I've been in this exact situation. I worked as a Sales Associate in a retail store, was promoted to Lead when new management rolled around, and was given the opportunity to take on several projects involving design and photography (e.g., the store newsletter, in-store signage, etc.) on top of my regular duties. I think I was getting paid around $12.50/hr at the time. When I tried to negotiate a raise during my review, I was denied ("budget issues"), but this might just be because of the company I work for (where there's been no merit-based raises for me and almost everyone I work with in at least 4 years).
I ended up being lucky because I was promoted into Marketing, where I now do e-Commerce, internet marketing and graphic design. I'm not technically an in-house designer since my title is just "Internet Marketing Assistant", but I do all the design work. I'm currently getting paid around $15.60/hr and was told during my last review that while I was doing a fantastic job, there would be no merit-based raises this fiscal year >:(
I would recommend checking out http://www.designsalaries.org/ as a starting point. Realize, though, that you're not doing graphic design work 100% of the time. I would suggest making a breakdown of your projects (e.g. 20% design [newsletter, signage] + 40% customer service + 40% operational [inventory flow, etc.]) to help them see how much time of your time it's taking up.
Whoops, just saw your part about the 12 hours of design per 36-hour work week. I'd still show them the breakdown!
And if they deny you a raise, you can also try to negotiate for working at home (if you're interested). Tell them that you can spend one day a week doing design work.
I ended up being lucky because I was promoted into Marketing, where I now do e-Commerce, internet marketing and graphic design. I'm not technically an in-house designer since my title is just "Internet Marketing Assistant", but I do all the design work. I'm currently getting paid around $15.60/hr and was told during my last review that while I was doing a fantastic job, there would be no merit-based raises this fiscal year >:(
I would recommend checking out http://www.designsalaries.org/ as a starting point. Realize, though, that you're not doing graphic design work 100% of the time. I would suggest making a breakdown of your projects (e.g. 20% design [newsletter, signage] + 40% customer service + 40% operational [inventory flow, etc.]) to help them see how much time of your time it's taking up.
Good luck!
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And if they deny you a raise, you can also try to negotiate for working at home (if you're interested). Tell them that you can spend one day a week doing design work.
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