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Benefits or Salary When Thinking About Leaving a Job?

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asalaryIf you’re considering quitting your job, it’s important to not only factor in the salary that you will be losing but also the benefits package.

Health insurance can be costly, and with unpaid medical bills being the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S., it’s not something you can afford to skip out on.

Before quitting your job, take a close look at what types of benefits you’re receiving, especially if you have a family, and make a decision from there.

Questions to ask about your current job

It’s not just a matter or whether or not your job provides health insurance, but a matter of how good it is.

Are your family members covered at an affordable cost? What type of plan are you covered under? What is your monthly payment compared to your deductible? In addition to health care coverage, do you receive dental and vision insurance?

And let’s not forget about sick time and vacation time.

Some companies offer a very competitive paid time-off plan, including holidays, sick time and plenty of vacation time. Is this something you’re willing to give up in addition to your salary and health insurance benefits?

Is Money Everything?

Most people are focused on their salaries. But, the reality is you can find a way to live off of a wide range of salaries.

If you do end up in a catastrophic situation without a good benefits plan in place, you will most likely go bankrupt even if you were making a decent living. Medical bills crush many Americans year after year because they’re not properly insured.

According to the article saving on family health insurance, it’s very rare that companies provide full benefits to employees and their dependents.

If you work for one of these one-of-a-kind companies, you’ll definitely want to think twice about quitting.

On the same token, some employers only offer plans to their employees and not to any additional family members. If this is the case, you’ll have to get your family members on a private health insurance plan of their own.

Is Work Benefiting You?

Though you do have to consider a wide array of things when looking for a job, including salary, benefits, paid time-off, expected weekly hours, travel and job duties, it’s safe to say that benefits should rank towards the top of your considerations.

Employers can pay anywhere from a few thousand dollars per year for an individual plan up to $15,000 per year for a family plan.

If you factor that into your yearly salary, you’re most likely getting paid a decent amount more than you thought. If your employer is also contributing to a 401(k) plan for you, that should be factored in, as well.

Quitting a job is a tough decision.

Many factors need to be thought about in-depth before a decision can be made.

Don’t think lightly about benefits, though, as good packages from employers can be extremely hard to come by.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

About the Author: Sarah Brooks is a freelance writer living in Charlotte, NC. New to the city, she enjoys spending time outdoors and exploring the area. She writes on a variety of topics including health insurance, small businesses and personal finance.

How Much Do I Pay This Employee?

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When you are a small business owner, it seems as soon as you’ve made one decision, the next one surfaces, and you are back trying to figure out the best thing to do.

One decision business owners are often faced with, and it can be a tough one, is how much to pay employees.

You don’t want to over pay as you’re probably on a budget (and you do need to make money), but you want to pay them what they are worth to keep them with you and happy.

Here are some tips on cracking the code on this … .

Create a range

First off, before any hiring is even done, really before the interviews begin – set a salary range.

Decide on the least you would pay and the most you can pay, and you’ll have some flexibility when it comes to choosing the best candidate and for negotiation purposes.

Look at qualifications

Someone with more relevant degrees, qualifications and experience is usually expecting (and deserving) a higher salary than someone with less.

If you are looking for that highly qualified, experience laden employee, expect to pay for it. If you want someone with a little less experience and education, you can probably get away with lower pay.

Do some comparisons

You can’t really just come up with numbers off the top of your head.

You need to look at some salary comparisons. BUT, you need to look at them as apples to apples. Don’t compare a salary in Chicago to one in Batesville, Arkansas.

Also, don’t just look at job titles, look at job descriptions.

Titles can cover a pretty broad range, but descriptions cover the nitty-gritty, and you can compare just what people are doing to what they are getting paid.

Think about business size.

Sometimes bigger corporations can pay more, but you have things to offer as well, that may not fall under salary. Your company can be more personalized and flexible, offer better benefits or stock options – sometimes that can be worth a lot!

Look around your area and see what other companies your size and in your field are paying employees. You want to stay competitive so qualified people will want to work for you.

When to offer increases

So you have a current employee wanting more money…

• Be careful – offering one raise out of the normal standard you have set can set a precedent you can’t afford to follow.

• Is your employee telling you he or she has an offer for more money? If so, it’s risky all around. If it’s true, it means they’re looking and thinking about it. You may need to keep your eye out. If they are worth it, and budget allows, you may need to offer more to have him or her stay, but know it’s risky – they still could leave.

• If their job descriptions and duties increase, it may be time for more money.

• The best thing to do is have clear policies with documentation of when raises are awarded. You can go by this and keep it cut and dry.

• Bonuses and commission are a way around a salary raise. You pay these once and are not committed to them in the future.

No one said running a business is easy. You’ve got employees to keep happy and budgets to adhere to, plus you need to make money.

However, you need to pay your employees fairly or they will go elsewhere.

Photo credit: nbcchicago.com

About the Author: Heather Legg writes on a variety of topics, many related to social media, small business and Bobby Kotick.

You Get What You Pay For

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Running a small business brings with lots of excitement, hard work, and even a little head scratching at times.

As anyone who has ever run a company knows, each day pretty much brings with it a new set of challenges, circumstances, and results. For those who seize the moment, the rewards can be endless.

So, what kind of business owner are you when it comes to money? When referring to money, it means paying your employees.

For many business owners, these last few years of a challenging economy have meant that worker salaries have either been frozen or even reduced. In many cases, new employees coming into companies are seeing offers that they would typically turn down, yet a struggling economy means many are taking jobs at lower salaries.

In other instances, some employees are seeing small increases in their current pay or job offers from a year or two ago, but it typically depends on the industry, the conditions that each specific employer is dealing with, and how much competition there is for each position.

Being a small business owner, are you increasing, decreasing, or keeping your respective employee salaries about the same from last year at this time? As the well-known saying goes, you typically do get what you pay for.

For example, take a look at the field of jobs that encompasses marketing, social media, content writing and other related positions.

If you go on Craigslist or some other sites that post jobs, it is not uncommon to see marketing, social media, and content writing positions (with experience) starting for as little as $10 an hour. While that figure may sound good to someone living at home with their parents, the same someone who has little college and/or related experience, someone else will balk at such an amount.

 

Avoid the Revolving Door of Employees

If you want to avoid a revolving door of workers in and out of your office, increase your salary offers so that someone has incentive to stay with your company more than just a few months, that is until something better comes along.

Secondly, you may want to consider outsourcing some of the work to contractors and/or consultant, those individuals with experience in the field, yet who are looking to work outside an office setting.

Should you choose that route, you avoid things like medical benefits, 401k plans, and having to manage one more person in the office. With that being said, make sure you get someone who is disciplined and organized enough to work on their own.

Lastly, offering salaries that barely allow someone to put food on their table and keep a roof over their heads opens you up to potential negative publicity.

In today’s social media age, it isn’t uncommon for word to spread quickly that your company is not a good one to work for, especially given that you are paying so little and asking for so much.

So, how do you as a small business owner go about setting your worker salaries? Have you gotten positive or negative feedback from applicants in recent years?

Would love to hear your thoughts….

Photo credit: ehow.com

About the Author: With 23 years of experience as a writer, Dave Thomas covers a wide array of financial topics, including payroll outsourcing.