check your state law- I am an hourly part-time employee in NJ (by choice) if I go above a particular number of hours they are required to offer me health plans, if I go above another number of hours they are required to offer me retirement benefits- I have a contract that restricts me from doing either. I am not a contract employee so the company does do the required government withholdings, etc.
If you are a contract employee then the company doesn’t pay you on a w-2 (as somebody mentioned above) and you pay more for footing your own benefits (you also have to submit your own income tax quarterly payments, etc. - they won’t do withholdings for you.) Most companies pay high hourly rates for contract employees - to compensate for no benefits and not doing your withholdings for you.
Companies generally budget 50% or more over the salary they offer to cover benefits - paying a part of their employee health plan, time off - both vacation and sick days, pension/401(K) matches, perks like discounts at sports clubs, offering transportation tickets pre-tax, stock options, etc…
My personal opinion is that this is not a good offer - I would even take a lower salary to get full benefits. Once you calculate the out-of-pocket costs for not getting benefits - health plan, time off, etc. you will see the true value of the offer.
If your child was working a “managerial position” on “salary” that translates to a relatively low hourly rate – but works 50-60 hours a week with no overtime compensation – you’d be counting the days until he is properly compensated. Or, backing his efforts to get a new job! Experience is great. Being able to pay the rent is better.
You were given good advice on the 1099. You’ve mentioned contractor a couple times. If you are paid with a 1099, then you self employment tax and are not an employee.
Okay so getting nervous about the meeting with HR. when I go into the meeting should I negotiate for a 2K pay increase that would match the high end of the range or should I forget abut negotiating and just ask questions about the terms of employment?
If I should negotiate, how is this as a script?:
"Thank you for meeting me today. I am so excited about this new position. Have had great experiences with the team thus far and am looking forward to continuing working with everyone. I wanted to ask a few questons about the offer… (what guided the decision to make this an hourly paid position vs salaried? What type of company benefits would be included? Would I have paid time off?)
As I mentioned, I have loved the experiences I’ve had in this year long rotational program. One thing my team tells me that is so great about bringing me on officially is that I am fully familiar and trained in the tools and resources that the team uses on a daily basis. Given that I’ve had experience in the position prior to beginning and that I will not be receiving the usual benefits that come with a salary, I’d like to talk about increasing the salary to $_____."
I would negotiate for vacation and time off. D2 will be an hourly paid employee when she graduates. I told her it was a good thing because she will be working at minimum 20+ hrs over time. Even as an hourly paid employee, she will get 2 weeks vacation and few sick days.
In the end - you are securing a position that would not tie you to them - eg a position with opportunity to learn things, add to resume and grow - only makes you a more desireable candidate for others later on. Learning and gaining experience at this pt is more critical than what you are paid frankly. And when they hire you as hourly with no benefits, they know you are basically free to leave - that’s a risk for them to keep a good employee and an opportunity for you to continue to search.
D2 just called me to let me know they offered to make it a corporate job so she would be salaried employee. I told her unless they were going to pay for over time she is better off as an hourly employee. But she is only going to do it for two years.
@oldfort - if this is the position you mentioned on another thread - she will be far better off as an hourly employee eligible for overtime based on the experiences of my D’s friends in these types of jobs.
It really sounds to me like you were offered a contract position, not a permanent salaried position. While taking this job will give you income and experience, you probably want to be a permanent employee. The key item that screams contract position to me is the lack of vacation or sick days.
I’d take the job for the experience but after a year, start searching for a permanent position. Even within the same organization, if you like the place.
interesting in the news today - The rules, which take effect Dec. 1, would require overtime pay after a 40-hour work week for salaried employees earning up to $47,476 a year, or $913 a week, up from the current $23,660, or $455 per week. Hourly workers automatically are eligible for overtime no matter what their pay.
That means that the best offer would be a salaried job at $47,476 so you could get benefits and OT (starting 12/1)