Doing higher-level work without a pay raise
Employers frequently pressure staff to take on complex responsibilities outside their current job description using past career experience as justification, while refusing to adjust their compensation. This practice forces employees to perform advanced, long-term tasks without commissions or pay grade increases, creating friction when workers raise concerns with management.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since January 2026.
- This comes up 139.3× more often in The Workplace Stack Exchange than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1accepting the unfair proposal and doing the workDid this help you?
- 2pushing back on management and setting professional boundariesDid this help you?
- 3leaving the company and finding a new jobDid this help you?
- 4Asking management for more compensationDid this help you?
- 5Pushing back and negotiating for less workDid this help you?
- 6Starting a job search to secure outside offers for leverageDid this help you?
- 7Proposing a custom job definition or title change to HRDid this help you?
- 8asking for training or learning resourcesDid this help you?
- 9copying what previous employees didDid this help you?
- 10consulting colleagues in related departments like PRDid this help you?
- 11discussing expectations and support plans with managementDid this help you?
- 12Accepting a job offer at a different companyDid this help you?
- 13Leaving the position for better pay and support elsewhereDid this help you?
- 14Starting a fractional independent bookkeeping service and charging fixed monthly fees for defined lists of servicesDid this help you?
- 15Refusing extra tasks or additional roles that fall outside the job descriptionDid this help you?
- 16Sending resumes directly to accounting firms for remote or project-based workDid this help you?
- 17Researching average salaries onlineDid this help you?
- 18Searching job boards like Indeed to gauge local market ratesDid this help you?
- 19Considering looking for a new job or getting an outside offer for leverageDid this help you?
- 20Working excessive hours to handle multiple business needs and projectsDid this help you?
- 21Comparing job duties and pay structures with other officesDid this help you?
- 22Switching to independent contractor or commission-split models with brokeragesDid this help you?
- 23Juggling project oversight and development tasks simultaneously throughout the workdayDid this help you?
- 24Spending personal time on weekends and evenings catching up on paperwork and lesson plansDid this help you?
- 25Trying to set boundaries around leaving on time or protecting brain spaceDid this help you?
- 26Splitting tasks with teammates or considering AI tools to handle administrative busyworkDid this help you?
- 27Testing modifications in a controlled copy environment before applyingDid this help you?
- 28Applying for jobs at other companiesDid this help you?
- 29Refusing extra work unless proper training and backing are providedDid this help you?
- 30Asking management for a raise to reflect the new workload and negotiating a target salary increase.Did this help you?
- 31Asking for outside perspectiveDid this help you?
- 32Considering whether to stay and negotiate or look for another opportunityDid this help you?
- 33Taking on every possible task and then asking for a title and pay increase if the company is profitable.Did this help you?
- 34Updating resumes and leaving the companyDid this help you?
- 35Asking for a raise and formal trainingDid this help you?
- 36Demanding requests in writingDid this help you?
- 37Having a sit-down meeting with the principal to discuss compensationDid this help you?
- 38Checking if there is a classified union at the siteDid this help you?
- 39Applying internally for the open roleDid this help you?
- 40Waiting through multiple failed hiring roundsDid this help you?
- 41Accepting the inadequate raise under duress to avoid being laid off while searching for a new jobDid this help you?
- 42Confronting management about the repurposing of pre-approved raises while weighing the risk of refusalDid this help you?
- 43Refusing the new responsibilities unless a separate, higher compensation offer is made.Did this help you?
- 44Saying no and risking terminationDid this help you?
- 45Refusing assigned duties and waiting to be firedDid this help you?
- 46Resigning from the positionDid this help you?
- 47Accepting the tasks temporarily and adding them to your resumeDid this help you?
- 48Looking for alternative jobsDid this help you?
- 49agreeing initially to avoid saying noDid this help you?
- 50Hiring licensed contractors and acting as a project manager to oversee them instead of doing the physical labor.Did this help you?
