Employee rejects promotion after finding hard work being rewarded with more tasks, leaving HR stumped
The employee described being praised for reliability and efficiency, only to discover that what management called "opportunity" was just a heavier workload.
A Reddit post by u/big_insoles_5e on October 19 highlighted how easily companies turn recognition into extra work instead of fair compensation. The employee described being praised for reliability and efficiency, only to discover that what management called "opportunity" was really just a heavier workload without a raise to match. They explained that they’d been with the company for four years. "I'm 41, have a college degree, and the job is decent," the post read. "It's a hybrid role, so I work from home on Mondays and Wednesdays. I get a steady paycheck, and the pay is good for what's required of me."
That sense of balance fluctuated after two performance reviews. "In my first performance review, they gave me about a $3 raise. This past April, during the annual review, the raise was a mere $0.85. That was a real eye-opener for me," they wrote. After that, their outlook changed and they stopped joining office chatter, kept their work consistent, and made sure to finish tasks within scheduled hours. "I don’t hate the job, but I have no passion for it. It’s just a means to an end until I figure out what’s next," they said.
It’s a situation many employees can relate to, where doing a good job ends up becoming the reason for extra work rather than a fair reward. A study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that managers are more likely to assign unpaid or additional tasks to workers they perceive as loyal. In the experiment, nearly 1,400 managers were asked to assess loyal versus non-loyal employees, and those labeled "loyal" were far more likely to be given extra duties without compensation.
Recently, their manager asked for a private chat to discuss "the future." "She started with the classic 'Where do you see yourself in the future of this company?'" the employee wrote. After some conversation about the small raise, the manager suggested taking on more senior tasks before discussing another salary adjustment. The employee turned it down immediately. "I told her to her face that I’m content with my current position and have no interest in being promoted or taking on more responsibility 'at this time,'" they said. The manager was surprised but kept insisting, calling them "very competent."
"I’m competent because I only work at about 60% of my actual speed," they said. "I learned early on that if you work too fast, you end up dealing with other people’s problems and last-minute messes. I told her I’d prefer they see me as someone who works at a normal, sustainable pace." The meeting ended with the manager appearing frustrated and HR uncertain how to respond. The post resonated with tons of viewers who shared their own experiences and thoughts.
u/crazi_aj05 wrote, "Good for you. Far too often they try to dump more workload on you and then hold the pay over your head. No thanks." u/just_another-aNDy commented, "'Hey, we know your raise wasn't enough, but how about we give you MORE work, and after that you might get more money.' Yeah, no." "They probably played the long game and gave you a shitty raise because they thought that would make you inclined to take their offer," added u/MrParanoiid. u/shadycharacters suggested, "This seems very healthy, and it's good that you know what you want from the position. But it does sound like you are not enjoying your job at all and that it might be time to look for another position elsewhere — even just for a change of scenery."
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