee
    via Tahir osman For Unsplash+

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Even though I had not accepted the new job yet. I asked her again, any word on the salary? She said nothing (this is 2 days before I'm supposed to start the new job).
    via CapitalM-E
  • Finally I ask a different manager, and she goes "Oh she didn't tell you? You are going to have to wait until merit reviews in February to get a better increase."
    via CapitalM-E
  • I'm furious. I'm disgusted I work for this company. The fact that I have to wait for merit reviews to get compensated for a promotion has me ready to quit tomorrow.
    via CapitalM-E
  • Accomplished_Emu_658 Look for a job, then leave. Use your new title to its max on resume. It is a big thing now to give promotions now and raises later. To dangle the money for better performance
    via Accomplished_Emu_658
  • Hot_Performance_7710 Use the new title to pad the resume and g o of that wormy place. $1.00 increase for 2x the work load. Complete disrespect. Tell your boss you didn't leave your position, so did they fire you?
    via Hot_Performance_7710
  • CapitalM-E Feels like it. Some promotion. There's plenty of better paying opportunities in my field, the job search has begun.
    via CapitalM-E
  • Beneficial-Sell4117 Take your new title with a smile and slap it on your resumè, you would be surprised how common it is nowadays for employees to advance for the sole purpose of jumping ship. If they want to play scummy in your face, they don't deserve to know you're going behind their back.
    via Beneficial-Sell4117
  • LeadershipBudget744 Find another job then negotiate or put in 2 weeks, this exploitation.
    via LeadershipBudget744
  • CapitalM-E I will not negotiate with them. I shouldn't have to find a new job to leverage an increase. Once I have an offer, my notice is put in
    via CapitalM-E
  • LeadershipBudget744 That's awesome, if enough people refuse to accept unethical working conditions, things could actually improve. Good luck!
    via LeadershipBudget744
  • pdaphone You need to take a chill pill on this and give them the benefit of the doubt until you go through a pay cycle or two. I've worked in a lot of companies in management and they are all different. But in most cases different levels of positions have different pay ranges, and a higher level will have a higher range. Where you are in that range impacts all raises you receive because you won't get raises if you are close to maxing out, but if you are low in the range and performing the role w
    via pdaphone
  • In my last company before I retired earlier this year, if I wanted to give someone a raise outside the normal annual increase, or a promotion, I had to submit the request the fall of the year before, and it had to get approved in the budget cycle, and the employee wouldn't see any of that until 6-9 months later. If they gave you this promotion and it wasn't planned through the budget cycle, its very possible they didn't budget you for a bigger raise, and will have to wait. And also, if you were
    via pdaphone
  • If you don't want to screw up your current new role, I'd suggest you calmly express to your manager that you had expectations of and greater increase, but understand they are saying you need to wait through the next raise cycle. Then kill it in the new role to show them they didn't make a mistake in promoting you. They aren't wrong that you will have greater visibility, and that can be good or bad. If that
    via pdaphone
  • visibility lets them see that you are an ungrateful problem employee, then you would have been better off to keep your mouth shut and work your old job. If you truly want to excel, then you need to have patience. They most likely aren't out to get you as it takes work to promote someone and get them raises, and there are budget cycles that managers have to work in.
    via pdaphone
  • CapitalM-E I'm not going to work my a off for $1 more an hour. That's why employers do these things, because people get talked into it. I do not care how it is built into the budget, do not offer the promotion if you cannot pay for it
    via CapitalM-E

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