who should tell employees about raises?

by Alison Green on February 13, 2025

A reader writes:

I’ve been a manager at my company for 13 years. I have a team of five direct reports and meet with them for one-on-ones every one to two weeks. We review projects, develop strategies for hurdles, discuss what’s working and what’s not, and where they would like to see their careers go. Recently we had our annual reviews where I create their annual development plans. These reviews are quite involved and build on conversations we’ve had throughout the year. At the conclusion of the reviews, a formal letter from HR is drafted with the annual salary increase and general “happy to have you here” language. HR always drafts these letters and the direct supervisor signs and hand delivers to each person.

This year, my own manager — who is new — took the letters from HR and signed and delivered them herself, and I found out after it had been done. I was shocked and feel like I’ve been cut out. I’ve been working with each of these folks all year, asking questions, diving for answers, developing plans, having hard conversations when needed. I think that I had the right to deliver the good news. Am I wrong?

I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

Other questions I’m answering there today include:

  • Job candidate wore a see-through shirt on a video interview
  • Should I reply to candidates’s post-interview thank-you emails?
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{ 43 comments }

{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }

  1. Scarlet ribbons in her hair*

    I guess I’m missing something, but I never cared whether it was my manager, the office manager, or the owner of the company who informed me that I was getting a raise. All that mattered to me was that I was getting a raise. It never occurred to me that one of my managers might have said, “Damn! I wanted to be the one who told Scarlet that she was getting a raise!” Live and learn.

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    1. HonorBox*

      I think the difference is in giving or receiving the news. As a manager with numerous points of contact through the year with employees, I can see how sharing that information with employees is important. Especially if you’ve gone to bat for someone who has done exceptional work and helped them get more than any sort of across the board raise.

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      1. Medium Sized Manager*

        Exactly this. It’s less about whether the employee cares and more about the manager getting to celebrate the win. I have to carry out difficult conversations as part of my role, so getting to share good news should also be part of it.

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      2. Sneaky Squirrel*

        Exactly this. Who gives the news can impact the working relationship. If LW spent the time as the person doing a performance review, giving feedback, and having the behind the scenes conversations on what pay should be, they should be the one to give the positive news too. It’s not fair otherwise for LW’s manager to let LW be the villain/scapegoat for giving feedback.

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          1. Anon for this*

            Because the person giving the news is the one who went to bat for it frequently enough that even if it isn’t true, it creates the illusion of truth when someone unrelated takes the credit.

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          2. Medium Sized Manager*

            They can and probably did. But it’s kinda like getting a great gift from one person and somebody later saying “by the way, I recommended they buy you that gift.” The moment has passed by then and isn’t the same.

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      3. Tenebrae*

        Agreed. Two months ago, my employee got moved from contract to full time and I was pretty upset when our grandboss was the one to tell her, specifically because it had been almost entirely due to *my* advocacy.

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    2. spcepickle*

      There are so many not fun conversations I have to have as a manger getting to tell someone they are getting a raise (or a promotion) is one of the fun things I get to do. So having someone else do it is a little disappointing. Not a huge deal, but something that I would be bummed about.

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      1. Antilles*

        Exactly. Giving raises to properly reward/thank your employees for a job well done is quite satisfying, legitimately one of the most fun parts of the job.

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      2. Adam*

        Yeah, I would feel the same way. The best part of being a manager is getting to reward people who are doing a good job, and it would be a bummer not to get to do that.

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    3. Lisa B*

      It might not matter as much *to the employee* but it’s one of the fun parts of being a manager – sharing good news! It’s also the culmination of all the hard work you put in to the employee’s professional and personal development over the full year – so it’s nice to be able to pull all those conversations together.

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      1. Lisa*

        Yes! From an employee’s point of view it doesn’t matter, but the manager’s manager stole the moment from them.

