Employee asks for raise for a year, only gets it a week after resigning: ‘Why do companies wait until you leave?’

SINGAPORE: A local employee took to Reddit to share that his company only approved the salary increment he had been asking for a week after he submitted his resignation.

Posting on the r/singaporefi forum, the employee explained that he had been on a two- to three-year contract and had first approached his manager about a salary increase or promotion around a year before his contract was due for renewal.

While employees at the company received annual salary increments, he explained that he had been seeking something beyond the standard adjustment.

According to him, his role was “one of a kind,” and he was confident that the value he brought to the company was something only a small number of people could offer.

“It’s an international company, and I won’t go into the specifics of its niche (just in case a fellow colleague might read and recognise this),” he wrote. “However, I’m 100% certain the company has the funds to pay its employees more.”

The employee also claimed there was a “significant salary gap” between local employees and expatriate staff.

Contract renewal came with no pay increase

About a month before he was due to renew his contract, the employee said he made one final attempt to negotiate a higher salary.

His manager told him he would check with HR, giving him some hope that his request might finally be considered.

However, when the contract renewal documents arrived, he found that his salary remained unchanged.

Disappointed by the outcome, he decided it was time to move on.

“Over the next three months, I started job hunting and eventually secured a new position,” he shared.

After accepting the new role, he submitted his resignation. Exactly one week later, he received an email from HR informing him that his current salary would be adjusted.

“There was a slight increase, but it still wasn’t competitive enough to match my new job,” he said. “At this point, I’m just going to quietly do my job until my notice period ends before moving on.”

“I’m not sure if HR will ask to meet me to try and convince me to stay, but my decision has already been made. Why do companies only seem to act on salary increases after an employee submits their resignation?”

“They don’t value you”

Many Reddit users supported the employee’s decision to leave, saying the company had waited too long to recognise his value.

One commenter wrote, “You wanted an increment and didn’t get it in the current company, and went and got it from somewhere else. I’d say not a bad decision.”

Another suggested the company may have assumed the employee would struggle to find another opportunity, writing, “It could be that they know now the market isn’t so good and that you probably wouldn’t be able to secure an offer, but good on you for looking elsewhere.”

A third added, “A fantastic choice to jump. They don’t value you, so why bother staying any longer?”

In other news, an employer shared that she immediately repatriated her Myanmar helper after a frightening incident in which the helper allegedly left her three-year-old daughter alone at a playground.

In an anonymous post on the SINGAPORE TRANSFER (No Fees/SD), DIRECT HIRE & NEW HELPER Facebook group on Sunday (Jun 28), the employer explained she had spent the past year putting up with her 24-year-old Myanmar helper despite her lack of basic skills.

Read more: Employer repatriates Myanmar helper after she left 3-year-old daughter alone at playground: ‘My daughter’s safety was put at serious risk’