Asking for a raise as an agency based therapist

amother

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 12:13 am

I have been working at an agency for a couple of years at a Brooklyn based agency as a therapist, lets call it agency A. I commute 40 minutes, and I enjoy my work environment. There is an agency closer to me that pays $5 more an hour than what I am getting now. In a charter school and it would be a new job, getting to know their system etc. Id rather stay in my current school, but I really need a raise. I interviewed at another agency that can only give me part time work for $10 more an hour than agency A. I really would like to stay in my current agency, but I want a $10 raise. Agency A really pays on the lower end. How do I ask for a raise? If I say Im not willing to come back unless I get the $10 raise, what if they say "ok dont come back" ? then I am stuck with part time work and it doesnt even itself out.

amother

Latte

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 9:59 pm

amother OP wrote:

I see no one answered you, but I am/was in a similar situation recently and I came to this realization- you need to advocate for yourself!! Frum women therapist are complacent with the horrible status quo that has been for years. Therapists are dropping out of the field like flies in my community because it actually makes no sense for us to work. I know ppl in the field 15 years who were given a 1$ per session raise ever. I just told my agency I need xyz to stay. They were stalling. I was offered another job so I told my job I'm leaving (not angry, just this is what I have to do), they came back the next day with a matched offer. I really really really want frum female therapists to stop taking it the way it is and advocate for themselves. Not getting raises and being scared to ask really causes a lot of burnout and drop out. For us to go work is a huge sacrifice and it has to make financial sense also. PLEASE ASK!

amother

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 10:33 pm

amother Latte wrote:

I am thinking of leaving the field completely since it really isnt so sustainable. I know they are desperate for therapists since every year less and less therapists come back.
Can you give me a good line to say to them to ask them for the $10 raise? Like do I call them a week before school starts when theyre a bit more desperate? what do I say? "hi I wanted to speak about my pay for this year...." then I dunno what to say next

amother

Lightcoral

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 10:40 pm

I have been doing seit for years. I used to request a raise every couple years. it was a whole official thing. had to fill out paperwork. I was able to get a raise like every 2 years.
and then our pay went down cuz the DOE stopped paying absences, etc.
anyhow, I have to say.... I think the agencies are desperate for seits, cuz in the past couple years, not only did they raise me (2 yrs in a row) to above my original pay before it was reduced, but they did without me asking!!
so I think you can definitely say something like.... I really enjoy working for your agency, I am a hard worker, good with kids, etc.... I have been offered $5 and $10 more an hour by other agencies, but prefer staying with Agency A. Is it possible you can match their pay rate?

amother

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 10:42 pm

amother Lightcoral wrote:

SEITs are paid more in my agency that therapists which I find quite interesting. I also heard the male therapists get paid more than we do. They thought they were doing me a favor raising me $1 after my first year. Ill say your last line that sounds good. What do I say if they say "no we cant do that" ?

amother

Chicory

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 10:55 pm

Realistically, they're not going to raise you $10, even if you threaten to leave. You can ask, but be prepared to settle for a lower amount.

I just want to point out about charter schools- even if your hourly rate is higher, you may not come out with more money. This is because you will have tons of vacation days, which are unpaid. You will need to take off the for the Jewish holidays, and the school will give off all the non-Jewish holidays. For example, you may have a 10 day winter break over xmas/new years, and the whole week off president's week etc. Just something to keep in mind

Also definitely don't wait till the beginning of the school year when they are crazy busy.

amother

Lightcoral

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 10:58 pm

amother OP wrote:

im still interviewing by other places and trying to get into the DOE if something opens up there

so I don't know what type of therapist you are, but I do know my speech therapist friends they don't get raises.....
even if you might end up getting into the DOE, I think you should attempt now to ask for that raise. they might not be able to answer right away....

amother

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 11:12 pm

amother Chicory wrote:

either way between YT, class trips, morahs and rebbeim not letting me take kids out, there are way more absences in the Jewish school and days I cant bill for because I dont see students

amother

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 11:15 pm

amother Lightcoral wrote:

im a slp. my raise was a $1 the first time I asked Sad

I really cant survive on what I make now ill probably have to switch to the new agency if my agency cant match the other agency I interviewd at

amother

Chicory

Mon, Jul 31 2023, 11:21 pm

amother OP wrote:

either way between YT, class trips, morahs and rebbeim not letting me take kids out, there are way more absences in the Jewish school and days I cant bill for because I dont see students

I dunno, I know someone who worked in both charter school and yeshiva and she said she lost out a lot more in the charter school.

amother

Latte

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 7:02 pm

Where are you located? I know it's not typical but I got a 10$ raise per hour in one shot and then 5$ again the next year and then I realized no matter how much more I make per hour I still don't walk away with anything more by the end of the year so I changed my requests but even so I'm about to drop out of the field.

amother

Turquoise

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 10:40 pm

Don't want to derail this thread... but something has to be done for us therapists. It's crazy how we spend so much on school and then get locked into hourly rates that go up so slowly. My husband is in an industry where he started lower but gets raises often and will hopefully end up a lot higher than me...

amother

Tangerine

Wed, Aug 02 2023, 2:02 am

Ask
And I'd threaten. I threatened to leave my job this year unless I got a 12% raise. They told me people working in the industry make that after 10 years (totally subjective they don't pay well) BH I am in a position to say, if you don't pay me, I won't work. I got the raise I asked for.
If you don't ask, you'll never get it. And you don't need to overtly threaten to leave, you can day you've been approached or you discussed with other places a rate of $10 more per hour. And then see what they say

amother

Turquoise

Wed, Aug 02 2023, 10:00 pm

amother Hosta wrote:

Can you get private clients?
In Lakewood, the therapists that work privately make $150-$200 hourly, depending on their prices.
If you work for an agency you get much less; my agency pays $75-$85 hourly, but just raised some of their more senior therapists to between $90-$100 hourly. It’s not bad,

Wow I'm an OT in Lakewood. Would you be comfortable sharing which agency this is?