my coworker sits on chat all day / how can i ask for a payrise?

Question

My co-worker is my senior and she spends all day on chat.

For the last year, I have done the work of a manager even though I am very junior and I have even done more work than my senior co-worker. Recently my manager has been getting suspicious that I will be asking for more money so she has been taking tasks away from me and giving them to other members of the team. So when it comes to my annual review I can no longer say I do those things. However I did them for an entire year to a high standard so doesn't that count?

She has asked me to split some of the tasks with my senior co-worker because apparently she should have been doing them all along she just didn't have time. My coworker spends all her time on facebook and chat and shes good friends with my manager so nothing will come of it.

I have more experience than her in my field and often it creates a lot of tension. I am not sure how to ask for more money in my annual review and also highlight the fact that my co-worker has less experience than me and is above me and she does no work...

Should I just not say anything at all? I am so hard working and passionate about what I do that I get emotional whenever I bring it up because I am so stressed. I don't want to show any emotion when I talk about it to my boss because I want to remain strong but it's all really getting to me!

Your raise should be about the value you bring / provide to the company, and nothing else. Are you worth more due to market conditions or your contributions? Prove it. Your coworker's productivity (or lack thereof) should not be brought up. It will come across as petty. — Wesley Long, Jul 26 '16 at 21:07
Do you know for a fact that your coworker is doing chat and facebook during time she could actually be productive? I'd be willing to bet there are several people reading this while code compiles or their tests run or an upload finishes. — Amy Blankenship, Jul 26 '16 at 23:52
Possible duplicate of What can I do to make a coworkers lack of effort more visible? — IDrinkandIKnowThings, Jul 27 '16 at 03:15
Its a little bit vague to me. this question has 3 charagers in it, you, your manager and another coworker? and both your manager and your co worker spend a lot of time on FB and Chat? — AleX_, Jul 27 '16 at 15:17

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 26 '16 at 21:13

This is a hard situation to be in, however, it is none of your business.

When you have your review, it will be your time to show all the things that you have done to bring value to your department and to your role. What someone else is doing (or not doing) does not impact on that.

When you were doing these additional duties, were you asked to do them or was it a case where you saw something that wasn't getting done and decided to do it yourself? It sounds to me like you boss has noticed all the things that you are doing that should be getting done by someone else. Having you split the tasks with your senior coworker is only making sure that she is doing her job. If the tasks aren't getting done, it is up to your boss to take corrective action with your coworker.

Go into your review and be ready to explain how you shine, don't worry about what anyone else it doing.

You can also play the reverse role. Pretend you are the reviewer and a employee is explaining to you how they need a raise. Would you give a complainer a raise or someone who is able to contribute to the workplace? — Dan, Jul 27 '16 at 14:23

score -3 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 26 '16 at 21:27

Find a better place to work and get away while you can. You are describing a California state government office of any kind. Manager/Supervisor favors few employees and they can get away with anything others get the short end of the stick all the time.

Believe me, it will not change, short of your manager being replaced by a super logical and fair person. Chances of that is equal to the chances of snowball in hell in my opinion.

Asking for raise is going to open a whole new can of worms. You can not bring other employee(s)' incompetence as a reason to ask for more money. By taking your extra duties away, your manager is getting ready to deflect that approach.

And there will always be "we have no room for salary increases in the budget for this year. I will see what I can do next year" cliche, which goes to nowhere fast.

More work you do, more work others will load on to you while they are dinking around facebook, watching cat videos on youtube or having idle chat with one another. When the time comes to accept the praises, according to your boss, it is always a team effort. Otherwise, feelings of slackers get hurt.

You are employed by the wrong place. Get out quick. If you are such a good worker, I am sure you can find new employment in the same or similar field, in no time.

Your answers on here suggest you have an axe to grind with California state government workers. I'm not sure that adds anything to your responses. — Laconic Droid, Jul 27 '16 at 01:31
I'm not grinding any axes. I just know few people working there. — MelBurslan, Jul 27 '16 at 13:17

score -3 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 27 '16 at 00:33

Might I please be excused ... to be ... very blunt(!) ... here?

It seems quite obvious to me, based on what you have written here, that you now consider yourself to be in direct(!) competition with your co-worker, and, for that matter, also with your manager.

First of all: you admit that you are junior.

Therefore:

How-the-hell do you know(!) that "you have done more work than your co-worker?"
How-the-hell do you know(!!) that your manager's motivations are as puerile as you say they are?

Having said that, "obviously you have legitimate concerns that you need to discuss with your manager as soon as possible.

"It creates a lot of tension." "You get emotional." "You are hard-working and passionate." "You are stressed." ...

All(!) of these things are very-legitimate concerns, applicable to you, which your manager needs to know about, in confidence, as soon as possible. "Do not keep this cork in the bottle." You have lived with it ~~too long~~ long enough.

my coworker sits on chat all day / how can i ask for a payrise?

3 Answers3