Salary offer

[ccmunurse]

I was offered a salary for a .9 position. I was under the assumption that, that was the amount I would be getting. Apparently that's the amount for a 1.0 FTE and my salary will be prorated. Any experience with this? It was NEVER explained to me by HR.

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

.9 means 36 hours per week (3-12's). I assume your rate is hourly and you will get paid what you work. Or, it is a listed salary and you will get whatever is offered for working 36 hours per week.

[ccmunurse]

It's listed as salary: xxx

Hours per pay: 72 hours

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

That sounds like it's up for negotiation. You should research some valid salary benchmarks and bring those to the hiring authority, such as what you got paid in your last job (if it's a comparable position) or what other people working that job make in your area.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

FYI, if this is for a GS position, you cannot negotiate your step (salary) if you have already accepted the job offer. You must negotiate prior to acceptance after you receive the first offer!! A friend of mine got stuck as a GS-11, step 1 rather than the step 4 he should have been because he accepted, then tried to negotiate. Good luck!

[Have Nurse, ADN, RN]

Red flag. Get it in writing.

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

Red flag. Get it in writing.

It is in writing, GS salary pay scale is posted (Salary and per hour) based on a 40 hr work week. Same GS level could be an office worker M-F 9-5 (1.0 FTE). You can't expect to be paid the same for working .9 FTE as a 1.0 FTE person.

[ccmunurse]

so what you are saying is even though its on my offer letter, they can pay me 10% less than what is on the offer letter?

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

Yes, the offer is based on a 80 hour pay period or 1 FTE and you will be paid for 72 hours or 0.9 FTE.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

If you worked 40 hours/week, then they would pay you that full amount - that is the rate for 1.0 FTE. Really, they are offering a job with fewer hours (not money) at 0.9 FTE. If you don't like it, decline it and move on. But be aware that government salaries are typically fixed and this is how they are presented. The only thing you can usually negotiate is your step within each grade, and that is often by virtue of job-related experience, degrees, and certifications.

[ccmunurse]

That's really deceiving of them

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

That's really deceiving of them

Be sure to give them that feedback. It's the norm for GS jobs, so it might not occur to them that someone coming from the civilian world would not arrive with that knowledge.