How to ask for a pay rise

What's the average UK salary?

The average UK salary is around £35,000, but this will vary greatly based on what job you do, how senior you are and where you work. For example in London, the average salary is £44,370, while in the North East it’s £31,200. 

What is a decent pay rise?

As a general rule of thumb, a pay rise of between 3-5% is considered decent, but this should not put you off asking for more if you think you are being underpaid, or if your living costs have risen considerably. When inflation is high this makes everyday costs more expensive, which can be easier to ask for a pay rise so your wage is in line with the cost of living. Some companies provide inflation-linked pay rises each year, usually averaging around 1-2%.

Read more: What is inflation?

Are you entitled to a pay rise every year?

Although you don’t have a right to a pay rise every year unless your employment contract outlines this, you can ask for your pay to be reviewed if you feel your role has changed or if your wage no longer reflects the cost of living. However, remember that unless it’s part of your employment contract, your employer is under no obligation to give you a pay rise.

However, there are ways to negotiate a pay increase. Keep reading to find out our top tips for how to ask for a pay rise:

5 tips on how to ask for a pay rise

1. Arrange a meeting

If your company provides annual performance reviews, this is the perfect time to ask for a pay rise. If this isn’t something your company offers or your next review is a number of months away, there’s no harm in asking your boss for a meeting to discuss your performance and review your pay. Keep things simple with a short email. You might say:  “I’d like to arrange a meeting with you to discuss my performance. Do you have any availability next week?”

2. Research salaries in your industry and role level

Before you negotiate your salary, you need to know how much you could expect to earn if you worked for another company. Research average salaries in your industry with the help of salary calculators and Indeed Salaries Search. Use this information as a guide, but don’t be afraid of asking for slightly more than you think you deserve. Your employer will probably try to negotiate with you, so you may come away with less than you originally asked for, which is why asking for more to begin with can sometimes be helpful. 

3. Emphasise the benefits you bring to the business

We know what’s in it for you, but what’s in it for your boss? To boost your chances of getting a bigger salary, you’ll need to emphasise just how valuable you are to the company. If you can, have a list of clear results you can say you’ve delivered, or things that are above and beyond your job description.

Here are a few things to think about:

• Skills and specialisms: Do you have any skills that set you apart from your colleagues? Are there any tools or pieces of equipment that only you are trained to use? Perhaps you specialise in a subject that’s valuable to your employer. If so, be sure to bring this up during your meeting.
• Training and qualifications: Have you completed any courses or training programmes during your time at the company? If you’ve improved your skills or expanded your knowledge since your last pay review, you’ll be more valuable to the company than you were before.
• Financial wins: If you’ve hit a sales record, won new clients or found innovative ways to save the company money, make a note of these achievements before you ask for a pay rise. You’ll find it easier to negotiate if you have a proven track record for boosting the company’s bottom line.
• Leadership skills: If you’re looking for a promotion rather than just a pay rise, make your leadership skills the main focus of the meeting. Perhaps you led the way on an exciting project or helped junior members of staff overcome a particular challenge. Whatever it is, don’t be afraid of singing your own praises. 

4. Reference positive feedback

You can strengthen your case by giving examples of positive feedback you’ve received from managers and colleagues. Note down compliments you’ve received via email, or over Teams or Slack. Screenshot your glowing LinkedIn recommendations. It all counts!

5. Be willing to walk away

If your boss says no to a pay rise, are you confident you can find another job? If so, you’re in a great position because you have nothing to lose! A willingness to walk away can be a powerful negotiation strategy, but whatever you do, don’t threaten to leave if your negotiation is unsuccessful! Instead, take the rejection and use it as motivation to find a new role where you’ll be appropriately compensated. 

Learn more: I saved a £30k house deposit in 4 years. Here’s how I did it.

What not to say when asking for a raise?

“Give me a pay rise or I’ll quit!”

Threatening to quit if you don’t get what you want is unlikely to result in a pay rise. If you don’t want to damage your relationship with your employer, keep the meeting positive and focus on the benefits you bring to the business.

“I’ve been approached by another company.” 

If you’ve been offered a higher salary elsewhere but you’d rather stay in your current job, you may be tempted to use this information to negotiate a pay rise. This can be a risky strategy. Your success may depend on how serious your boss thinks you are about leaving. If they think you’re only using the other offer as leverage, they might call your bluff, congratulate you on your new role, and announce your departure to the rest of the team. 

“I need more money.”

You probably have lots of reasons for wanting a pay rise, but bringing up the cost of living crisis or the housing crisis is unlikely to persuade your boss to give you a raise. Instead of focusing on the benefits of a pay rise for you, focus on the benefits you bring to the company. 

“I know X earns more”

It can be really frustrating to find out that a colleague earns more than you for the same job, but that doesn’t mean you should use this information as part of your negotiation. There are lots of reasons why a colleague might earn more. Perhaps they have more experience, more qualifications or they negotiated a higher starting salary. 

By bringing up other team members’ salaries during a pay review, you’re giving your employer an opportunity to list the reasons why you don’t earn as much as them. This will only weaken your position in the negotiation and make it harder to get what you want.

How to deal with pay rise rejection?

If your request for a pay rise is rejected, you might feel angry, frustrated and underappreciated but try to stay calm. This is unlikely to be a reflection of your own abilities, so try to end the meeting on a positive note. If your boss has rejected your request due to budget limitations or economic uncertainty, there may be very little you can do to improve the situation. Even so, be proactive and ask if there’s anything you can do to help. Hopefully, your boss will provide you with some action steps! 

Once you’ve made a note of them, end the meeting with one last question: “Would it be possible for us to review your decision in 3-6 months’ time?”

If your boss has rejected your request due to your own performance, ask: “What would I need to achieve in the next few months to make you reconsider?” If they respond well to this question and they’re willing to provide you with an action plan, at least you’ll know what to do next. 

There is no guarantee that you’ll get a pay rise in the future, no matter how much value you bring to the company. So it can be a good idea to start looking for a new job, even if you’ve managed to end the meeting on a positive and proactive note. But by starting your job search, you may be able to find a better role with a higher salary in the meantime.

Is asking for a raise unprofessional?

Absolutely not! There’s nothing unprofessional about asking for a pay rise. If anything, it can demonstrate confidence, passion and determination. It can be rare for employers to increase employees’ pay without being asked, so you need to advocate for yourself and make sure you’re fairly compensated. 

If you’re talented and hard-working, having the confidence to ask for a pay rise can actually work in your employer’s favour too. The last thing they want is for their best team members to lose interest in their work, become less productive, or leave to work with a competitor.  

How to make the most of your pay rise

If your negotiation is successful and your pay rise is approved, you might immediately start thinking about all the things you could buy with the extra cash that’s going to be coming in each month. You should definitely celebrate your pay rise, but watch out for lifestyle creep. This is the tendency to increase our spending with every pay rise; as our income grows we might go to a more expensive gym, move into a bigger flat, lease a more expensive car, and go on holiday more frequently. There’s nothing inherently wrong with improving your lifestyle as your salary increases, a certain amount of lifestyle inflation is inevitable. Problems arise when we spend all our income and take on more expensive commitments without setting money aside for the future.

The easiest way to avoid lifestyle creep is to save a percentage of your income each month. That way, as your salary increases you will put more money away into your savings by default.

You could do this with a traditional interest-paying savings account, but you may find yourself paying tax on your interest. To save tax-free, put your savings into a Cash ISA or a Lifetime ISA (LISA) if you’re saving for your first home or retirement. Save up to £4,000 a year in your LISA and you’ll benefit from a 25% bonus from the government!

Learn more: How much should I have in savings?

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