Q. I relocated by choice. When I relocated, I couldn't keep the same position with my company. Now the company has offered me a position comparable to the one I left behind, but at the pay rate I was at before my position changed. What boundaries does my company have to adhere to, and should they calculate a cost-of-living increase? My immediate supervisor told me the cost of living was lower here than where I moved from. But after doing a little research I found that the cost of living is significantly higher where I am now.A. Since this was a voluntary move, the company is under no obligatio... view article details

Graduating from college is a wonderful thing that should rightfully be celebrated. But in six months or so, that celebration will be substantially muted when college loan payments begin.Did you know the average 4-year undergraduate has $18,625 in student loan debt that will end up costing $25,720 between now and 2022? Being saddled with that kind of debt often leads to putting off major life decisions such as getting married, buying a house and starting a family. That's why Patrick Kandianis and the SimpleTuition.com team offers a SmarterBank account with SmarterBucks rewards. Basically how it... view article details

Q: I have researched all over about what kind of compensation you should get for being on call, but have found nothing. Right now I get paid for three extra hours each week for being on call Monday through Sunday from 7pm to 5am. When I get called in, I am guaranteed a minimum of two hours' pay. When I was employed at another company I was on call for a week and I got paid two hours on the hour after my regular work day (16 hours), and that was for seven days. When I got called in I got paid for four hours automatically.This seems like a big difference. I would like some information to present... view article details

Q. I began working at my company one month after the beginning of our fiscal year. I recently received my first salary increase (over a year later) and found that it was much lower than I had expected. I realize the current market conditions may have driven this lower increase, but I was told that perhaps it is also because I had not yet worked a full year (only 11 months, instead of 12) when raises were decided. Would this lower my salary increase percentage significantly? If so, is it appropriate for me to ask for a mid-year review (for my second year of employment)? My company tends to have... view article details

Don't Be Short-Sighted Life in 2013 moves fast. Some would say too fast. Our tweets are only 140 characters, social videos on Vine max out at 6 seconds, and we’d all like to get six-pack abs in just a few minutes. What surprises some job-seekers when they learn about salary negotiation, is that sometimes the entire conversation around your future compensation is wrapped up in just a few short minutes, but can have a lasting impact for years to come.If you’re not prepared, it can fly by in an instant. If you don’t have the right approach, you leave money on the table.Here are two cruci... view article details

Q. I was hired four years ago as a desktop technician for a Fortune 500 company. Since then I have skyrocketed up in the company, and I have been getting spot bonuses (of $1,200) and salary increases of about 9 percent a year.However, since I was hired as a desktop tech and was given a competitive salary for that field, I've since become a major software/Web developer for the company. For the past two years I have been doing client/server development, but for the salary of a highly paid desktop tech, which is much lower.My manager just walked into my office and told me I was now classified as ... view article details

Q. I work for a food and beverage management company that has had a few closures over that past year in my region due to cutbacks by our clients. To stay employed with my company, I agreed to consult in a different region (with a much higher salary scale for the same position) until new business opens back up in my home region. This agreement was on a month-to-month basis. Three months have gone by now and there is a possibility of new business back home. This new business will not open for six months though, so they have asked me to stay here until then. How do I negotiate for a salary increa... view article details

Like it or not, at some point we all face the prospect of 'job transition.' Sometimes we take the initiative for a change of jobs and sometimes not.But, regardless of whether you've decided to move on or you are facing the harsh realities of a forced job search, you can minimize the stress involved by taking control. That's phase one of the job transition.Sounds easy enough, right? Let's look at 14 things you can do to stay cool and in control during your job search.1. Don't wait! You've seen it: Watching the ball drop as the New Year rings in or holding our breath as the detonator... view article details

Fall from Grace At exactly 9:53 AM Central Time, on June 19, Jonah Lehrer ceased to be science writing’s Wunderkind and found himself in the virtual company of journalistic miscreants who've straddled and overstepped the lines of what’s ethical in journalism. Exposed by media critic Jim Romenesko, Lehrer, the prolific writer and author of books such as 'Imagine: How Creativity works' and 'How we Decide' and blogger of counterintuitive studies and ideas, was found to have repeatedly reused chunks of his previously published work, sometimes slightly modified, in subsequent articles and ... view article details

Q: Assuming employees are meeting the requirements of their position, what are the new standards of annual salary increases (percentage-wise)? Also, what happens to long-term employees who are earning beyond the position's salary range, because they steadily received 4 percent increases and are now almost 'overpaid'? Do they stop getting raises?A: Each year, salary survey companies ask employers to tell them how much their merit budgets will be for the upcoming year. Most companies don't know what their merit budgets will be until sometime in the fall. Then they report those merit budgets to t... view article details