NOW LET'$ TALK MONEY! Nurses, Let’s be REAL HONEST… Why did you.. or Why are you planning to.. leave your staff job to become a TRAVEL NUR$E…?! THE MONEY…!!
So let's discuss this #money of yours! Talking about #pay with your #recruiter for your first/next contract should not be #complicated but it does involve some math.
There are TWO very IMPORTANT #resources to use when #calculating PAY.
The first is the U.S. General Services Administration: https://www.gsa.gov/
When you visit this website it allows you to search the city and state you will be traveling to and how much your per diems (untaxed money) should be based on where you will be relocating to. Pretty nice resource right?!?
For example, you will see in the ^ images above ^ that I chose to look up per diem rates in the Tampa/St Petersburg, Florida area. If I were to take a contract in this area in the months of June, July, and August, (in the left column) my #daily #housing rate would be $124 a day. You will also see meals and incidentals (M&IE in the right column) which are $69 a day.
So let's do some math! $124/day x 7 days of the week = $868/week <housing $69/day x 7 days of the week = $483/week <meals $868 + $483 = $1,351/week or $5,404/month
Using the GSA.gov website will give you an amount of what your ballpark (estimate) of non-taxable (all your untaxed money) should be. This is an amazing resource to use when #negotiating #pay with any #travel #agency because this is a government site!
When it comes to NEGOTIATING PAY ... The most IMPORTANT ADVICE I can give you is to ALWAYS have it in WRITING! I highly recommend all communication about pay be through EMAIL or TEXT!
Most travel agencies will advertise/post the contracts they have available in specific cities and states, but of course, you have to get in contact with them to find out what the pay is. So be prepared and do your research first! Use the Gsa.gov website to get your housing and incidental amounts written down so that you will already have the #expectations of what your per diems should be.
Once you contact the recruiter for that contract, they will either tell you the hourly pay and per diems or send you a pay package. Now you can compare your GSA.gov amounts from the website. If their offer’s per diem pay does not match your calculations, this is the best time to show the recruiter the Gsa.gov calculations and what your per diem should be.
Some people have expectations of what their hourly income should be but realistically you should always focus and what your per diems are too because that, as I have mentioned, is your non-taxable money.
Some contracts will have low hourly pay but have higher per diems because the hospital is only willing to pay so much for your bill rate (hourly rate). This bill rate is split between you and your recruiting company. Some companies will tell you the bill rate while others say they are unable to.
If you think about it the higher your hourly rate is the higher taxable income you will have and the less money will be bringing home. So do not focus on one thing, look at the pay package you receive as a whole.
So when you get that 1st pay package from a recruiter and you do not like what your take-home income will be, I’d also speak to other recruiting agencies about this contract and see what other pay packages they offer. If all the pay packages are pretty similar in pay, that means that you're getting a pretty fair contract. If other recruiters can pay you MORE for the SAME contract then you clearly will take the highest-paid contract! You will soon learn what company is low-balling you (offering you less). That is one way that you can start to weed out the recruiters and companies that you do not want to work with.
Another important piece of advice is to not let these recruiters waste your time!!! Do not give them your references and set up a profile, etc., with the recruiter just to find out pay packages! Save yourself time by talking to recruiters willling to take their time to discuss pay packages, especially to compare a pay package you already have. If you like what they are offering, feel free to make a profile with them to get submitted for an assignment. If they are offering you low pay compared to other companies do not waste your time. Some recruiters will tell you that they can't discuss pay until you set up a profile with them which is a complete #LIE!!!!
The next important resource that you will use to #calculate your pay is a website called: https://www.paycheckcity.com/calculator/hourly
I've been using this website since 2016 when I first became a traveler. When I'm discussing a #contract with any recruiter I plug in the numbers of my weekly pay into paycheckcity.com to calculate what my weekly take-home will be after #taxes. I add the numbers I received from Gsa.gov of my per-diems (housing and meals) to ensure that the weekly take-home that my recruiter is guaranteeing is exactly the number that I am calculating myself. Let's look at a pay package I received and do some more math!
Ok, you can see my pay package. You can see my hourly rate, overtime rate and allowances (per diems -housing and meals). Let's calculate the allowances first.
The package allowances show $96/day for lodging and $59/day for meals and incidentals. GSA.gov shows that in Orlando, Florida for the months of June, July and August my housing should be $129/day with $69/day for meals.
