TL:DR
No, you can’t be sacked for asking for a pay rise; at least not in the UK. So that’s good to know. But despite the law being very clear on this, it remains one of the biggest fears for those who want to ask for a pay rise but worry about any potential consequences.
And really, why would your employer want to lose you as a valued employee? Apart from anything else, there would be a significant cost and risk involved in replacing you. Let’s take a look at this subject from a few different angles and by the end I am sure you will be reassured that you have little to fear. And potentially much to gain.
Contents:
Intro – can you be sacked for asking for a pay rise?
The logical – why would your manager fire you?
The legal – UK pay rise law
The practical – recruiting is expensive
Social proof – do people get fired just for asking for a raise?
Should you ask for a pay rise?
What is a reasonable pay rise to expect?
Tips – how to ask for a pay rise
Introduction: Can you be sacked for asking for a pay rise?
This question comes up a lot because it represents the doomsday scenario. In other words, the worst negative “what if” outcome you can imagine that feels plausible.
Why do we start thinking like this? It’s often because we lack a little confidence in how to approach our managers. We don’t want to risk being turned down because that would make us feel worse.
So instead we catastrophise, turning the more realistic “they might say no” into the terrifying “What if I lose everything by asking for just a little more than I currently have?” Maybe I shouldn’t rock the boat. Better safe than sorry, after all.”
That gives us the excuse we need not to take any action. Instead we will just sit back and feel increasingly hard done by. Hey, we’ve all done it.
But should this particular “what if” be a worry at all? Can you actually be sacked for asking for a pay rise – and if you can, how likely is it to happen?
Putting aside the principle that anything is possible in theory, no it really isn’t. For all sorts of logical, legal and practical reasons that we are going to look at next.
Get the book – Because I’m Worth It: How to Ask for a Pay Rise
The logical – why would your manager fire you?
What you are really suggesting is that asking for a pay rise could so incense your boss that their very first reaction would be to immediately lash out and fire you.
Does this sound at all likely to you in reality? I mean, you know your boss but in my 30 plus years’ experience of managing I have never heard of anyone reacting like this. Does your manager regularly fire people for this reason?
Ok, if you held a knife to their throat and threatened them to pay you more or else (please don’t do this) then I could see why they’d be upset. But assuming you are going to ask them nicely, then it will be much easier for them to just say “no, sorry”. Or “yes, of course you deserve one”.
I am telling you now that I cannot imagine a sane boss ever choosing to sack a valued employee for up the subject of a pay rise. In fact, if it’s done in the right way (the very reason I wrote my book) it can help to build a stronger relationship with your manager.
The legal – UK pay rise law
Here in the UK you are well protected in most circumstances as a paid employee.
Unless you somehow managed to commit gross misconduct whilst asking your manager the question (you weren’t planning on assaulting them) then your manager wouldn’t have any legal grounds to justify your sacking. Both the law and your company’s HR department would be on your side, not your manager’s.
There are also specific laws that cover things like your right to the national minimum wage (NMW), regardless of where you work, how big your employer is or what role you perform. Click here for the latest national minimum wage amount
Different employment laws ensure that you can’t be paid less than someone else due to your sex, marital status, race, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion or belief. Or whether you work part-time, are on a fixed-term contract, or a member of a trade union.
The practical – recruiting is expensive
Something else I can tell you from experience is that replacing a productive member of staff is rarely a cheap, easy and smooth process for a company. In fact it’s normally quite the opposite.
If you have ever tried to recruit people you will also know just how long it can take. And how much effort is involved: Writing ads, job descriptions, holding interviews, waiting on notice periods, completing all the paperwork, running inductions, setting up and doing all the training. It is, frankly, a pain in the a**e.
Then you have the very real possibility of discovering, several months later, that the person you hired is nowhere near as good as the person who left.
Managers know this. Which is another reason why managers don’t just sack people without an exceptionally good reason.
Get the book – Because I’m Worth It: How to Ask for a Pay Rise
The social proof – do people get fired just for asking for a raise?
Ask yourself this – can you think of anyone in real life who has been sacked for asking for a raise? I know I can’t. Not among my friends, my colleagues or members of my family. Not even anecdotal stories from friends of friends. Like, literally no-one.
And I’ve heard some pretty strange things over the years. The craze for eating Tide washing tablets. Reality TV stars becoming presidents and prime ministers. But not this. There’s probably something in that.
Should you ask for a pay rise?
If you feel strongly that you are being underpaid currently, and you can back that up with hard evidence, then yes you should.
There is a basic principle to keep in mind here, and that is that you should always be paid fairly for the work that you are doing. “Fairly” in the UK means the going rate that another company would have to pay you in order to secure your services.
You can find a whole article here that covers When is it OK to ask for a pay rise?
What is a reasonable pay rise to expect?
Working out the going rate for your role is pretty straightforward to do.
Just head to your nearest online job board and look for roles that are comparable to the one you are doing. Try to look for similar sized companies based in similar locations to you.
Then start listing out the salaries being advertised and compare them to what you are being paid now. If you are confident the roles are similar, and that you would stand a reasonable chance of getting the job if you applied, then you can be comfortable comparing the salaries.
That will give you a good indication of how much you should be thinking of asking for.
You can find a whole article here that covers What is a reasonable pay rise to ask for?
Tips – how to ask for a pay rise
There is a skill to asking for a raise in a way that gives you the best chance of actually getting the increase you are looking for. And it is a skill that you can easily learn.
I wouldn’t recommend asking for a pay rise by email, by the way. It is definitely something to do face-to-face. You can find a whole page dedicated to the subject here: Best way to ask for a pay rise
Your best option, though, is to buy a copy of the book “Because I’m Worth It: How to Ask For a Pay Rise”.
Get the book – Because I’m Worth It: How to Ask for a Pay Rise
It contains all the tips you need for negotiating a salary increase or pay raise, complete with examples and a troubleshooting guide. Together with specific sections for asking at a small company or if your manager actually owns the company.
It’s available now on Amazon.