Dan725

Yes, how much holiday time will you be getting on your new contract pejpm1?

pejpm1

In London I am 20 days, NY employees are on 15 days.

on 1st Jan, this was boosted to 25 days for London employees, and 20 days for NY.

Therefore, technically I am losing 5 days...but as this was actioned on the 1st Jan I havent really benefited from the new 25 days rule in London...so I'm kind of losing out, but it's not that bad as its almost like the 5 day boost didnt happen for me if you know what I mean...I think 20 days is pretty good for the states...

THFC1

You will be fine on that salary. I moved over to New York nearly four years ago on a lower salary than yours and had no problems. I live in Hoboken which you say you visited. It is a great young town with good access to the city and a large expat community. For $2000 a month you will get a nice 1 bed in a newer building or a 2 bed in an older style building.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Dan725

No thinking about it - thats a good deal on the vacation time, to be sure - double the normal.

Bob

That's not bad, but double check that sick days and public holidays don't come out of that number

Dan725

I just logged in to add that on to my earlier reply Bob - I know a couple of folks who were caught out by that one....

pejpm1

They dont...I dont know what kind of experiences most people have had on here, but everyone seems to think the employer is some kind of evil force determined to screw me over in any way possible!! We are a relatively small company in terms of number of employees, I know everyone up to and including director level...I understand that I need to be careful, but my company are very good to their employees. Obviously they expect a lot...I usually work 7am to 6pm most days, but on all other details they are very good. We also get 5 'personal days' which are for things like doctors appointments, deliveries that mean we have to stay at home...stuff like that. In london we have those as well, but it isnt a formal number of days. If i were having something delivered, or had to wait for an engineer or something I'd just tell him and he'd let me come in late, or leave early...its not like I need to book it off as holiday. I think its the fact that we are operated almost as one big office that they try to keep things even. My direct equivalent in NY who i talk to and work with every day wouldnt be happy with me getting 25 days in London and he only getting 15 in NY when we do exactly the same job so the company keeps things as equal as possible..

Dan725

Haven't worked here before, have you? Maybe it'll never affect you, but if you stay in the US long enough (and perhaps change employer a time or two), you'll learn that your statement above isn't as far from the truth as you might imagine. It is NOT the UK with regards to employee rights and so on - a fact that you have to live to realise.

Its not just employers who that statement applies to - you could apply it to much of society. In the UK I never used to read the small print. Here, I'm obsessed by it with every agreement I enter into.

pejpm1

Oh I understand that. Some of the stories I've heard are horrible. Someone was telling me that many companies do compulsory drug tests on employees, and some evn have 0% tolerance of alcohol and do random tests so that effectively, you can only have a beer if you arent going to be in work for a couple of days after because even slight traces can lead to dismissal! I cant imagine working for an employer that would make me take a drug test, I think that is absolutely disgraceful. I'm just saying that I am going into this particular company transfer with my eyes open. I've worked here for 4 years, I know all of the staff, I speak to NY office people every day, I've been to the office a few times and I understand that my company is very generous compared to many others. I wasnt being flippant, I understand that its much more of a hire/fire policy than in the UK.....i'm more worried about when my gf finds a job. If they dont let her take holiday for the first year (as can be the case), or if she has a less generous allowance than me, it's going to be weird to get used to...

Bob

Only mentioning it, because it's standard practice over here, no holidays till you've been somewhere for 6-12 months, then only 5-7 days, or 10 days and include sick days and/or public holidays.

Don't forget, it's the country that has right to fire in many states, which mean they own your balls whilst you are on a visa here and they can and people do get canned with no notice for no reason and marched out the door.

pejpm1

Well I must be lucky then, as that isn't standard practice at my company. Public holidays are additional, but we work a rota for cover purposes so we don't get all of them off.

I'm aware that they can fire me and that I'm tied to the visa...but as I've said, my company is not like that. I've been here 4 years, and in that time only 1 person in my department in the ny office has been told to leave against there will. I know that happens in other firms, but we have a different corporate culture to other firms. Its good because it breeds loyalty.

Hiro11

That sounds about right for a 1 bedroom. Forget a two bedroom.

That sounds right to me. I'd say $250K to be comfortable. Every little thing living in Manhattan costs money: food is ridiculously overpriced compared to the rest of the country, heat, electricity, maintenance costs for the apartment, new lock cylinders, cabs, cover charges, tips etc, etc, etc. Probably like London, it's a fantastic machine that's been honed for centuries specifically for the purpose of vacuuming your wallet. Cash just evaporates there. Long story short, no. Certainly not enough to live the lifestyle you're talking about of eating out, going out, taking cabs etc. For example: remember that bonuses are taxed at about 48%. Health insurance costs, 401K, IRA, etc. Living in Brooklyn/Jersey, eating out once a month, buying clothes at Marshalls, that you could handle. But not living the high life.

pejpm1

So everyone in manhattan is earning at least 200k?? I'm sorry, thanks for the advice put I think we probably just have different ideas of acceptable living standards. That just sounds a little ridiculous.Central London is more expensive than Manhattan, and you certainly wouldn't need 125k gbp to live there.I think you are exagerrating a little bit....

Bob

It depends if you want to eat out, or healthy v McD's and getting a taxi everywhere v driving, which is expensive, and don't forget parking isn't cheap, and it's a hassle in winter with plough zones, so if you have an apartment with off street parking, that's a premium.

Also half your salary will be gone in taxes whether federal, state and in NYC, city taxes and then your medical insurance on top.

I don't think anyone is saying your not getting a good deal and not to do it, I think just have a bit more of a realistic expectation about what you'll be able to do once here as it sucks to be broke in a foreign country and not know what to do with people you don't really know

Okachickima

Actually, the median household income for the Borough of Manhattan is $47,030 per year.