Salary increase request letter: how to write it, with a template
A salary increase request letter is not where you win the increase. It is where you make the decision easy to approve.
By the time you send it, the case should already have been made in conversation. The letter exists to put that case in writing so your manager can forward it, defend it in a budget discussion, and refer back to it three months later when the review happens. Written badly, it becomes the reason the request stalls.
This page is about the document: what goes in it, in what order, and what to do after you send it. Building the underlying case — the evidence, the benchmark, the timing, the conversation — is a separate job, and how to ask for a salary increase covers it.
Before you write: three conditions
Writing the letter first is the most common mistake. Check these first.
1. You have already raised it verbally. A letter that arrives with no prior conversation puts your manager on the spot and reads as escalation. Raise it in a one-to-one, get a sense of the constraints, then send the letter as the agreed follow-up. If your manager asks for it in writing, that is the ideal trigger.
2. You know the process. Increases are usually decided in an annual cycle, tied to performance ratings and a budget set months earlier. Sending a letter two weeks after the cycle closes means waiting a year. Ask HR or your manager when the window is and write into it.
3. You have evidence, not a feeling. "I have been here three years" is not a case. "I took on the reporting function in March when Ahmed left, and it has stayed with me since" is.
What the letter must contain
Five elements, in this order. Under one page.
1. The request, stated plainly. Name the figure or the range in the first two sentences. A letter that takes four paragraphs to reach the point reads as uncomfortable, and the discomfort transfers.
2. What has changed since your salary was set. This is the core. Scope you have taken on, results you have produced, responsibility that grew without being renegotiated. Three to five items, each with a number or a concrete outcome.
3. External reference, if you have a defensible one. Market data for your role and level, stated neutrally. Do not use another employer's offer as leverage unless you are genuinely prepared to accept it — see counter offer after resigning for why that road is worse than it looks.
4. What you are asking for, specifically. A number, or a narrow range, with a date it would take effect. Vagueness here transfers the work to your manager, and work you transfer is work that gets deferred.
5. A constructive close. You are committed, you want to discuss it, you understand there is a process. Never an ultimatum, unless you have decided to leave and are prepared for the answer.
The template
Subject: Salary review request — [Your name], [Job title] Dear [Manager's name], Following our conversation on [date], I am writing to formally request a review of my salary. Based on [the scope I have taken on since [month/year] / my performance over the past [period] / both], I would like to request an increase to [SAR figure] per month, or an increase of [X]%. Since my current salary was set in [month/year], my role has changed in the following ways: - [Change 1: what you took on, when, and the effect. Include a number.] - [Change 2: a result you delivered, quantified.] - [Change 3: additional scope, responsibility or complexity.] - [Change 4: anything formally recognised — a rating, an award, a written commendation, a retained client.] [Optional, only if you have a defensible source: one sentence on market reference for this role and level, stated neutrally.] I am requesting [SAR figure / X%], effective [date — typically the next cycle, or the date the additional scope began]. I am committed to the team and to [specific thing you are working on]. I would welcome the chance to discuss this, and I understand the review process may have its own timing. Thank you for considering it. [Your name] [Job title] [Date]
A filled example
Subject: Salary review request — Rana Al-Dossari, Senior Accountant Dear Mr. Khalid, Following our conversation on 2 September, I am writing to formally request a review of my salary. Based on the scope I have taken on since January, I would like to request an increase to SAR 19,000 per month, an increase of 15%. Since my salary was set in March 2024, the role has changed in the following ways: - In January I took over the fixed-assets and intercompany reconciliations from the departing senior accountant. These have remained with me for eight months and were not backfilled. - I now close two entities rather than one. Close time across both is five working days, against the six working days for one entity previously. - I built the automated reconciliation file the team now uses for monthly close, which removed roughly two days of manual work per month across three people. - I received an "exceeds expectations" rating in the last review cycle and was asked to support the year-end audit as primary contact. I am requesting SAR 19,000, effective from the January cycle or from January 2026 retroactively, given that is when the additional entity moved to me. I am committed to the team and to getting the new ERP reporting module live before year-end. I would welcome the chance to discuss this, and I understand the review process has its own timing. Thank you for considering it. Rana Al-Dossari Senior Accountant 14 September 2026
Invented example. The person, the employer, the figures and the systems are not real.
