Boss approves employee's email asking client for a raise, backtracks and chews them out when client denies it, cuts their salary by 30%

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  via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

• When dealing with a client, you hope that you and your boss are on the same page. It can be a difficult relationship to manage, and you have to contend with a lot of different personalities. But you hope that you can come at it as a team and be on the same side of it. That's not what happened in this story, where an employee did their best to come to an agreement with their boss, but found that they sold her out when push came to shove. Everyone should be able to advocate for themselves and ask for what they need. That's what this employee tried to do, and then it backfired. She was left wondering what to do to pick up the pieces after the situation erupted. 

• "I’m dealing with a situation at work that has left me completely stunned and honestly sick to my stomach.

  I work in the entertainment finance industry doing bookkeeping and administrative work for very wealthy clients (film/TV actors, Broadway, etc.). One of the clients I handle has gotten significantly busier over the last couple of years, and the workload on my end has increased a lot.

  Because of that, I asked my boss if it would be appropriate to request a raise from the client given how much the scope of work had grown. My boss agreed and told me to send the client an email proposing the new amount and explaining why.

  I actually sat on the email for about a week because I was nervous and wanted to make sure the amount was fair. I’m not a greedy person. Before sending it, I even read the entire email out loud to my boss and asked if it was okay to send. My boss said yes and specifically told me I was right to ask for an increase.

  So I sent the email.

  A couple days later, the client replied saying they had already spoken with my boss and that my boss had told them the increase would only be a much smaller amount, which was the number they were willing to agree to. I had no idea my boss had already discussed a number with them.

  A few days after that, my boss suddenly started acting very cold toward me. Short responses, refusing to talk on the phone, and generally treating me differently. For context, this person is actually a close family friend, so I could immediately sense something was off.

  I eventually asked them directly if something was wrong and asked them to call me to discuss it. They refused and said we would talk about it in person.

  When we finally did, it turned into a full berating session. My boss claimed the client “took my email as a threat” and said that after speaking with the client’s family they basically decided that I am “not worth the money I’m paid.”

  Then they told me they will be cutting my pay by about 30% later this year.

  I reminded them that they had fully approved the email before I sent it, but they refused to take any responsibility for that the situation at all.

  Now I still have to show up to work every day and deal with someone I used to consider almost like family while they act like everything is normal. Meanwhile I’m sick to my stomach every day knowing my income is about to drop drastically.

  I’m a mom with two kids and this has me feeling like I’m counting down to doomsday. I’ve started looking for other jobs because I don’t see how I can stay in a situation this toxic.

  Am I crazy for thinking this is completely unfair? What would you do in my situation?

  **TL;DR: My boss approved an email asking a client for a raise because my workload increased. After I sent it, the client said my boss had already promised them a lower number. My boss then blamed me for the situation and is now instead cutting my pay by 35% later this year." - lilly_llama

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  via u/lilly_llama
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  via u/lilly_llama
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  via u/lilly_llama
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  via u/lilly_llama
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  via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

• Commenters tried to better understand what was going on here and how it was going to affect the employee in question. She tried her best to go about the situation in an above-board way, but that's not what ended up happening. Commenters tried to give ideas on how to navigate this difficult moment and tips and tricks based on their prior experiences. But with stories like these, sometimes the best course of action is to communicate the best you can and let the chips fall where they may. Keep reading to get the full scope of the story.

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  via u/lilly_llama
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