        Where I work raises are presented when you get your performance review, so there’s no question it’s your manager that would be doing that. Things that are exceptions/one-offs not part of the regular performance/merit cycle are often done by the director, and in one memorable case for me both together (it was a big deal). But for things like that, it’s the director who’s gone to bat to the organization to get it.

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    4. Artemesia*

      A new manager who swoops in and usurps some of the job of managers dealing directly with employees is sending up some pretty big red flags. New management 101 is finding out what the norms and procedures are. It doesn’t take a genius to know that direct managers are the ones to manage including disciplinary steps and evaluations and raises. Expect more tone deaf behavior from this manager.

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    5. Ellis Bell*

      Yeah, you’re not going to care about who approved your raise; all you care about is you’re getting a raise! But if it’s your job to get a bunch of raises for other people, you probably want to cross the finish line and do the bow that comes after all the work. Imagine you’ve spent ages coming up with research for a presentation/solving a huge issue with an invention/painting a new design of teapot and at the very last second your boss comes along, takes your work output and puts theirname on it. There are contexts where you know they’re going to do that from the outset, but others where the rule is strictly to give the people who did the work acknowledgement and it can be quite shocking if they aren’t.

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  2. T.N.H*

    The lighting from a computer is completely different because it’s often reflected directly at our bodies in a way overhead isn’t. I can definitely see making this mistake and being mortified when I realized too late.

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    1. Amy Purralta*

      This, I once went to work in a top that looked completely fine at home. When I got to work it turned out I might as well as just been wearing my bra under the office lights. Luckily I was one of the earliest to arrive and my colleague (male) let me know. As our office was in the middle of town, I put my coat on and as soon as the shops were open, bought a new top.

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      1. A Simple Narwhal*

        Ugh I think we all sadly have similar stories to tell – clothing can look so incredibly different in the light in a dressing room, at home, or in the office. Or even just from certain angles!

        Reply ↓
    2. Just Thinkin' Here*

      This is becoming more and more of an issue with women’s wear as they cut down on the thickness and thread count to make women’s clothing cheaper. Men’s shirts don’t seem to be suffering from the same sheerness issue.

      Reply ↓
  3. Hiring Mgr*

    As a manager, I completely understand the concern. Managing people often sucks, so it’s kind of a nice treat to be able to give them some good news like a raise.

    This is actually a known thing – as a Director/VP I always had the first line managers give the raise letters.

    But agree that overall it’s nothing outrageous

    Reply ↓
    2. Paint N Drip*

      I don’t think it is outrageous, but as an employee I would personally feel like feedback (good or bad) from a skiplevel boss would be a lot less genuine. I also think there are some people who would have feelings about NOT being able to talk to their boss for this final-final discussion, and there is some validity to that

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      1. Hiring Mgr*

        Yes for sure (though I think most people would be happy just getting the raise). Even if the skip level boss gives the letter, it should be done in conjunction with the manager, not instead of them

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  4. HonorBox*

    For the second letter – I cannot imagine any situation in which someone intentionally wore something that showed more than intended. Just as I can’t imagine someone intentionally having a piece of spinach in their teeth or a coffee stain on their shirt. I feel really bad for this candidate because it would be mortifying. I really hope that she didn’t catch a glimpse of herself halfway through and have to fight through it.

    I wouldn’t hold this against someone.

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    1. PlainJane*

      I actually kind of hope she did–but chose not to draw attention to it–so that she doesn’t wear the same thing for her next interview.

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    2. Elsewise*

      I mean, I can imagine a scenario where someone would do that, but unless the interviewee was obviously trying to draw attention to it in an absurd way, I wouldn’t assume that was the case. It’s far, far more likely for it to be an accident, which seems to be the case here.

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    3. Christmas Carol*

      Miss Manners would say to consider if there was anything the person can do about the situation.A piece of toilet paper stuck to her shoe, tell her at once. A coffee stain on her shirt, ignore it.

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      1. metadata minion*

        And this is an odd middle ground, because you don’t actually know how easy it would be for the person to fix. Do they have a jacket just off-screen that they could easily and gratefully pull on once alerted to the problem, or are they in a room they booked at the library and can’t change anything?

