Per diem: Pros and Cons

[jensfbay]

I like the idea of being able to take long breaks and flexibility of working per diem, but I don't like the idea of having no insurance (or paying for it myself). I'm currently full time, but I've been thinking about switching to per diem. Any thoughts? What are the pros and cons? Thanks in advance.

[Guest219794]

I am all Per-diem.

As far as benefits: do the math, on paper, and compare apples to apples.

Full time: First figure out how many days a year you really have to work. If your shift is 3 12's for example. Add up all your sick/vacation/personal days. in my case, that's a total of 5 weeks a year, meaning I have to work 47 weeks a year. Whether I take, or accrue, all this time is irrelevant- averaged out, I have to show up 47 weeks, and get paid for 52.

Using round numbers, if I get paid $20 an hour, I get paid $37440 a year, plus insurance. If there are any retirement benfits, fix a dollar value to them, and add that as well.

Assuming I only work the required 47 weeks at time and a half (that is what some per diems pay), i will earn $50,760. If I want to "accrue" time, I'll work more than 47 weeks a year, just as if I was salaried.

This gives me over $13,000 a year to make up for insurance and any other "benefits" the hospital might give.

Depending on the finances, per-diem can work out well. Job security is another issue. You may need to find several per-diems to keep busy. You will also have fluctuations in pay. If your life is based on borrowing money, then making monthly payments, per-diem might be nerve wracking.

Works out fine for me.

hherrn