What % of pay should agency gain off your wage

[angelique777]

I am a total newbie at Agency work and feel my lack of experience allowed the agency to take advantage of me. If I am wrong about that please correct me ok.

I recently got a position with an agency and found out how much they are charging the company for my contract. Once I found out how much I was making in comparison to what I they where charging the company I felt like one big lilipop.

The agency that hired me is making aproximately 35% profit off my wage is that a fare thing. Am I so new to this that I do not know the correct wages.

The agency is paying me 35/hr and charging the place I work for 53/hr.(this is a per diem position). I get no benefits from them either. I work 11hr shift but often stay another 1 1/2 (I am not paid overtime for this additional hour) and when I work a Sunday I also get straight pay from the agency even though the company pays there nurses extra for Sundays.

I originally asked the agency for 45/hr and they said they could not pay me this amount b/c the company I was going to work for had a budget and could not pay me more than 35/hr.(This was not true since they pay there nurses at this company $40/hr

Now I find out that this company pays there nurses 40/hr which is more than I get paid from the agency. So many posts talk about how agency nurses get paid so much more than them and I am getting paid less.

The location is NYC therefore wages are generally higher here than in other states and that is why I am asking you to inform in terms of % b/c we all live in different states and wages vary based on states. What is the fare percentage an agency should make off ones wage? I wanted to know this so I know how to negotiate my wage better next time.

I feel so foolish because I really needed to be making 45/hr to meet my financial needs and I am not cutting it with them.

Can someone advise me so in the future I can negotiate a better wage for myself in the future.

I am not interested in benefits because I have a fulltime job already but as sole bread winner and being in a lot of debt I had to take on a perdiem job to make ends meet. Hence, my wage is extremely important to me and I need advice so that in the future I would not be taken advantge of.

If it helps the following is a little bit about my background I am RN BSN/BA psychology/ Cardiac and Critical Care Specialty with 3yrs experience/ bilingual fluent in Spanish/English /ACLS/BCLS/PALS

I thought I give my background b/c I feel that this is also relative information in terms of pay level.

Thought I ask here about this so in the future I can become a better negotiator of my wages.

I am consoled only by the thought that I will be hired by the company I am working for now and will start in January 2008 at 40/hr. Its still below what I needed to meet my needs but at least it will be helpful to me.

Sincerely

Angela

[caliotter3]

I would not get in a tizzy about the percentage that the agency is making off you. Of course, you realize that they have all of the costs of doing business and have to attempt to make a profit, so it is unfair to expect the majority of the rate they charge the client to go to the employee. The only times that I have found out this info it has been almost a 50-50 split. I don't look at it this way. Just look at the wage in terms of what you want and need for a wage. When you found out that the company was paying it's own nurses $5 an hr more than you were getting, that was all the info you needed to make the decision to apply for a permanent position. Since $40 an hr does not meet your needs for income, then simply start researching other employers and find one that is willing to hire you at a higher rate of pay. That is all there is to it. All agencies will try to take advantage of you if they can. You just have to get experienced at knowing what to ask for and how to ask for it so that you get it. Glad to hear that they hired you and hope that the new job works out and that you can get a higher paying position when the time presents itself.

[RN1989]

Most agencies have a set rate that they have agreed upon with the facilities that they staff. The agency then has a set rate that they will pay the nurse out of that money. Rarely do you ever find out how much that the agency is being paid per hour by the facility. Agencies are in business to make money. They normally do not try to cheat individual nurses by paying one nurse one thing and another nurse something different. It is up to you to accept or decline their offer of employment and go with an agency that pays better if that is your goal.

[Valanda]

I don't think 35% is out of line. I've worked for 2 agencies over the past 11 years and both of them got 33%.

[suzanne4, RN]

You may not think that you are getting any benefits but there are many costs associated with your working for the agency that they need to pay on your behalf. Such as the other 1/2 of the medicare tax that is taken from your check, workmen's comp, Liability Insurance, etc. This is has to be paid. and come from somewhere.