Increased Salary, but Smaller Paycheck?
With the initiation of PPS into our field, many COTAs have found themselves working part time hours despite the fact they may be categorized a full time employee. This is mainly due to the fluctuations in caseloads at many facilities and the fact that the company is reimbursed only when we are actually performing therapy.
This part time work trend seems to be the norm these days not only in our field, but in many. Companies are using two or more part time workers to do one full time job. Of course at the same time these companies are saving lots of money because they aren't required to offer benefits to part time workers.
As much as many COTAs may have seen an increase in their hourly salary, working fewer hours can still mean taking home a smaller paycheck. Although the extra time to spend with family or on other activities can be nice, it can also be tough stretching your budget to finance these outside interests while working fewer hours.
Another implication to this trend though, is our benefits. As much as many companies are generous on figuring hours worked over a monthly time frame or longer, there have been a few people who have lost their medical coverage due to reduced hours. One of my former employers, after a significant drop in caseload, offered me an $8 per hour raise. However, my hours were also reduced from 32 to 20 per week, and medical coverage changed from 50% company match to having to pay the full premium. As much as working 20 hours at the increased rate was only slightly less than I was making before, the increase in insurance premiums really killed my take home pay.
For those who now work two or more part time jobs to make enough money, this possibly means paying an additional expense or use of a private policy to remain covered. Although it's in your best interest to have medical coverage, either of these methods will cut deeper into your weekly paycheck.
These are just a couple of the things I consider when job hunting. Many good offers (dollar wise) have been presented to me lately, however these are usually without guaranteed hours. I'm also finding that some companies are becoming a bit stricter on figuring hours for medical coverage. If your hours fall below a set threshold over a month's time, your benefits are cut off or you pay the full premium. I don't like either option here.
In today's job market, we have to do what we have to do. Someone has to keep the bread on the table. Hopefully someone, somewhere, sometime, will figure out how to keep a company profitable AND offer their employees full time employment with full benefits. (Yes, I'm dreaming again!)]
Until next time, hope all your thoughts are good,
Tim