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  5. Khatul Madame*

    LW1 – ideally the company would have an SOP on who announces raises. It is pretty unusual to have a skip-level boss do this.

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    1. juliebulie*

      I’ll take the good news from whomever wants to give it to me. But I would be wondering why my grandboss was suddenly interested in talking to me!

      Maybe the new boss just thinks it’s a good excuse to meet individually with the employees?

      Reply ↓
  6. MassMatt*

    For every org I’ve ever been in the manager was responsible for all feedback, reviews, PIPs, etc and they would talk about the raises earned.

    This grand-boss undercut the LW and inserted themself in a discussion where they really didn’t have info or input on the process, being new. I think LW is correct to be upset.

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    1. JanetM*

      My manager does my performance review, the legislature decides on the percentage raise they’ll offer the university, and the executive director of our business office sends the notification letter.

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      1. mlem*

        Yeah, my direct supervisor/manager does my performance review, my private company’s salary board ignores it and sets a sub-COLA “raise” for everyone with my title, and my direct supervisor/manager is then given the responsibility for “releasing” the official letter written by “the company”, though they’re given the “honor” of being expected to tell me the amount before clicking to release. We spend the time commiserating.

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  7. Annie*

    I’m not a manager, but considering it’s usually the manager that is making the decisions (or at least the recommendations of the raises), it seems like the news should come from the direct manager, who has the most knowledge of the employees’ performance.

    Reply ↓
  8. Khatul Madame*

    LW2 – this is why it is useful to look at yourself in your laptop’s camera app before the video interview. Besides wardrobe and makeup malfunctions you could notice things in the background, like an unmade bed or a crocheted peni$ on a shelf behind you.

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      2. Working for Some Government Somewhere*

        In my government job, we got a raise a few months ago that was not included in our negotiated union contract. It was something done at high government levels behind the scenes for the purpose of reducing attrition. We initially found out about it by press release – the media found out before the employees. The next day, a hastily-written e-mail was sent by the agency’s commissioner, with a duplicate sent via US Mail that arrived several days later. Initially, no details were made available other than “certain titles” would be eligible and that the amount would be “up to $X.”

        It took a week for us to find out who would be included (most of us, except high-level managers), and how much (our location got the full $X). While the money’s nice, the whole thing felt weird how it was presented. And the extra money wound up being delayed a month because payroll was caught off-guard and had to sort out who got what. And I’m not even going to begin to discuss the ramifications of the union contract not being revised to reflect this extra money.

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  9. Hot Dish*

    When I was briefly a manager, my terrible boss swooped in and gave my reports their raises and it destroyed me. I know it sounds petty, but when you’re the person having to deal with all the hard stuff with people and have difficult conversations, it feels really nice to have the opportunity to come to them with something good. I’d been at the company much longer than my boss and knew the practice was for the direct manager to give that information. I’d been looking forward to it. But no, she swooped in and did it and I’m still bitter! I know it sounds petty but it’s not.

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  10. Delta Delta*

    #2 – you never know what light is going to do. I went to a Christmas party this winter (so, you know, in December) and wore a black wool dress and black tights. Someone was taking photos with a camera with a flash. I later saw a photo on social media that I was in and it was fine except you could perfectly see the outline of my bra (pink!) through my dress. This dress is a winter wool dress and never looks see-through. But everyone who visited the social page for this particular organization was treated to a sweet view of my bra. I think it was from the camera flash.

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  11. MAW*

    With the interviewee with the see-through shirt — assuming that she didn’t mean to be wearing it, I feel like it’s the 30 second rule — only mention fashion problems to people that can be fixed in 30 seconds or less (spinach in the teeth, skirt tucked into tights, etc).

    Other than that, it just makes people self conscious about a thing that they can’t do anything about. And if no one says anything to them, when they get home they can reassure themselves that hopefully no one noticed…..

    Reply ↓

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