Boss decreases employee's pay from $22 to $20/hr without reason, employee threatens to quit: 'Work your wage, they want less effort'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Oct 24, 2025 10:00 PM EDT

It's never a great idea to quit a job with no backup plan. You may feel a flurry of inspiration and want to quit in a moment of rage, but in the back of your mind, you know that you shouldn't because it's not easy to find a new job. It's a tough world out there, even if you're qualified and willing. Jobs get hundreds of applications, and it can be hard to make yours stand out from the crowd. So it's no wonder that some folks want to hold onto their jobs for dear life, even after they've gotten sick of it. There are a lot of reasons why someone would stay in a situation that wasn't particularly working, so it's nobody's place to judge. 

But everyone has a final straw. Everyone has the thing that would make them fully quit. The thing that they just couldn't stand, no matter what. You don't care if you don't have a backup plan; you just can't stand to do that particular thing. A reasonable one would be a pay decrease. 

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  • A woman puts her hand to her brow at her desk, upset.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • It's hard enough to fight for a pay increase in this day and age. But even if you don't get it, you hope, at the very least, that your pay will stay the same. You don't think about what would happen if it went downhill. But that's what happened to this person, and it was looking like their last straw. Read on for details. 

  • Thinking of quitting my job...

    My wage was just reduced $2 an hour. From $22 to $20. I think this might just be the final straw for me. I've been with this company the last year and a half. It just seems so petty to do that. I feel like I got kicked in the balls. I feel I have more reasons to leave than to stay. They don't even have a good
    via u/FoIds
  • valid reason to do this. $22 an hour is fuck all these days and doesn't equate to a lot more then $20 an hour. I just feel like I got shit on and betrayed. I don't have another job lined up but I'll survive without this one if I quit. I just feel intuitively it's time to move and pursue something else with my life.
    via u/FoIds

  • Commenters gave their two cents.

    Single_Scallion 7012 Don't give notice.
    via u/Single_Scallion7012
  • OutRunTerminator · 10h ago They have made it clear that you are worth less now. Best to be cool and transition into a better job. Don't let the anger derail your personal economics, just funnel it into getting a better job.
    via u/OutRunTerminator
  • virgilreality • 9h ago . The phrase you (and your attorney) are looking for is "constructive dismissal".
    via u/virgilreality
  • oxfay 9h ago Until you do, please make your work effort commensurate to the amount they decided you were worth.
    via u/oxfay
  • Savings-Delay-1075 • 8h ago I got a full time job at a car parts factory way back in '91 but I worked there as a temp several times before that. It started out fine, they gave raises out fairly regularly, had good benefits, vacations were decent, a few fringe benefits, nothing crazy but ok. Well, along around the year 2001, the economy took a shit and the company started to slip as well.
    via u/Savings-Delay-1075
  • To stem the threat of layoffs they cut employee pay by 3 dollars an hour. They assured everyone it was just a temporary cut of maybe a year. I worked there another 9 years and we never got it back. After the cut in pay I watched them stop all raises, increased the insurance premiums every year, we lost most of the paid holidays, and
    via u/Savings-Delay-1075
  • they took half of everyone's vacation time back permanently only allowing 2 weeks off max yearly, and took every single fringe benefit away. You are right to follow your gut... I wish I would've. It never got better after the pay cut there and I wasted too much time there thinking it just might.
    via u/Savings-Delay-1075
  • A woman looks upset at her computer at work.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • ztravlr 9h ago Make them fire you so you can get unemployment if you don't have a job lined up.
    via u/ztravlr
  • Wolphin8 9h ago Get a new job first... then only give them the legally required notice. Head from one, if you take an extended break (or "doctor's appointment), while dressed nicely and have a folder with
    via u/Wolphin8
  • you, might shock them to giving you more pay, for the fact they realise they might lose you. While quitting is good, the job. market is very, very, very bad.
    via u/Wolphin8
  • Sandman1025. 9h ago What reason did they give you? You need to leave immediately.
    via u/Sandman1025
  • TheRealGageEndal • 5h ago No, no, no. People are saying not to give notice, but that's not far enough. You need to volunteer to take on large projects and make yourself invaluable. NOW you can quit without notice or a call. Make them have to scramble and hopefully lose some money. Screw em.
    via u/TheRealGageEndal
  • jonahtrav⚫ 3h ago Hey man, that's tough but first find a job. I know your instinct is just a walk in there and tell him you quit and I would feel the same also but I think how much better would feel to have a job lined up to start fresh on a Monday and you go in there on a Friday and you say I quit. I found a job and they get all upset but not your problem.
    via u/jonahtrav
  • MembershipKlutzy1... They don't value you. You need to go.
    via u/MembershipKlutzy1476
  • • last_rights 8h ago $2 an hour is just over $4,000 annually if you're full time. $4,000 is enough to retire on if you invest from age 20-65. At that point you will have $1.36 million. That's not anything to scoff at, and that's at a fairly reasonable 7% annual return. $2 is nothing to the company and everything for you.
    via u/last_rights
  • Honestbabe2021 8h ago • I agree on the don't give notice but don't cut your nose off to spite your face. They've shown you what they are so you have closure. Will you be able to survive without money? For how long? How's the job market re what you do for a living? Lastly, fuck those animals. I hope you find something that pays triple.
    via u/Honestbabe2021
  • McDuchess • 7h ago Don't quit. Yet. Find another job. Give yourself two weeks between jobs to decompress from this one, and then quit.
    via u/McDuchess
  • Years ago, I had a job I lived. Till my manager took a substantially better job elsewhere, many the person who replaced her was objectively terrible. I found a new job, but she was out of town at a conference. I sent her my notice with a total of 10 calendar days till I'd quit.
    via u/McDuchess
  • In the meantime, my coworker went on emergency FMLA, because her little girl was DXed with leukemia. She was down to the one lazy jerk who she'd hired, against the advice of myself and my coworker. That was the best revenge possible.
    via u/McDuchess
  • ImaHalfwit •4h ago Your better move is to quiet quit and start looking for a job so that they are paying you to find a new job. If they fire you before, file for unemployment. If you find a new job, don't give notice just no call no show the day you start your new job.
    via u/ImaHalfwit
  • People say all the time that businesses never give employees notice...but that's not true. They cut your pay 10%...that's essentially them giving you notice. So use this time to firm up your finances, save as much as you can, and look for a job that pays more than $22/hour.
    via u/ImaHalfwit
  • Lynx3145.4h ago work your wage, they want less effort. find something better.
    via u/Lynx3145
  • Independent-You-6... . 6h ago If you'll survive, then quit now. There are so many people who are unfortunate enough to not have any means of quitting without a job lined up and would have to take whatever bullshit an employer throws at them.
    via u/Independent-You-6180
  • agent007g. 5h ago $20 an hour is more than $0. Pursue other things sure but stay employed until you find something
    via u/agent007g
  • ResonanceThruWallz 1h ago • I would not leave until you have something, My giant corporation just did a hiring freeze for the first time since 2008. Strong indicator that the market is crashing. once you have a job then I wouldnt give notice I would just start working at the next job and never show back up
    via u/ResonanceThruWallz

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