Ask your boss for fair raise

Dear Annie: I have been the bookkeeper for a small company for six months. The previous bookkeeper was embezzling money, and I now have to deal with a lot of micromanaging due to the office manager’s trust issues. I do my job well and have proved myself trustworthy.

Due to my position, I am aware of how much money the embezzler was making and I am making significantly less. The owner also owns another company and recently fired the bookkeeper there for embezzling, as well. I was asked to help out until they hired someone else, and while going through the books, I discovered that she, too, was making significantly more money than I am.

I accepted a lower-than-normal wage when I began working here, with the understanding that I would be making more once I put in my time. I am coming up for my review and was looking forward to getting a raise. I have discovered through the grapevine, however, that the raise they plan to offer me is less than I was led to believe and much less than that of the bookkeepers who were embezzling. I should be worth at least as much as they were. I have more responsibility, rarely take a day off, do my work well and, most important, I’m not stealing from the company.

I realize it’s the owner’s prerogative to pay what he feels is right, but am I justified in – Feeling Stiffed?

Dear Feeling Stiffed: While you are honest and doing a good job, the owner isn’t going to pay you the same amount after six months as someone else earned after, say, six years. If, however, your length of employment is similar, you have a legitimate beef. When your raise comes up, let the boss know what you think is fair.

Dear Annie: I am an elderly widow with a debilitating lung disease and a recent breast cancer diagnosis. I live alone in my own home.

My neighbors and I share a backyard fence. They have a row of evergreen trees that drop needles all over. Yesterday I observed my neighbor using his leaf blower to scatter those needles into my yard. They kill my grass.

I am in no condition to rake up these needles or blow them back into his yard. Any suggestions as to what I should do? – Tired and Upset

Dear Tired: Talk to your neighbor. He may not realize that his evergreen needles destroy your grass, or that you’ve noticed. If that doesn’t help, contact your local homeowners or neighborhood association, or ask another neighbor to intercede on your behalf. You can, of course, call the police if he doesn’t stop, but first we’d give him the opportunity to do the right thing.