Ask Bing: What percentage raise should I ask for?

I was rehired one year ago after a two year layoff. The two experienced people that were here have moved on. I have assumed half of each of those positions.

The company has run more smoothly since their departure, and the P&L looks stronger every month. People are happier -- including the boss. It is time to go in for the annual pay raise. What kind of percentage should I be looking for?

Go for whatever the company average is, plus two points. Most places are giving 2% or 3% right now. Go for 5%. The other way of doing it is to talk to your boss about a change of Level, or whatever word they use where you are. Within a title -- Vice President, Director, Manager, Associate -- there are Grades. You can be a Grade 14 Director and make $50,000 a year or a Grade 21 Director and make $100,000. See?

There are many, many people walking around with the same title who make wildly different money. So while you may only be capable of receiving a 3% raise at the same Grade or Level, you may be able to swing a big chunk of green if you convince your boss to raise your Grade. Beyond that, why not go in and say, "Hey, I'm loving the new responsibilities, which include half of Bob's job and half of Marty's. The P&L looks great. Everything is the way it should be. Why not make me REALLY happy this year? I'll leave it up to you." That'll show him!

My husband's boss threatens to fire him every week. She also calls him at home after hours to talk or to yell at him. He is ready to quit but he is in a management position. What can he do to get her off his back?

Well, first thing I would do is turn off my phone after 10 PM. When the boss asks the next day, "Where the hell were you?" your husband can say, "Sleeping." And leave it at that.

You know, when I was a kid at summer camp there was always one kid in the bunk who was the scapegoat. He wasn't any weirder than any other kid, or shorter, or fatter (well, sometimes he WAS fatter), or any more lame, he was just the one who put out some kind of anti-pheromone that literally attracted abuse.

All the insecure or nasty kids would pick on him. It wasn't exactly that he would LET them... but there was something about him that declared his vulnerability. It happened to my brother once. There were two kids in his bunk who decided they would tease him and make fun of him all day.

I'm two years older, and was at that time a junior counselor at the same penal institution. He came to me and said, "Marshall and Marcellus are driving me crazy." I was busy. I had things to do, grown-up, 15 year-old things, and I said to him, without thinking, really, "Just punch one of them in the nose." So that's what he did. After that, they were friends. No more teasing.

Now, I'm not saying that your husband should punch his boss in the nose. That is highly discouraged. But he should start pushing back. And with this kind of bully, the best way to push back is silence. They yell. You say nothing. NOTHING. They are staring into a blank wall.

This is highly frustrating and does not give the yeller what he or she wants. She threatens to fire your husband? He just looks at her. Then he goes back to work. And that look? It can be anything he wants. I suggest a cool, amused sort of thing. What's she going to fire him for then? Failure to be insubordinate? You can bet she's like this with others, too. Bullies always are. Wait for her karma to run over her dogma.