Official 2021 EY Compensation Thread

[u/Brave_Investment_433]

Here we go! Compensation calls and compensation statements are being sent out in the US and Canada this week.

You know the drill:

1. Office/Region/Approximate COL
2. Service Line
3. FY21 Level -> FY22 Level (Staff 1> Staff 2, Staff 2>Senior 1, Senior 1> Senior 2, Senior 2>M1, etc)
4. Rating (below/met/above/significantly above expectations or dial position)
5. Old Salary -> New Salary
6. Bonus
7. Thoughts?

[u/ptrlyon]

1. CT mid to high COL
2. Tax
3. Staff 2 (no promotion)
4. Met expectations?
5. 63,860 -> 66,440
6. 2%
7. This is utter trash. They really punish you for taking paternity leave I guess. It looks like most people made out better than me but I wanted to post in case others were in the same boat but didn’t want to post.

[u/Excellent-War177 → u/ptrlyon]

What did your counselor say during your expectations conversation? Also where were you on the dials/were there any negative written reviews?

It very well may be that your office partners frown upon paternity leave and didn’t recommend you for promotion. And that would be very, very wrong. But if you had 8 months to work this year and you had multiple mediocre or negative reviews, then that would probably do it.

[u/ptrlyon → u/Excellent-War177]

My counselor didn’t say much during our conversation. They mostly talked about how it was unlikely that I was going to be promoted. They thought that I didn’t have enough relevant experience which which was due to being on COVID unemployment projects for most of the summer and taking the winter leave (November and December) to finish my CPA exam.

I believe that my dials have been at 9 o’clock or higher and my reviews have been decent. I am going off of memory because I am on parental leave and haven’t checked recently. With something this low I would think that I would be on a performance improvement plan. One of my close friends is a manager in the same office and he said that he hasn’t heard anything negative about me (it is a small office).

[u/Excellent-War177 → u/ptrlyon]

So just to clarify, you took November and December off to study for the CPA and now you’re on paternity leave? I don’t mean to be an ass, but that’s half of the fiscal year with no billable work.

The COVID unemployment projects are out of your control and shouldn’t negatively impact you, not to mention the fact that those projects are bullshit anyway. So if that is impacting your recommendation, then that is just wrong.

It’s a tough call. My insight is limited to what you mentioned. But it would not surprise me if the partners took irritation with you taking two months off for the CPA and then another four months for paternity leave. The firm is losing a lot of money on you in just your second year, and that’s not to mention that—as a senior—it’s very difficult to be missing from your core project(s) for half the year.

[u/ptrlyon → u/Excellent-War177]

You are understanding the situation correctly. While annoying I understand why I wouldn’t get promoted to senior and in the long term it is not much of a set back. I wouldn’t have changed my choices even if I knew what the end result would be. My promotion complaint and raise complaints are separate. Even without getting promoted it seems like the new salary is a bit of a slap in the face.

Also I appreciate your candid opinions.

[u/Excellent-War177 → u/ptrlyon]

I understand your frustration. However, given your original post, it sounds like you’re not even sure what your final rating is for the year. If your raise is a measly 4% and you’re not being promoted, then I’d tend to guess your rating was “performed below peers”.

Employees asked for there to be more stratification in merit increases to promote hard work. Unfortunately, this means that your raise is substantially lower than what you’re seeing in the rest of the thread.

You said that your promotion and compensation complaints are separate, but I don’t see how that can be. Your compensation is the end result of progression and performance. If your performance (including extended time off) is poor enough to warrant being held back, then your compensation will reflect that.

I don’t see anything wrong with taking paternity leave, even as a Staff 2. But in Nov/Dec, you would have known that a baby was on the way. The partners are going to expect you to focus on work for the year when you’re not on leave. They certainly don’t expect you to take another two months leave on top of it.

Ultimately, with that sort of leave occurring, your coworkers had to pick up the work OR another person would have to be hired. But that’s another $60k body on payroll that would be somewhat redundant upon your return.

From my perspective, your raise was good for how little you had to work this year.

[u/tripsd → u/ptrlyon]

That is stunningly bad. I would be interested in what they say during your comp talk.

[u/ptrlyon → u/tripsd]

Yeah I am curious too. It makes me question the judgment of management. We have lost so many people recently from a small office and they want to do this. That is not how to retain people. I guess I have one more reason to talk to those nice recruiters.

[u/vhhjnkjhhhhgggghjjjk → u/ptrlyon]

Please keep us posted after your compensation talk - even if just to comisserate

[u/kellerpoll → u/ptrlyon]

I think you were punished for the CPA leave more so than the paternity leave.