I'm up for yearly review next week and am going to give my bosses an ultimatum.
I have a pretty unique work situation. The company I work for is family owned, worth tens of millions of dollars, and primarily deals in construction. However, I am a software developer. Part of what we do is GIS (geographic information systems) data collection and housing. The owner of my company has been trying to expand his business by selling GIS related software to other companies. This software has been designed primarily by independent contractors and within the last year they hired me as their first in-house software developer.
Taking that into account I don't think my bosses are bad people. They are upfront and honest, pay their workers fair wages, always approve and pay for overtime, and are generally understanding and helpful when it comes to their employees personal issues. However, none of them are at all informed about what they need to do in order to retain workers in my field. Since I don't have a concrete position above me there is no distinct pay bump with increased responsibility. They also don't allow remote work outside of certain unique circumstances, have a poor vacation time policy, and have no concept of what amount of work is the correct amount of work for me.
Thus I come to my ultimatum which is likely going to be considered overstepping. I'm going to demand higher pay (an increase of about $20,000 yearly), the ability to work remote full time within the next year (they have the capabilities but policy must change), and increased vacation time or a PTO plan for salaried employees. Or I walk. I do actually have leverage because their contracted developers are coming to the end of their contracts and the company doesn't want to resign with them because of the significant cost, I am also the only one in house who has real knowledge of their developed applications and I have a good relationship with our biggest client. Replacing me would cost them quite a bit of money within the next year. I'll update when I am either terminated or promoted.