If you are not content with your current salary or feel like you are underpaid for any reason, it may be time to ask for a raise. However, you have to be strategic when asking your boss to pay you a higher wage. What are some tactics that you can use to get that higher rate of pay?

Research the Pay Scale of Others in Similar Positions

Before you make your decision to ask, you should know how much others in your current position are paid. You may look either at others within your own company or others outside of your company. In some cases, it may be appropriate to do both. If you find that others with similar skills, experience and accomplishments are making more than you, it strengthens your case to be paid more for what you do.

Educate Yourself on Employment Law

Workers who are looking to get paid more can turn an education into the leverage needed to earn that raise. Getting a master of science in employment law will give you insights into how much your employer is required to pay you and when it may be necessary to be paid overtime. If your employer doesn't want to pay you more per hour, you may be able to show that becoming a salaried worker at a higher pay rate may actually save the company money depending on how much overtime you work. Generally, salaried workers are exempt from overtime pay, which requires employer to pay 150 percent of an employee's normal salary.

Be Flexible as to How the Raise Happens

Some people think that the only way to get a raise is to ask for an increase in their hourly or yearly pay. However, it may be possible to negotiate a higher bonus at the end of the year or negotiate a higher commission for each sale made. This ensures that you get paid more for the work that you do throughout the year even if it comes in a lump sum or several lump sum payments.

If you aren't getting paid what you feel you are worth to your employer, don't be afraid to ask for a pay raise. A properly timed request can help you get closer to parity with others in your position or even help you become one of the highest paid people in your line of work. Either way, it can put you in a better financial position now and in the future.