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Message: [QUOTE="nelsonmuntz, post: 5121775, member: 833"] Let me start with: I agree with everyone who said getting a lawyer involved is a bad idea unless there is some kind of union work rules issue we don't know about. There is no upside, and there is lots of downside. It is a seller's market for skilled labor, and likely will be for a long time. Watch out for old-timers that give you advice for how things were back in the day, when the workforce was growing 2.5 to 3.0% a year and the number of college graduates was growing even faster. It was a buyer's market back then for labor. Now, the population is aging rapidly and population growth is slowing dramatically. The US is at an all time high of % of population employed. 330,000 or so people will reach 65 every month for about the next 20 years. One of the underrated phenomena in the labor market is the fact that the stock market is way up over the last 40 or so years, while life expectancy has flat-lined. People do not want to die at their desk, and many people who never made it to the upper reaches of their professions still have very nice savings as a result of the stock market appreciation. I am seeing a lot more GenXers downsize their life and spending, and careers, in anticipation of an early retirement. In other words, an aging and retiring work force is a problem for many companies and they are planning accordingly. A young employee (I think you and wife are in early 30's) that is performing well has value to a company. As for your specific situation, I have seen all the gimmicks to get a bigger raise, and some work better than others, but the best thing she can do is talk to her boss, and loop her boss' boss in, and make her case. She may win the day and get a raise and promotion. She may find out that the previous person who was getting paid more could do things she couldn't, or maybe that person was just overpaid for the value they brought to the company, and the company is normalizing compensation for that role. She may find out that there is resistance in the company to her getting a promotion or a raise, and it is good to know that sooner than later because that problem does not generally go away. A high probability answer is they will split the difference going forward somewhere between what she makes now and what the prior person in the position made. The labor markets are much more efficient and transparent than they were 10 or 20 or certainly 30 years ago. Companies know they have to pay for good people, and, at least anecdotally, they are more proactive at dealing with underperformers, no matter how politically connected those underperformers are. In other words, they will know if there is a disconnect in her work and her compensation. That said, they are not going to volunteer to pay her more, so she should make the case rationally and analytically why she deserves more, and the chips will fall where they may. [/QUOTE]

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