Pay in San Jose CA for traveler

[Love1another]

Hey guys--

I am looking to start a travel assignment in the San Jose area and am wondering if this pay package a recruiter offered me sounds reasonable for the area for an PICU. This is how she worded it: $22.50/3500/500. I assume the $500 is travel compensation? $22.50 sounds ridiculously low but maybe the housing stipend compensates for it?

Also, I have never worked a holiday as a traveler, what is the pay for a traveler working holidays? Do you ask the recruiter to add "holiday pay" to your contract? Thanks for any advice

[NedRN]

I think you need to clarify your concerns with your recruiter. It is her job to explain your compensation and she should be happy to do it. She may not have realized that you are new. Overtime and holiday pay should be specified exactly in the contract down to which days and hours qualify for OT and holiday pay. You imply that you have done a travel contract before, did you not read the contract?

OK, you will never know if your pay is good or bad unless you call a few other agencies. I can help break your pay down for you though. $3,500 x 3 months is $10,500. Divide that by 468 contracted hours is $22.44. Add another $1.07 for travel pay and you have a total of $46 an hour. From what I know of the area, this is a middling offer, neither high nor low. How well you do financially will depend largely on your housing costs. San Jose is very expensive and I would recommend looking for a house share.

Another issue you might not be aware of is OT law in California that requires double time over 12. If you don't negotiate your overtime rate, it will be $45 an hour. That is actually a pay cut from your regular compensation of $46 an hour. That's plain stupid and I would change that if there is any potential for OT. The agency will do better as well if they give you some incentive to work overtime.