Pay Package: $96/day x 7 days of the week = $672/week <housing $59/day x 7 days of the week = $413/week <meals $672 + $413 = $1,085/week or $4,340/month
Our GSA.gov: $129/day x 7 days of the week = $903/week <housing $69/day x 7 days of the week = $483/week <meals $903 + $483 = $1,386/week or $5,544/month
This is a $301/week or $1,204/month less in per diems than what we found for Orlando. Now let's calculate the hourly pay rate using paycheck city.
Paycheck city is VERY user friendly. In the left column, you first have to choose which state you will be receiving your pay from. As you can see, I picked Florida and filled in my Amount : $54/hour and 36 hours a week (from the pay package). You will be able to select Pay Frequency as Weekly. In the column to the right you can see that my weekly income after taxes in Florida will be $1,467/week and add $1,467 + $1,085 (per diems from pay package) = $2,552/week take home. Add the numbers using your GSA.gov equations and the pay package. Will the $301 difference we found in the per diems make or break if I will take the contract.. yes because I have to find housing. Looking at apartments in Orlando are not cheap.
Side note about Tax Exemption: There is an option to calculate #exempting taxes in paycheck city. I've exempted... I think most of all of us Covid Crisis nurses exempted. Honestly, if you #exempt you will clearly have to pay it all back. I learned that you can also be penalized by the #IRS for doing so. I've been there, done that, I do not recommend to exempt. Just allow the deduction of #taxes and get money back when you #file taxes like normal. Nurses who exempted had to pay back $10,000-$25,000 to the IRS.
At the end of the day, the rule of thumb is, If your weekly income does not cover your rent per month, you're not making enough! Example: If my Orlando income is $2,552/week my rent for housing should not be more than $2,550 a month.
ALWAYS and I repeat ALWAYS #calculate the numbers yourself and know 100% after taxes the exact amount to the dollar of what your #paycheck should be. Like I said before, it is very IMPORTANT to have that conversation when negotiating and discussing pay with your recruiter confirming your exact pay through email or text so that you have it in writing.
If something should happen and the day comes that your paycheck does not meet the agreed-upon amount you discussed before signing your contract, you have it in WRITING! If you do not get your agreed amount of pay, this can be considered a breach of contract and many nurses will REFUSE TO RETURN TO WORK until they are paid the amounts that they are owed.
Now, this is completely up to you. IF you are missing a few dollars… you can bring it to your recruiter’s attention and have payroll give it to you on your next paycheck. IF you're missing hundreds of dollars that's a huge problem! Keep in mind that the hospital is typically not responsible for your travel agency paying you incorrectly, so if you choose to call out of work the hospital may think that you are unreliable and you may lose your contract. Depending on how short your paycheck is and what you're willing to do to #communicate with your recruiter to get that payment and keep your contract is completely up to you.
As I said, MOST nurses take this very seriously and will refuse to return to work until they get their pay. But realistically if this happens how much #trust have you lost in your #travel agency to get your money and to continue working for them while you wait for your missing pay?? You can tell your travel agency that you need your pay by that following paycheck and if they do not pay up you're leaving or refusing to work until they pay up.
I’d say always #research your travel agencies and TALK TO OTHER NURSES before you sign a contract. See the link below of a well-known agency:
Nurses don't always have the same experiences at travel agencies because of their recruiters, right? Some nurses may love their travel agencies and work with the same recruiter for their entire Travel Nursing career, while others face the struggles with pay and contracts falling through (getting canceled).
As a #travelnurse leaving the comfort of your own home regardless if it's driving an hour to a hospital in your home state or like myself driving from Tampa, Florida to Sacramento, California; we make that commute knowing what our time away from our family and friends is going to be #worth it because of the amount of #financial gain we will have. When our recruiters do not pay us what we agreed upon that a HUGE NO NO!
So how do you know who you can trust??
How do you #pick the right travel agency for your first contract? Honestly, has worked for me since 2016 is Word of Mouth. If you have any friends or acquaintances in the travel nursing space, ask them what recruiters and what companies they've enjoyed working with. If you trust your friends, you can probably #trust who they receive their paycheck from. You can also join the groups on Facebook like the Travel Nurse Network group where nurses talk about what agencies they love and hate. You'll soon find out who holds up their part of the #bargain and who does not. Just this past year in 2021 I started working with a travel agency and let me tell you they are my absolute #favorite especially since they sent me to Hawaii for fully paid FEMA contracts end of last year and early this year.
Have questions?? Shoot me a message!!
Comments