Re: Jobs.... Benefits...

["William Sherman" <bsherman77 -at- embarqmail -dot- com>]

I hate to say this as it may be viewed as too political, but with the way 
the economy is going, it is something all job hunters and even job holders 
have to watch for. With the national healthcare (Obamacare for some of you), 
many companies are scaling back on their health benefits. Apparently there 
were provisions for some companies that offered too much to be penalized, so 
the employee contribution had to increase. In many cases, companies are 
checking the cost of the penalties for not providing versus the cost of 
providing, and some are electing the penalties.

If they hire you as a contractor through a vendor, then their responsibility 
for the healthcare goes away. That responsibility is transferred to the 
vendor.

I think the rash of 1099 offers lately is the result of some of this. On a 
W2, you are an employee of someone, and by law, they will have to have a 
healthcare plan in place. So if they get you to work on a 1099, no 
healthcare plan issues exist.

You have to basically ignore the recruiter side of finding a job. Most are 
recruiting as a job shop. I have not seen a recruiter that was trying to 
place me permanently into a company as a regular employee in a very long 
time. (Half say contract to hire, but that is a teaser.) If you want a 
permanent direct job, you will have to apply directly to the company. Now 
when you get calls from recruiters, you will know that XYZ company is in 
need of someone. Check their careers page on their web site and apply.

The other way is as you mentioned - raise your rate high enough to cover 
your own coverage. DO NOT underestimate this amount. Many fall into the idea 
that healthcare is cheap since they only paid $20 a week or such. That was 
due to the company picking up anywhere from 70 to 90 percent of the premium. 
In today's economy, you can figure roughly $500 for yourself, another $500 
for your spouse, or $1500 to $2000 for a family plan. And as 2014 gets 
closer, the costs will go up. At $1600 a month (my COBRA premium six years 
ago), I had $9.23 per hour to pay for insurance. But that is take home pay, 
not gross. Figure that is close to $13 per hour gross just to cover 
insurance.  Remember that when you get an offer of $25/hour. Half of your 
check will go to family insurance.

Your premiums naturally vary by location. Three years ago, I was working for 
a company in California (I wasn't, they were) and the insurance was based on 
a group plan, small company, with a southern California location. The family 
plan was going to run $2500 per month for me.

Yes, it is discouraging. But keep the faith. If you contract and pay all 
those premiums yourself, much of it becomes tax deductions on your next 
return.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Courtney" <bobsc1 -at- earthlink -dot- net>
To: <TECHWR-L -at- LISTS -dot- TECHWR-L -dot- COM>
Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2013 10:14 PM
Subject: Jobs.... Benefits...