Who gives cost of living increases. the company you work for or the state goverment?

Question

Who gives cost of living increases. the company you work for or the state goverment?

Answer 1

I'm assuming that by "cost of living increases" you refer to adjustments to take into account the effect of inflation, and that you're in the US (which is likely, given the reference to "state government").

The answer depends on what you mean by "gives."

If you mean who *pays* the cost of living increases: the company you work for, of course (okay, yes: if you work for the state government, the state government pays your wages or salary, including the cost of living increases).

If you mean who *decides whether you get* a cost of living increase: it depends on the terms of your employment. If you're in a union job (less and less common) and the union collective bargaining agreement calls for cost of living increases (quite common in union agreements), then the contract spells out what adjustments the relevant workers get. If you have an employment agreement or there's some sort of company policy on cost of living adjustments, that contract or policy would say (though the *typical* contract or policy doesn't prevent the employer from simply firing you, or changing its policy). Otherwise, it's up to the employer.

If you mean who *produces the figures* used to determine how much cost of living has increased: almost all contracts, policies and everybody uses indexes that are calculated and published by the United States Department of Labor.

Answer 2

It depends on how you're getting paid.  Generally COLAs (cost of living adjustments) are for things like pensions, Social Security, etc. where the income has been fixed at a specific amount, and COLAs are needed to adjust for inflation.  Unions sometimes have them included in their contracts with companies.

Non-union companies don't usually give COLAs unless they feel a need to retain their employees.  Usually they give raises based on performance.  In fact, not getting an annual raise when other people are getting them is a sign that the company wants to get rid of you.

I'm not sure how government jobs do it - they might have COLAs in addition to performance raises.

Answer 3

SOME companies do...Say if I get transferred from Houston, Texas to LA, California where it costs more to live, there is a couple year stipend you get to ease into the more expensive area.  But it doesn't go forever.

Not all companies do this, I'm in oil industry so extra compeensation happens if you get sent to Alaska or somewhere.  Dont expect a big raise when you return though.