Many workers are encouraged to “go above and beyond,” but few are told what that effort is actually worth.

So when one employee finally stopped to calculate the payoff, the truth hit harder than expected.

Suddenly, their company’s promised “promotion path” looked a whole lot less appealing.

Read on for the full story.

Ask what raise would be after your promotion.

Management has been setting up a path of advancement for me.

The goal was that once I learned the procurement and planning aspect of a project, I would get a promotion to being a junior Project Manager.

This promotion would require some sacrifices.

This effort would include me busting my behind for 1–3 years working at an elevated level (which I would not be compensated for) to “prove” I can handle that task load.

Last week I had an epiphany where I realized I got so caught up in if I could that I never questioned if I should!

But once the employee asked what they would actually be paid, the reality became clear.

I asked my manager via email what the next level would actually pay me.

After 2 weeks of stalling, we had a phone conversation about the topic.

My hypothetical promotion raise would be 5–7%.

This didn’t quite compute for this employee, so they decided to make a hard stop.

I currently get an annual 3–4% cost of living adjustment to my pay.

So if I wanted to bust my behind for a couple years, network, and take on more technical management responsibilities, I only get a 2–3% extra?!

Forget that.

I’m gonna keep working at a relaxed pace — it is literally not worth the effort.

Many managers seem to forget that the exchange for more work should be more money.

What did Reddit think?

If this employee really wants a raise, maybe they should just go somewhere else.

There is something to be said for a title change to beef up your resumé.

Maybe things would end up working out better than this employee expects.

This commenter agrees it’s time to start looking elsewhere.

In the end, this employee realized their company was getting a much better deal out of all this than they were.

If the company wanted more work, they would have to pay more for it — it’s as simple as that.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.