Pay Rise: 3 Circumstances Where Employers Can Fail To Add Your Salary

By Namaswa,
As we celebrate Labour Day tomorrow, the Federation of Kenyan Employers must have read politics in the air as it recently warned that all workers should forget a pay rise, this year.

It has been a norm that the minimum wage for workers is added every Labour day Celebrations and last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta decreed that employers in Kenya should increase the minimum wage their workers earned by 14%.

In as much as everyone aspires to make big money, get the salary increase, the facts on the ground remain that we cannot always get what we want.

Here’s a common tale every Labour Day: “I’ve worked in my current job for several years yet I haven’t had a salary increase.” And Mr. Francis Atwoli will be yelling on top of his voice as he has been doing for years. Which brings us to the question:

Tomorrow we await the big day to see who carries the day. But the big question is; will the FKE violate Rights of workers by denying them pay rise in case the president ignores their warning? What can workers do?

HR Managers give their comments on circumstances that a Worker be denied a Salary Increase

1. Non Performance:
This ranks high among the list of reasons an employer may deem it wise to deny his worker a pay increase. “This is one of the main reasons that employers will feel justified to deny their employees a salary raise,” says Liza Shaka –HR manager The Monarch Insurance.

2. When the Employer’s Financial Standing Does not Allow him to
“In most cases of employment, it is about business and income generation; money must come from somewhere in one way or another,” says Ms. Shaka. “In the event that the employers faces financial constraints, then the workers are bound to suffer the trickle down effects of this limitation. Businesses too, rely on the way business is doing and much as the employees might deserve the raise, the business financial standing might not permit.”

3. When an Employee Hits the Highest Earning Limits of His Job Group
“It happens a lot in organizations that have structured their salaries based on job groups,” elaborates Ms. Shaka. “Some people may have reached the highest permitted salaries for their job cadre and no matter what happens, they will not be able to get increases mainly because they have attained the limits for their jobs groups—in other words, ‘they have outlived they current role.”

“The only way to solve this impasse,” she says, “is by promoting the employees to the next job level so that they can begin rising up the salary scale for that job group until they again reach the maximum.”

“What most employees should be aware of is that the biggest benchmark for salary increment is their performance at work,” says Ms. Shaka. “Personal and collective output at work is what sustains this growth and not only is it limited to career development; it is also reflected in what the workers make and expect to earn at the end of the month.”