Negotiating employee salaries is an issue that many employers face. As a business owner, you may have felt uncomfortable during these negotiations before. That’s normal.

However, it’s important to understand that there are many employers who successfully negotiate salaries with their employees without violating business law. Here’s what they do.

Look to understand employees’ expectations through questions

As an employer, you should never lead a negotiation with your first offer. Instead, you should ask questions to learn from your party what their salary expectations are. The more you understand your candidate’s business value, the better you will be able to negotiate a fair price for that business value.

You can begin with asking about their salary expectations or plans for the future and then move onto more specific questions, such as how much overtime is acceptable to them. This is also a great time to ask about any business value add-ons such as bonuses, company cars or benefits.

Set a clear range based on the budget

You should consider your business budget when negotiating salaries. Consider your business financials and set a range within that business budget that you can negotiate on with confidence.

When setting this range, it’s important to look at the market rate for employees of similar experience levels in comparable companies as well as what other employers are offering new graduates or entry-level candidates. Your budget will help to determine which business value add-ons you can offer in addition to salary, such as bonuses.

Use benefits to negotiate salaries

You should always look for ways to factor business value into a salary negotiation. You can offer business value in the form of benefits, such as travel insurance or gym memberships. You may be able to gain more professional credibility when negotiating salaries if you are offering business value add-ons that candidates usually have to pay for.

Negotiating employee salaries presents challenges. However, it is possible to negotiate salaries in a way that works for both your company and the employees’ satisfaction.