salary increases

What date are salary increases for passing exams effective from for most people? I have always had it for the month the results come out, backdated but my new job is only doing it from january onwards.

Bit annoyed!

 

Exam awards/increases at my place of employment are awarded at the next salary run after the results have come out.

 

without being backdated? so for this time round it would be jan

 

No backdating at all. For the CTs results came out before the salary run they got the increase in Dec. For higher they came out after so increase in Jan.

 

So glad someone asked this

I passed my first exam in the September sitting but wasn't sure if I would get a pay rise, my boss hasn't mentioned anything to me yet but I am their first student and they are still finalising training stuff.

Is is standard practice for Actuarial Students to get a pay increase per exam?

I'm still new to all this

 

Hi dopeyS, yes it is normal to get a pay rise when you pass exams, there are normally standard increases per exam (£x for CTs, £y for STs etc). As it's been a while since the results it's best to ask your employer, even if they haven't had a student before. There's something on the actuarial profession's website too which they should read - employers' guide.

http://www.actuaries.org.uk/students/guidance_for_employers

 

Since I do not get exam increases ... never.

 

capitalH are you based in UK?

 

I work for AXA and they back date it to the month after you sat the exam. So in this case it would be back dated to 1st November.

 

No - South Africa

 

Can anyone tell me if they're experiencing this....I've been told I won't get an annual pay rise because I just received one for qualifying! There are only 2 actuaries here where I work (including me), the other is qualified for 4 years.

The annual pay rise should be separate, as I think actuarial students work hard to get qualified, giving up weekends as well. I'm so annoyed!

 

mnemonic, I would agree, that is a joke, and would have annoyed me too.

Of course a lot of companies are taking a hard line on salary increases at the moment, but the excuse you've been given is obviously rubbish. I suppose when there's a focus on minimising pay increases they think someone who's already had a pay rise that year is least likely to complain about not getting another rise, but this approach ignores the fact that your market value as an employee has just jumped up because you've qualified (which is why they gave you the qualification increase), as well as you gaining another year of experience (which is why you'd normally expect an annual increase, as well as to counter the effect of inflation).

I suspect if you were to go and get a job offer elsewhere for more money, they'll suddenly reconsider, what with recruitment costs etc, and make you a counteroffer. Ultimately, if you can't negotiate with them, this is all you can do I suppose. At least if you have a chat with a recruiter they could give you some feedback as to how your current salary compares with what's avaialble given your experience etc.

 

Hie Mnemonic

I was going to ask u abt your situation but thought otherwise. Where I work an actuary gets into a new grade. Add up all the exam awards and you wont get up to a qualifieds salary (especially if we are talking of a person of your experience). Effectively we can call it a promotion (comes with lot of other benefits too). So I was wondering why you were concerned at all about the awards. I am thinking it's a small company u work for (since u are the second actuary). Is that not your real problem?

 

It is wrong I agree, not sure how much negotiation strength you can have at the moment though.

I was once told that I also cannot receive an increase because of the merit award I received (very small cash sum - about equal to 3 months of the salary increase). When I asked if this means that I do not an increase because I did well and worked hard, the light went on about how ridiculous it was.

 

mattt78 and capitalH, thanks. Yes the question I had was if I hadn't qualified, would I be getting my annual pay rise - it seems unfair that I won't be considered for one just because I worked hard to finish my exams (including weekends and evenings, which was something not seen by my boss), but all others are getting some sort of pay rise.

If the excuse was that they felt I hadn't worked hard enough or I'd made bad mistakes / performed badly, I would accept it. But the whole review my boss told me how pleased she was with my progress and that she'd only received good feedback about my work and behaviour from my colleagues.

I've been here for a year, so don't know about negotiation. I can't argue that it's custom to give an inflationary pay rise, as I wouldn't know what the custom is.

My boss also highlighted as there's been a lot of upheaval (lots of resignations - so the budget should have accounted for those people that left as well), that she can see it's put my career back a year. Surely this is more of a reason to give me my annual pay rise. I really don't know whether to bring this up again, or to keep quiet. I feel I am not being treated equally and it's horrible and as though I'm punished for trying to get more training and qualifications - which is ultimately better for the company.

 

Sounds like they probably just haven't thought it through - if you're one of only two actuaries in the company, its probably just something they haven't had to think about before, or just don't really get it. I don't think there's much harm in questioning these things, and even if they don't change anything this year, they may give you a bit more of an increase next year.

I don't know where you are or what area you work in, but my recent experience (london general insurance market) is that there are plenty of people hiring at the moment - actuaries are still in demand, so I'd suggest at least talking to a few recruiters or at least looking through some advertised jobs to get an idea of if you could earn more elsewhere. Knowledge is power, as they say.

 

Send them a link to this thread, and tell them "Hey, look the exact same thing happened to this other guy calling himself mnemonic, and he also works for a company with only 2 actuaries, and just qualified and everybody thinks his boss abusing the situation."

Maybe they will see the flaws in their logic and double your pay.


PS: Tongue-in-cheek, not suggesting that you really do it.

Depending on what relationship you have with your boss, you can maybe just have a chat with them. I would not go all the way and threaten with leaving - I believe that you will sour the relationship if you do that, but maybe just a good honest chat?

 

@capitalH : haha, that would be very funny! I've decided to have a chat and to put my points forward as concisely as possible.

@mattt78: yes, there are jobs around and I will be looking but because I've realised it's not where I want to be. I think my boss is using me to cut costs (one of her performance objectives) and going about it the wrong way. I've also noticed that the people who don't do any work, but can talk and act like they do, have had pay rises but I don't know to what extent.

Also, it's not about me trying to earn as much as I can, I'm actually appalled by the lack of principles - I want to work somewhere that's fair.

Thanks for the help and I'll let you know what happens.....if you're interested!

 

LOL I'd psyched myself up all morning on the way in to work on having the discussion and she's not even in! You've got to laugh!