- 51Having a department manager advocate for the team and push back against unreasonable requests.Did this help you?
- 52Responding to requests with "yes, but it will cost" to secure the budget needed to outsource.Did this help you?
- 53Outlining the legal, insurance, and safety risks (like worker's comp or fire hazards) to management in writing to justify why the team cannot perform the task.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Until then, I was expected to continue performing both roles with no temporary title adjustment or compensation change.”source ↗
“Being a solo admin for 30 users is no joke - can't imagine being solo for 300.”source ↗
“This isn’t doable. 50 is hard enough with all the things I. T. has to monitor and do.”source ↗
“Lately, they've been dumping tickets on us that have absolutely zero to do with IT.”source ↗
“I feel more like a general fixer-up/handyman/electrician than a sysadmin, since management seems to have given up on our facility management due to understaffing and incompetence.”source ↗
“I feel like technically I'm capable of modifying the script and csv file to do what they want but it's so far above my pay grade, it's not even funny.”source ↗
“As compensation for these new responsibilities, he plans to use a 10% raise that had already been approved—one I had requested a few months ago.”source ↗
“10% is not enough, but you should probably take it and knuckle under or get managed out yourself.”source ↗
“They are letting people go. Can you afford to be let go too? If not suck it up and get on with it.”source ↗
“One time I was asked to crawl over the top of a wall through a drop ceiling to unlock the door because the CEO locked their office door key in his office and they didn't have a spare lol”source ↗
“I've dealt with it by having my manager push back on these kinds of nonsense requests.”source ↗
“I am an IT director, 46, male. My pay doesn’t seem to fit what I do and I am afraid to jump ship due to my age.”source ↗
“I work 12-16 hour days weekends too and make 95k a year.”source ↗
“I have asked for a pay raise and was supposed to get one Q1. We are now 9 days in to Q2 and haven’t heard a peep.”source ↗
“i feel like i'm already juggling too many things now.”source ↗
“i still dont have time to understand it completely.”source ↗
“knowing them, i don't think they are going to pay me extra to keep the network managed.”source ↗
“Last Friday, the Security Lead was let go. Today, the manager called me in for a meeting and asked me to take over the unfinished tasks left by my former colleague—such as inventory, access management, contingency planning, antivirus administration, endpoint management, and so on—especially since we are currently in the middle of an audit.”source ↗
“As compensation for these new responsibilities, he plans to use a 10% raise that had already been approved—one I had requested a few months ago.”source ↗
“I’m thinking of refusing, arguing that the 10% raise was already agreed upon and wasn't tied to new responsibilities; I’d tell him that if they make a new offer, I might consider it. Honestly, though, I didn't like the way he handled the situation.”source ↗
“They CANNOT fill the position and it just means more and more work being thrown on my plate.”source ↗
“So I just get more responsibilities without the pay of course.”source ↗
“I’ve “taken on” community management (social media post creation and managing) from December 2025 to August 2026. I handed over to the content writer at the start of September 2026 who resigned shortly after and they are looking to pass it back to me.”source ↗
“I said no and got this message shortly after the verbal meeting: 2 things, here's what I got: “From the point of x’s departure until we get individuals in to perform that socials, you will be doing them. But it is temporary, and hopefully a fairly short period.””source ↗
“I don’t care for marketing. I don’t want want to spend any part of my day between canva and hubspot. I went to school for HR because that’s what I want to do.”source ↗
“What can I do? What’s worse case scenario here?”source ↗
“I have been in a similar situation. Folks giving additional responsibilities have no idea how much work it is.”source ↗
“I initially agreed because I didn't want to outright say No but I know that it's going to be a "do it for free because we don't have a budget for Marketing team and there's not much to do".”source ↗
“How do I stop this from becoming my KRA without creating a possible negative impact?”source ↗
“Got puked on. Stayed about two hours late catching up on work every day. Zero planning time because admin is taking it all up with meetings.”source ↗
