I think it can often depend on how good you are at the job, how valuable you are for the company and what you think you are worth.
I have a friend who has renegotiated every pay increase he has ever had (about once a year) for the same company, for the last 10 years. He is exceptional at his job and uses his record to speak for itself when the discussions are had. He would be a huge asset to any company and he knows it, so he uses that to his advantage. The company know just how vital he is to their success so pays him basically what he asks.
No, in my experience they aren't. DH's work does 'performance' reviews where they have to fill in a questionairre type thing and say what great things they have achieved at work and why they think they deserve a salary increase and basically what they think they are worth. When you actually have the sit down meeting with them most of the employees don't get diddly squat increase apart from the CPI, but there are a few that do get an increase because the bosses know they aren't talking out of their bums Last time DH did it he got a rise of several 1000 extra per year. But it's certainly not a take it or leave situation, you just don't get a pay rise any higher than the annual CPI rise or a rise as high as you want.
Hmmmm. I think it depends a bit on the company. Generally I would say yes, it is a take it or leave it situation. You can negotiate if you are actually willing to leave and have good enough reason to believe you will get a good salary elsewhere.
About 5 years ago, I'd been working for a company that was underpaying by about 10 grand for someone with my quals. I said this to my boss in a "just so you know you are underpaying me and I'd like you to think about rectifying this or I'll have to look elsewhere". At the same time I was offered a different job with a $15k pay rise (much more in line with my profession). I said can you match that or I will have to leave. They offered me a 5 grand pay rise, so I took the new job.
If you did want to negotiate, I'd go very gently with something like "In line with my performance and excellent record, I was hoping that my salary increase would be higher."
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