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tkaplan
12-05-2005, 09:21 AM
I was wondering if someone can make some suggestions here:

I am leaving the company i currently work for. They are asking me to stay on as a part time basis (15 - 20 hrs a week) via email, at home, etc. to maintain the applications i have developed for them and possibly some new ones as well. but mostly maintainance.

I am wondering about what the rates are for this type of thing. i dont have a lot of experience (most of my experience is from this company), i have a degree in computer science.

I want to differentiate between if this is going to be a long term or short term. if it's short term i may be giving up a different part time opportunity so it would need to make up for that. if it's long term i am thinking of the $25/hr range??

I am from the midwest in the US (I dont know if that is taken into account...)

any feedback would be appreciated.

Brandtrock
12-05-2005, 11:09 AM
I think 25 sounds low, but you are in a better position to know what they will accept. The time commitment they are asking of you seems to be pretty significant. Consider too whether this allows you to retain any benefits that you may already have (401k, insurance, etc.) If you are out on your own, negotiating some of these to continue may be in your best interest as well.

HTH

tkaplan
12-06-2005, 06:25 AM
Thank you for the response.
I am actually leaving to a different company, so in the short term until the benefits kick in there (about 1 month), benefits would suit me well. but after that i need the money a lot more.
considering that now i am only making 25/hr in overtime, i doubt they'll commit to a higher rate. i was hired in for a completely different position in finance but then they saw i was able to help them with the tech side of things, so i kind of grew in to that position.
if anyone else has any comments, i would really appreciate it. i gave them the $25 and $40 and the long term and short term (respectively) rates. they are going to get back to me so having some negotiation ground would be nice.

thank you,
tkaplan

Brandtrock
12-06-2005, 01:57 PM
Something you may want to consider on the long term side. You are familiar with your work, therefore you can maintain it much more efficiently than an outsider could. Your company will likely not appreciate this fact, and after a while, the new person would "catch up".

If you anticipate that it will take 15 to 20 hours weekly to do what is required, submit a proposal at 375 per week, which will guarantee the company 15 hours of your time. Any week that additional time is required, it will be billed at 40 per hour. This way you make $75 more for a 20 hour week than you would by agreeing to do all work at the same rate. This agreement also binds them to a certain amount in the event a certain week only requires 13 hours of your time.

Of course, you can make any kind of rollover agreement you want (or that they may insist on). If they balk at this proposal point out that in the first 3-6 months of the agreement, a new person would be operating at the 20 hours (or more) level where you will likely be working at the 15 hour end of the spectrum.

Just something to chew on.

Regards,

geekgirlau
12-07-2005, 04:54 PM
When calculating an hourly rate there are several things to take into account:

Look at the current market value for annual salary for someone performing this work. Take into consideration your level of experience, and particularly your experience and familiarity with the internal systems in operation.
Now add on the amounts required annually for insurance, superannuation, leave etc. - these are additional costs that a company pays for a full-time employee, but are not actually part of their salary package. I don't know what insurance etc. is current in your part of the world, but Down Under we would have to cover superannuation, workcover insurance, payroll tax and multiple leave entitlements just for starters.
Divide this total by the number of weeks a full-time employee would be working, then again by the number of hours per week (without overtime).
If the work arrangement is likely to be short-term, add a premium - you are making yourself available to them and potentially missing out on longer-term arrangements, so you should be compensated for that.
If the company shows some reluctance at the resulting rate, talk them through the logic used. Often they're not actually thinking about the full amount that an employee gets paid, which is usually a lot higher than just the salary.