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I need help how to format an email to contact my boss. My current situation is I have been offered a job from another company but I will need to relocate(which I don't mind). The only thing that will entice me to stay with my current company is if I am accepted to work from home(which I prefer cause I am taking my Master's) or if they raise my salary.

What would I need to put in the Subject line and how should the body of the message look like? My boss works in the same building as me, but he wants to be e-mailed first everytime before I can talk to him because he has a busy schedule.

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    Related, possible duplicates: How to request a counter offer in a resignation letter, Should one explicitly say they are open to a counter-offer upon quitting? – David K Sep 25 '19 at 16:07
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    Does your boss work at the same location as you? This is not a conversation to start in an email. It should be in person, or over the phone if that's not possible. – David K Sep 25 '19 at 16:08
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    Yes he does work in the same location. But he wants to be e-mailed first everytime before I can talk to him because he has a busy schedule. – ReportWriter Sep 25 '19 at 16:10
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    I dont have regular one-on-one meetings with him. I do meet him regularly M-W-F but there is 1 other person who is with us in this meeting. – ReportWriter Sep 25 '19 at 16:15
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    @dwizum "I have this much-better offer here from another company. I'd like to stay, but I'd need X to justify it to myself" is a lot stronger than "I think I deserve X and you should give it to me." – Ben Barden Sep 25 '19 at 17:11
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he wants to be e-mailed first everytime before I can talk to him because he has a busy schedule.

It looks like a practise that he follows to keep his day organized, so an e-mail asking for some time should be enough here (as a direct report you don't have to be 100% precise).

What would I need to put in the Subject line and how should the body of the message look like

Being too specific for your topic can take conversation in other directions over the mail thread, which is not something you would want to do.

So, Body can be a simple: "Hi BossName, I need to discuss some important items with you in person. Setting up half an hour tomorrow/dayX for us to go over these. Regards ReportWriter"

And subject can be "Meeting with ReportWriter"

only thing that will entice me to stay with my current company is if I am accepted to work from home(which I prefer cause I am taking my Master's) or if they raise my salary.

Suggestion: Those are 2 separate wishlist items. Fix on the priority order for your negotiation, and do not use all your cards at once.

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    So I just e-mailed him a general "Request to meet privately" and I didn't say any reason why. He just e-mailed back with "Yes. I have been expecting it." Does this mean he is expecting me to resign or expecting me to ask for a raise? I have been working for the company for almost a year now and I am being paid under what the average is for my position. – ReportWriter Sep 25 '19 at 17:26
  • We can’t read his mind, it could mean either. – jmoreno Sep 28 '19 at 3:21
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First off, you should never tell your boss you are resigning (or may resign) in an email unless you have no other option. If at all possible this should be done in person, or over the phone if that's not feasible.

Since you don't have regular one-on-one meetings with him and he requires an email to set up any other meetings, you'll have to say something. In this case, since a telework agreement is one of the counters you are looking for, you can start with that. In your email tell your boss that you would like to meet so you can discuss your desire to be able to work from home. This should be enough to get the conversation started. Then, once you are in the meeting, you can be more explicit that you have another offer and would like to give him the option to counter that. You can also mention the option of more salary as well, though I generally think money alone is not a good enough reason to look for a counter-offer.

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    Thank you very much. I will e-mail to ask for a meeting about working from home and then go from there. – ReportWriter Sep 25 '19 at 16:37
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    So I just e-mailed him a general "Request to meet privately" and I didn't say any reason why. He just e-mailed back with "Yes. I have been expecting it." Does this mean he is expecting me to resign or expecting me to ask for a raise? I have been working for the company for almost a year now and I am being paid under what the average is for my position. – ReportWriter Sep 25 '19 at 17:26
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    @ReportWriter There's no way we can know what your boss meant by that. If you really want to know, he's the one to ask. – David K Sep 25 '19 at 17:34

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