“Essentially, if they catch you failing on one of the tasks listed, you get one, and if you get three it goes on your permanent record. Nevermind at all that doing all of these tasks requires AT THE VERY LEAST 1 extra hour of work after contract hours.”source ↗
“Now after they just introduced this I’m scared to not turn any lesson plans in and will probably end up spending a couple hours of what’s supposed to be my time on the weekend copy and pasting :)”source ↗
“I’ve been working my regular aide day, but a teacher (who has her own aide in the classroom) asks me to sub for her for half the day, says she cleared it with the principal.”source ↗
“Later after the day ends I realize my adp entry was rejected, I send a message to the principal and she says she’ll honor it this time, but my sub rate is only for days I’m not already there as an aide. Of I sub in during the days I am there, I get the aide rate.”source ↗
“IMO this is BS. Aides should not be used as a sub for any longer length of time, and if they are they should get the sub rate.”source ↗
“had a gig last year that wanted me to also run their social media because "numbers and marketing are basically the same thing"”source ↗
“My client once wanted me to run Facebook ads as well in the same salary.”source ↗
“I once applied for a job that was bookkeeper/admin assistant/social media.”source ↗
“I was the bookkeeper, HR, office manager, payroll, IT dept, and project manager all rolled into one. And the husband thought I was getting overpaid.”source ↗
“She kept piling on more tasks that weren’t even part of my job description.”source ↗
“I currently work as a SaaS cloud engineer. Before this role, I spent about 10 years in cybersecurity, but I intentionally left that field”source ↗
“Recently, however, this has escalated: I’ve been asked to begin work toward obtaining a security certification for the company. This aligns closely with my prior senior-level experience and would involve a significant, long-term effort.”source ↗
“I raised concerns with my manager, noting that this work goes beyond my current role and compensation.”source ↗
“I'm one of few employees on my team who is capable of delivering on difficult projects.”source ↗
“HR at the org has created a compensation hierarchy where there is only a management track beyond my level, and no real means for me to be compensated for the value I provide.”source ↗
“I feel increasingly frustrated that I'm a magnet for some of the hardest work coming into my team while not being recognized monetarily.”source ↗
“I am being over-relied on and am approaching burn out, but given the composition of my team there isn't much they can do about it, I'm their only option for many projects.”source ↗
“It feels like I'm stuck and I'm not sure what can be done about it.”source ↗
“I feel these responsibilities are closer to what a senior staff accountant or manager might be doing. I have since asked for a raise to better reflect the work I do.”source ↗
“Management responded that they agreed my responsibilities have grown from what they originally hired me to do and my compensation should be adjusted but the details are still being worked out.”source ↗
“I'm taking on a lot more responsibility from a different/function team. I'll be learning new processes. No one has mentioned a title change to me. They've also told us we won't be getting merit raises, cost of living increases, or 401K match.”source ↗
“I’ve handled multiple tasks that fall outside my actual role and aren't reflected in my pay”source ↗
“I spend the whole eight-hour day juggling project oversight and trying to complete my own development tickets without losing my mind.”source ↗
“with six years of experience and the responsibility of leading/managing a project, I’m being paid like a Jr developer, and honestly, that is incredibly demotivating.”source ↗
“Current title is PM and wondering if I'm getting additional tasks from the office that I shouldn't be or if I'm being underpaid for it so they don't have to hire someone else.”source ↗
“Over time, my responsibilities have expanded quite a bit.”source ↗
“My responsibilities have increased significantly, but my compensation hasn’t really changed to reflect the additional workload.”source ↗
“I’m currently supporting around 104 units, and I’m paid $6/hour.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 6Why does working extra hard just get you more work and less pay?
- 2Why do family businesses refuse to pay fair wages?
- 3Why am I spending all my time on admin instead of billable work?
- 2Do I need to tell my employer about side work?
- 5Doing manager work without the title
- 3How do you do month-end close with no authority over coworkers?