<prompt> Human: Hi, the company i am working at right now offer contract to employees every year, and we just got ours this week.I have been earning lower salary than I feel like I deserve, and after sending resume out to a few other place I found out that I should be paid more. A few companies are offering me a job or interview. However, I work with students, so I dont want to leave them, and I know being loyal to the company is a bad trait to have according to rpersonalfinance , but I want to stay in the current company, and only leave if they wont budge on the salary.I been reading a lot about negotiating for a raise on this subreddit, but my boss has a family matter he needs to attend to for a while, so I cant ask for salary in person. He said I can email him, so...rPersonalFinance , how do i craft the best damn email to communicate to my boss that I need a raise and as much as I want to stay here, I already got offer that they probably cant match?about 10,000 more. And because of my love for my students, I dont even need my company to match, just meet me somewhere in the middle...Thanks!Assistant: Can this wait until next week? I would say asking him this week is probably bad form, especially is his personal issue warranted taking a week off. Human: The only reason I would like this to be done ASAP is because I received an offer from another company the same day I received the contract from my company.the other company wants me to give them an answer by Monday. I wanted to talk to my boss in person but he had to leave for personal matter, which is just a terrible coincidences and my heart goes out to him and his family situation. But thats why this has been difficult for me, I dont want to decline the offer from another company if my current company wont give me a raise.Assistant: Ask the new company for a 1 week extension in the deadline. Say you are very interested, but need a little time to work out some things. Most employers are willing to do this. They dont want to leave offers open ended for an indefinite timeframe, but an extra week isnt that big of an issue.Human: ok, I will give that a try. Thank you very much. Based on the tone of the other company, they sounds like they really wanted an answer ASAP, but I will ask them for one week deadline.Another problem is that I am not sure when my boss will be back. Since his absence is family related, theres no rigid timeline on when hell be back.  <response>: A company that wont give you an extra week to decide may not be one you want to work for 