Vicky88

Starting to get bad vibes about this company. I have details for the interview and on their website they brag about their excellent employee benefits but to me medical coverage which is provided by a HMO and 9 days of holiday a year are nothing to be bragging about.

NC Penguin

If you keep up that attitude, you might find it really difficult to find employment. When in Rome, do like the Romans yada yada...


NC Penguin

NC Penguin

If you've not had a job in the US and you're looking to get on the employment ladder, the medical coverage above sure beats flipping burgers at Micky Ds!


NC Penguin

Vicky88

Sure, I will agree everything in life is relative. However, I think even here in the US I don't think anyone would argue that 9 days paid leave per annum is considered to be the cream of the crop.

We do have medical coverage thru my husband's employer that we pay thru the nose for, however it is a PPO and there is no way I would trade that in for a HMO.

However, if the financial compensation is good, I figure I can overlook the above flaws. After all I can quit after a year and take a month's holiday if I have earnt good money.

NC Penguin

Ah, but are you cream of the crop? Everyone's got to start from somewhere...


NC Penguin

Bob

I thought you were going through an agency? your lucky there giving you medical and holiday option at all tbh...

NC Penguin

The agency is probably placing her in a permanent job, not a temporary one (although if she gets it, she'll probably have to pass a probationary period).


NC Penguin

Vicky88

Yes, job is a permanent one found thru an agency.

Do I consider myself the cream of the crop? Not for a moment. However, I am not desperate, so there is no need for me to take a job which offers bottom of the basement benefits either. Once again, it can be argued that some benefits are better than no benefits, but if those benefits are of no benefit at all they are worthless in the big picture.

I will see how it all goes tomorrow. I'm not really bothered that much if I do just temp for a while, because the only difference will be a bit less money but a whole lot more freedom.

User Name

"What if ..." one doesn't like them? How many Thank You notes do designated drivers get? A rain forest amount? No wonder the Amazon rain forest is disappearing faster than President Bush's poll results.

AdobePinon

I think you'll find that there are plenty of people here who get no medical benefits. And sure, an HMO is not a PPO, but that doesn't make it bad automatically. There are also plenty of people who get no paid vacation for quite some time after they start their job.

Take the job, give it nine months and see if you can do better.

dbj1000

We start all new hires on zero vacation. After 6 months they start accruing vacation each pay period, up to a total of 10 days in the first year. This is regarded as a reasonably good deal.

When hiring a super-highly qualified Engineer with exceptional experience in our industry and commanding a 6-figure salary I recently stretched our offer to 15 days vacation per year, but even then he would have started with zero and only accrued pro-rated vacation each pay period.

You just don't get as much vacation here as you do in the UK. It's a fact you'll just have to live with.

(well, except for me, who negotiated the same generous vacation package here that I had with my last company in the UK )

ladylisa

Thats the problem I'm faced with my OH gets 4 weeks vacation through his UK original contract and I now get 1/2 a week for the first 2 years!!!!!!!!!! Just as well I can quit when I want some time off, thats lucky for me! But I do feel sorry for the average American working his/her knackers off for these companies that think the employee is lucky to be working for them. Most people in the UK have no idea how lucky they are, and they still moan!

Vicky88

I think things may be a bit more competitive in California in the job market. My husband is an engineer, and his company offers 3 weeks as standard to every employee in the company.

I think 9 days is low, even Starbucks offer 10 and they have an incredible array of benefits for employees. Trader Joe's pays $40,000 plus benefits to their employees. I would happily work at TJ if there was an opportunity as I like the store. However I could never work at STarbucks because I think there coffee is average at best.

http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/SB-YSB-US-HR.pdf

Re the HMO, I would never downgrade from a PPO. My husband has a heart condition, and the PPO enables us to get the kind of care he needs. As he is a consultant, if he was not working he would not be getting paid. We know he is likely to need an operation in the next couple of years, so don't want to get into the situation where we have to beg a HMO to cover it. So we do get that thru his employer but we do have to pay the cost for me, and 50% for him.

I was having the discussion with an American friend yesterday about lack of vacation in the US. In her current job she only gets 10 days, and as she said she should have negotiated more, so I guess it is always worth trying. The lack of leave is one reason she is looking for another job.

Vicky88

OMG Lisa are you saying you get less than 5 days a year??? How do they expect their employees to be refreshed and eager with that leave entitlement? Hope they pay you buckets of money as compensation.

Jerseygirl

Sounds to me that she gets 5 days in 2 years, i.e. 2.5 days per year.