Pay rise: how much to ask for, and what it means in net pay

The guide to asking for a pay rise explains when and how to have the conversation. This one deals with the figure: where it comes from, how to translate it into gross annual terms for your employer and net monthly pay for you, and what it really costs them. The amounts are worked out by the site's engine, for a non-cadre employee on a full-time permanent contract.

Four benchmarks for setting the figure

1. Your market value. This is the most solid benchmark. The What am I worth? analysis works it out in gross annual terms from your CV and the salaries in your occupation; Am I paid fairly? places your current salary among job ads, and the average salary by occupation gives the order of magnitude. The gap between your pay and that value is your central argument.
2. The rise in prices since your last increase. INSEE publishes the change in consumer prices every month. A pay rise below that increase over the same period is a loss of purchasing power: it is a floor for discussion, not an ambition.
3. What has changed in your role. New responsibilities, a team to manage, a wider scope: a role that changes is compared with the pay for the role it has become, not the one you were hired for.
4. The company's calendar. Where there is a representative union section, the employer must negotiate pay regularly, every year if there is no agreement setting another rhythm: this is the compulsory annual negotiation (NAO). General and individual pay rise budgets are often decided there; find out its date and outcome.

What your request means in net pay

Think in gross annual terms: it is the unit of budgets and pay grids. Take €3,000 gross a month, or €36,000 a year, and a request of 5%:

The other way round, if you know what you want to see arriving in your account: on €3,000 gross, €100 more net a month takes €126 more gross (4.2%), and €200 more net a month takes €253 more gross (8.4%). The pay rise simulator does this calculation for your salary, as a percentage or in euros.

What it costs your employer, depending on your pay

Your manager thinks neither in gross nor in net, but in cost. For the same 3% rise, the extra cost to the employer per net euro gained is not the same at every salary level. It is highest near the SMIC: the general reduction in employer contributions shrinks as pay rises, so each net euro costs more there. The series is not smooth, though: at €4,000 gross, the rise takes pay above the monthly social security ceiling (€4,005), where the supplementary pension switches to the higher band 2 rate and the technical balancing contribution (CET) is added: each net euro costs a little more there than on the row before.

Calculation: modele-social publicodes engine, non-cadre full-time permanent contract, the site's standard small company and health cover; general reduction recalculated after the rise.

Use it to understand, not to censor yourself: your employer does this calculation on their side, and a request well justified by the market often still costs less than a departure followed by a new hire. The employer cost tool breaks down employer contributions on any gross salary, and the guide to what an employee costs explains the general reduction.

General or individual pay rise

In many companies, two budgets sit side by side. The general pay rise applies to everyone, often as a percentage, sometimes with a minimum in euros for low salaries; it mainly makes up for rising prices. The individual pay rise rewards a role, results or a gap with the market. Ask first which general rise has been decided this year: your individual request comes on top of it, not instead of it. If the company only has one budget, present your figure in two parts, catching up with prices on one side, the growth of your role and your value on the other: it is easier for your manager to defend.

Pay rise, bonus or promotion

A rise in base pay shows up every month, every year, and becomes the base for later rises and for your next employer. Over 3 years, the €1,080 gross a year from a 3% rise on €3,000 add up to €3,240; a bonus of the same amount, just once. A one-off bonus can soften a refused pay rise, rarely replace it. A promotion, for its part, is negotiated against the pay for the new role: ask which salary level it comes with before you accept it.

Putting your request into words

State an amount in gross annual terms, precise, justified, and only once. A few phrasings to adapt:

• “I would like my salary to go from €36,000 to €37,800 gross a year: that is the level of comparable roles on the market, and my scope has grown since my last increase.”
• “Prices have risen faster than my salary since my last increase: I am asking for that to be made up, and we can talk about how my role is developing afterwards.”
• “If the budget does not allow it this year, I would like us to agree now on written objectives and a date to review it.”

If you are preparing to change employer instead, the same logic applies when you are hired: the guide to negotiating your starting salary sets three figures instead of one.