I do double the work of my colleagues, but we’re paid the same. I slowed down, and my boss noticed. How can I ask for more pay for more work?

Lately, though, she’s started noticing that some colleagues with the same title were doing considerably less for about the same pay. So Meghan started to pull back.

She didn’t stop doing her job or start missing deadlines — she just stopped automatically taking on everyone else’s work. And because she’d spent years being the person who always said yes to every ask, her boss noticed the difference pretty quickly.

Now Meghan is wondering whether that conversation could be her opening to ask for more money.

She’s not alone in feeling that her paycheck doesn’t quite match her workload. A 2024 Pew Research Center survey found that just 30% of U.S. workers were “extremely” or “very satisfied” with how much they were paid. Among workers who were “dissatisfied”, 70% said they felt they were paid too little for the amount of work they did.

How to ask for a raise

Meghan should resist the temptation to make this a conversation about her coworkers.

She may very well be doing twice as much work as someone with the same title. But telling her boss that “Darren” spends half the day scrolling through his phone isn’t exactly going to make a particularly strong case for a raise. Instead, she’ll need to make a case for herself.

That means going back over the past year or two and writing down what has actually changed about her role. Has she taken on projects that weren’t originally part of her job? Has she trained new employees or solved problems that saved the company money? These things will matter more than simply saying, “I work really hard.”

“The employee should list the functional areas and responsibilities she owns now and compare them to her original job description,” Wendi Weiner, attorney and executive career expert, told Moneywise. “This will ultimately show the gap between the role she was hired for and what she’s accountable for today.”

It can also help to put numbers around the work wherever possible. Let’s say Meghan manages 30 accounts now when she used to manage 20. Or maybe she’s taken on a project that saves her department 10 hours a week. If she consistently finishes work ahead of schedule and that has allowed the team to take on more clients, she should be able to explain that.

“She should also be able to point to budget size and growth — if applicable — people leadership, and the extra projects she’s taken on or initiatives she’s spearheaded, along with their business impact,” Weiner says. “Did they save the company money, drive efficiency, optimize processes or generate new revenue and opportunities?”

In other words, Meghan shouldn’t walk into the meeting with a general feeling that she’s doing more. She should have something she can actually show her boss.

“The overarching theme is that she needs to walk in with evidentiary support for her position,” Weiner says. “Facts matter because they’re hard to dispute.”

Her 12 years with the company are relevant, but they shouldn’t be the entire argument. Time served doesn’t automatically translate into higher pay.

She should also do some research on what people in comparable roles are earning in her area. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) occupational wage data can provide a broad picture of what people in different occupations earn, although Meghan will want to look specifically at her occupation and location.

Then she needs to actually ask for the bump in salary. Something direct, like: “I’d like to talk about adjusting my compensation to reflect the responsibilities I’ve taken on and the results I’ve delivered.”

That would give her manager something concrete to respond to.

Don’t make your raise about everyone else

Meghan’s frustration is understandable, but comparing herself with coworkers can take the conversation in the wrong direction.

Just because two people have the same title doesn’t mean their days look the same. One might have picked up a specialized responsibility, another might have a different mix of clients, and Meghan may not know what else is going on behind the scenes.

“She needs to reframe the conversation around her own growth, not her coworkers’ output,” Weiner says.

That’s especially important if Meghan’s responsibilities have grown substantially since she was hired. She may not just be doing more work; she may be doing a substantially different job.

“Her expanded responsibilities and leadership clearly show she’s outgrown the role she was hired for,” Weiner told Moneywise. “If she’s a manager carrying the responsibilities of a senior director, she should position the ask as a title elevation that reflects the job she’s already doing, with the compensation to match.”

That keeps the focus on Meghan’s role rather than whether her colleagues are doing enough.

She should also look at how her compensation has changed over the years, including any bonus structure. “If it hasn’t remained on pace with her responsibilities, that’s another place for her to state her case for an elevation,” Weiner says.