Why it works:
- The number appears in the second sentence. No build-up.
- Every claim is checkable. A manager can verify the entity count, the close time, the rating and the audit request without asking anyone.
- It names a departure and a non-backfill — the single most defensible basis for an increase, because the employer has already saved the cost.
- The effective date is specific and reasoned, tied to when the scope actually changed rather than to when the letter was written.
- The commitment at the end is concrete, not a sentiment. It names a live piece of work.
- No threat, no comparison to a colleague, no mention of personal expenses.
Completion checklist
- [ ] A verbal conversation happened first
- [ ] I know when the review cycle is and this letter falls inside it
- [ ] The figure or range appears within the first two sentences
- [ ] Three to five changes since my salary was set, each with a number or a verifiable fact
- [ ] Every claim could be checked without asking me
- [ ] An effective date, with a reason for it
- [ ] Market reference only if the source is defensible, and stated neutrally
- [ ] No mention of a colleague's salary
- [ ] No mention of personal financial need
- [ ] No ultimatum, and no other offer referenced unless I would accept it
- [ ] One page
- [ ] Addressed to the person who can actually decide, or who takes it to them
- [ ] Copied to HR only if that is the stated process
What to leave out, and why
| Do not include | Why |
|---|---|
| A colleague's salary | Turns your request into a complaint about someone else, and usually reveals a confidentiality breach |
| Personal expenses — rent, school fees, a new child | Sympathetic, but it is an argument about your costs rather than your value, and it cannot be approved on that basis |
| Length of service alone | Time is not a contribution. Use what changed in that time |
| A competing offer you would not take | If it is called, you have to either leave or stay having lost credibility |
| Anything emotional about feeling undervalued | True, possibly, and it makes the letter about the relationship instead of the case |
| A demand with a deadline | Unless you have decided to leave, in which case this is not the letter you are writing |
After you send it
Expect a delay. Decisions of this kind usually require someone above your manager, and often a budget line that is set annually. Two to four weeks of silence is normal and not an answer.
Follow up once, after two weeks. One short message asking whether anything further is needed from you.
If the answer is no, ask three questions. What would need to be true for this to be approved? When is the next realistic point to revisit it? Is there anything other than base salary available — a title change, an allowance, training, or a scope change that raises the band?
Write down what you are told. A specific commitment with a date is worth something. A vague "we'll look at it next year" is information too — it tells you the answer is no and the conversation is over, which is worth knowing before you decide anything else.
If the answer is no twice, with no reasoned path, then the question is no longer about the letter. It is a question about whether to stay, and that is a different decision — the stay-or-go framework is the right starting point.
Common questions
Email or printed letter?
Email, in almost all cases. It timestamps the request, it can be forwarded to whoever needs to approve it, and it does not require a meeting to hand over. Use a clear subject line.
Should I send it to HR or my manager?
Your manager, unless the published process says otherwise. HR usually administers the decision; your manager usually makes or sponsors it.
How much should I ask for?
That depends on the gap between your current package and a defensible reference point, which is the work covered on how to ask for a salary increase. What the letter needs is a specific figure — not what the figure should be.
What if I have never had this conversation and my manager is unapproachable?
Then the letter is not your first move; it is your third. Establish the process with HR first, get the timing, and raise it verbally at the next one-to-one. A letter that arrives cold into a difficult relationship rarely lands well.
Does a letter help if I am underpaid relative to new joiners?
It can, but state it as market alignment for your role and level, not as a comparison to a named person. The underlying facts are the same and the framing determines whether it can be acted on.
Next
If you have not built the case yet, do that first — how to ask for a salary increase covers the evidence, the benchmark and the timing. If the increase is part of a wider question about whether this role still fits, that is a career decision rather than a compensation one. And if you are preparing for a negotiation you expect to be difficult, salary negotiation coaching is one of the coaching options.
A useful next step, matched to this topic
If you want support applying what you just read, start with the option closest to the problem in front of you.
Saad Al-Wuqayan
Career & Executive Coach — ICF ACC, MBA
Saad Al-Wuqayan coaches professionals and executives in Riyadh. Nearly two decades across engineering, business development, financial leadership as a CFO and government transformation sit behind every session.
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