Long time lurker, first time poster. Was paid minimum wage (£8.91 at the time)to run a small restaurant on my own. Was promised a pay rise that would be 'similar to those in the surrounding areas'.
Had a sit down meeting with my manager and was offered £10.55 as that is all he could afford. Or so he says. However after reading some of the stories posted on here I looked at similar jobs in the surrounding area before this meeting and found the average to be around £13-£15 an hour. He still refused to budge and if it hadn't of been for this I wouldn't have had the nerve to even bother arguing and would have smiled and said thanks. Instead I said thanks but no thanks, take my month notice period.
Within 2 hours I had applied for 3 jobs and had all 3 interviews and trails booked for the following week. I then had a meeting with one of the jobs and when discussing wages they said I was on far too low money. I asked for £13 an hour and they refused. They offered £13.50 with a 3 month salary review. I accepted it instantly.
Moral of this story, know your self worth. Stop being a yes man/woman/whatever you are. People will take advantage of you until you say no.