You've gotten some good answers but let me add my 2 cents worth. I have worked for small mom and pop shops and big corporations. Mom and Pop will definitely take it personally if you complain about your pay. The way they see it you got an almost 30 percent increase. Bigger places will usually have everything written up and have go-by's that will dictate pay based on duties with wiggle room for merit increases--and they'll still low-ball you at entry level positions.

I'm not sure where you live, but where I live in the US, the cost of living is medium; not ridiculously high and not very low. So 11 dollars an hour for a BS would be too low for my area, in my opinion, and so would 14, but 14 probably wouldn't raise too many eyebrows if there was growth potential. Your benefits should have been explained to you at the beginning. Do you get health insurance? How many days of vacation per year and is it allowed to accrue? How many days of sick leave? Does it accrue?

The benefit of where you are now is that you are basically calling the shots work-wise. I say put in enough time to equal 2 years there (your 6 mos probationary period plus 1.5 extra years) and then start applying for a better position at a stable company/organization.

Since there might be some question of whether this place you are working at is stable--since they are letting go long term employees--keep your resume/cv updated, maintain those contacts you are making, and start investigating salaries and responsibilities at the places that interest you--either by going to their websites and seeing what positions they advertise, asking friends or others who work there--ask about the culture at work, if they like it, etc., not just about money, and checking pay rates by career in your area in general (public library should be able to help with that).

Keep detailed, personal records of the responsibilities you have--keep these records at home. If you headed up a project that involved 4 other people under you and a multi-million dollar contract, note that down. If you ran 6000 tests by yourself, note that down. Obviously you are not keeping any secrets or company documents at home. Just your own notes on your own activities with an eye to resume building.

The dollar amount sent to you in email created a paper trail, and the person who sent it to you didn't actually have to talk to you. You decide whether you should reply with an email asking politely about health insurance and vacation: "It was probably just an oversight…" or "I must have forgotten, but could you refresh my memory about …. vacation/health insurance/sick leave."

One other thing. Especially with Mom and Pop small places, if you want something, you might couch it like this: "Normally, I take a week's vacation around the 4th of July/my birthday in September"/whatever--just anchor the vacation to a specific time. Then say, "Will that be a problem this year?" It helps if you can also add "I've trained Sue to run the tests/write the reports"….. or whatever you think they will get most hysterical about and use as a reason to not let you go.

I worked at one place that was just egregious. So be prepared to counter with, "So, it isn't possible this year…I'd like to pencil those dates in for next year…can I count on that??" AND have another time frame already chosen…"Ok, so how about a week in May; my brother and I often go fishing then…?"

Long story short; I would not stay at this place any longer than I had to, to do two things: Get initial experience and get an unremarkable, adequate amount of time to be able to honestly say to a new company: "I enjoyed working for MomAndPop, but now I would like to work with … a larger organization/specific duties…" whatever applies to the position you are interviewing for.