Benefits package question: IT field

[kev374]

I have been a IT consultant for the last several years and not in touch with what is the norm as far as benefits are concerned. For a Senior IT engineer (12+ yrs experience) what would be considered a good benefits package?

– How many weeks of vacation (excluding sick and personal time)

– How many sick days (in addition to the above):

– Personal days (I know I had 2-3 of these when I was full time about 6 yrs ago)

– How much of a 401k match (some recruiter told me that 401k matches are not common these days due to the recession, is that BS?)

– How much of a bonus is normal? 10%?

– Is telecommuting at least 1-2 days normal?

Anything else I should know?

Last question is this… what does the normal work week look like in terms of hours? 45 hrs/wk, 50 hrs/wk? Is working Saturdays normal? I have worked Saturdays only on emergencies in my 15 year career but not as part of standard operating procedure.

[paramount]

15 hrs/month PTO
0 hrs sick time
Personal Days? What’s that??
401k match 3% up to 50%
Bonus = 0
Work from home = 0
Medical benefits = SUCK!!!!

That’s my experience…

[paramount]

As far as hours go, I really try to stick to 40 hours. Employers abuse (IMO) exempt status to avoid paying OT, so I don’t work OT unless I’m going to be fired or in emergency situations.

[Coronita]

dup

[Coronita]

Well i guess it could be worse.

I’ve been hearing 2st hand it’s pretty bad at a defense company in RB that begins with the letter B.

And I’ve heard 1st hand accounts recently that a defense company beginning with the letter N that a bunch of high level enginerds were recently told they would be automatically reclassified 2 levels down, and pay cut accordingly, and that if they didn’t like it, leave….

Yeah, that’s why I would never be caught dead working for a defense co….I’d be a full time mortgage broker before that happened.

[Coronita]

Varies drastically by employer…

1. Previous financial software company in San Diego
(Company is pretty transparent about it)
http://www.intuitbenefits.com/

[paramount]

[quote=flu]Well i guess it could be worse.

I’ve been hearing 2st hand it’s pretty bad at a defense company in RB that begins with the letter B.

And I’ve heard 1st hand accounts recently that a defense company beginning with the letter N that a bunch of high level enginerds were recently told they would be automatically reclassified 2 levels down, and pay cut accordingly, and that if they didn’t like it, leave….

Yeah, that’s why I would never be caught dead working for a defense co….I’d be a full time mortgage broker before that happened.[/quote]

I’d say you’re hearing correctly….

I was also surprised to hear SAIC is breaking up.

[SK in CV]

[quote=paramount]

I was also surprised to hear SAIC is breaking up.[/quote]

When did this news break? I can’t find anything on it. Or is it inside baseball?

[spdrun]

Can’t you do whatever you want to do for a large corepirate entity on a freelance/LLC basis instead? No IRS issues as long as you’re not being paid through a middle-man, and the insurance situation will become a lot better for small LLC’s come 2014.

(Obama wins this round.)

[SK in CV]

[quote=SK in CV][quote=paramount]

I was also surprised to hear SAIC is breaking up.[/quote]

When did this news break? I can’t find anything on it. Or is it inside baseball?[/quote]

Nevermind, i found it.

[Coronita]

[quote=spdrun]Can’t you do whatever you want to do for a large corepirate entity on a freelance/LLC basis instead? No IRS issues as long as you’re not being paid through a middle-man, and the insurance situation will become a lot better for small LLC’s come 2014.

(Obama wins this round.)[/quote]

My total comp package as a full time is better than it would be if I was a consultant. In fact it’s been like this for the past 6-7 years.

[spdrun]

Depends … what you do, and whether you want to put up with the aggro of working for a single entity 40+ hr a week. Being able to code or sysadmin from a beach in the South of France (when you live in the USA) is rather niiiiice.

[an]

[quote=flu][quote=spdrun]Can’t you do whatever you want to do for a large corepirate entity on a freelance/LLC basis instead? No IRS issues as long as you’re not being paid through a middle-man, and the insurance situation will become a lot better for small LLC’s come 2014.

(Obama wins this round.)[/quote]

My total comp package as a full time is better than it would be if I was a consultant. In fact it’s been like this for the past 6-7 years.[/quote]
Agree. I’m doing both right now and even SF freelance are not paying more than full time SD.

[spdrun]

The “extra payment” is flexibility, rather than having someone with “authority” set your schedule.

[an]

[quote=spdrun]The “extra payment” is flexibility, rather than having someone with “authority” set your schedule.[/quote]I’m calling BS. I’ve done freelancing, I’ve done full time, and I’ve done full time for a contracting firm. It’s all relative on which company you’re working for, regardless of freelancing or full time. If anything, at the same company, the freelance are more likely to be pushed the hardest.

[Author]

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