Trade a Pay Raise for Part Time: ScriptsWhether you choose a Weekend Getaway or another part-time possibility, one way to get it approved is to “trade” a pay raise for the reduced schedule that you want. Here are ways to introduce the idea to your manager the next time you have a favorable job review. At your next performance review, your manager might grant you: A - The raise you expect or ask for, and earned B - No raise, even though you earned it, citing any number of reasons C - A raise that is below your expectations, due to budget constraints or other reasons unrelated to your job performance. I've provided suggested scripts for each of the three scenarios. Use them as a springboard for your custom-crafted responses—i.e., wording that reflects your voice and the relationship with your manager—for trading a would-be pay raise into part time hours. In response to letter A: Thank you. I appreciate your recognition of the value I'm bringing to the job. [Pause and lean forward.] This may surprise you, but I'd like to make a request for something in lieu of the raise. May I? [Manager responds.] I've put together a proposal* for a restructured work schedule which would have me working [briefly describe the part time schedule you want] which would be a highly-valued acknowledgment of my work here. [Hand your manager your proposal.] Would you please give it serious consideration? I'd like to follow up with you on this in the next week or so. For now, I'm ready for our discussion about my future performance goals. In response to letter B: There are various reasons unrelated to job performance that a manager might not grant a raise; a common one relates to budget. For example, "We don’t have the budget for (some or all of) your pay raise request." OR "Revenues are down lately, so it just doesn’t look good for a raise right now." There are a few ways to get around that barrier and still get a pay increase, but for now, let’s address the raise-time issue. First get acknowledgment from your boss of the merits of granting the raise, even though s/he contends there are reasons it can’t be granted. Then negotiate your time off. What I hear you saying is that, you would grant my request for a 5% increase if it weren’t for the budget constraints. Is that correct? Thank you. I appreciate your recognition of the value I’m bringing to the job. Since my merit raise can’t be put into place in the near-term, I’d like to suggest a way that my job performance could be rewarded now that won’t add to payroll costs. Since time is money, I have an innovative way to acknowledge my performance with time instead of money. [As above; present your proposal* for part-time hours.] In response to letter C: A less-than-expected raise for an otherwise deserving employee is likely to be accompanied by an apologetic explanation about budget restraints. In this case, you can use a variation of the responses found earlier: What I hear you saying is that, you would grant the full raise of 5% instead of 3% if it weren’t for the budget constraints. Is that correct? Thank you. I appreciate your recognition of the value I’m bringing to the job. I'd like to suggest a way that my job performance could be fully rewarded now that won’t add to payroll costs. I have an innovative way to acknowledge my performance with time instead of money. [Present your proposal* for your new part-time schedule.] This time off tactic of trading a pay raise for fewer hours is best pulled off in smaller, private employer settings. Rules are more fluid and flexibility is more easily adapted than in government and union settings, or at some larger employers with rigid practices. *If you'd like the time-saving benefits of using the Flex Success Part Time Proposal Template, learn more about it at my WorkOptions.com site.
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