So what's it like where you work (pay raises, vacation, other benefits, etc.)

[Hawaii Hiker]

I work as an accountant in a non-profit company....Our typical raises seem to be in 3-5% area, higher if a promotion is involved....What are your typical raises in the company you work for?...Does anyone see 6% or greater annually in their company?...

What about vacation....I earn 4 weeks (counting personal time), & I'm able to take a 2-weeks off at a time, which I have done for 12 years now....Does your place allow taking 2 weeks at a time?....

Our company pays for our medical (and their family as well), you don't have to pay any premiums, of course you have co-pays at the MD's office, etc., but the company picks up the enitre medical coverage...And even for a single person, it costs them over $300/month, for a family, it's well over $1,000/month......

We also have a company paid pension plan, where they contribute 7% of your salary, it's NOT a deduction from your pay, they contribute 7% whether you save every dime of your check, or spend it all 5 minutes after receiving it.....

All in all, benefits are pretty good, but the salaries are average at best....I mean, secretaries at Microsoft have made millions on their stock plans, so the private sector definitely has its advantages over non-profit.....I heard Google is a great place to work for as well....

Interested to hear other DU'ers take on their workplace salary & benefits packages.....

[Redstone]

1. Well, it's pretty good overall, since I own the company - except for the part where

I have to pay the other half of Social Security that the employer generally pays (and in an astonishing moment of honesty, the IRS actually DOES call it the "Self-Employment Tax"), and also the part about paying $2200 per month (not a typo) for health insurance.

But it still beats the hell out of having a job. I don't think I'd ever be able to go back to having someone else decide what my time is worth.

Redstone

[pengillian101]

2. I worked a place once that demanded the accountants take off 2 weeks at a time.

Seriously. They could then scour the books for illegal activity.

It seems to me you have a great job and a wonderful benefit package. If you have been there 12 years, you must enjoy your job. Kudos to you - you are fortunate :-)

[skygazer]

3. Sounds like a good place to work

I've been at my job 9 years. In that time, our raises have been minimal, while the amount we pay for deductables and co-pays on our health benefits has steadily increased. I get 3 weeks paid vacation which will be increased to 4 weeks when I have 10 years in. I can take my vacation weeks all at once theoretically but they prefer you to take them one at a time. And I have 3 additional paid personal days per year.

Job security is rocky. It is a union job so the company has to follow procedures to get rid of you but they have been making the atmosphere less and less appealing, thereby driving out longer-term employees. This allows them to hire more people at entry-level wages and since they managed to force us into a contract that works differently (and not as well) for new hires, this is to the company's benefit. They also are able to keep more people at part-time in that way since many older employees were granted full-time status back in the good old days (meaning we are guaranteed 40 hours per week).

And it's rough on my body, being hard physical labor. :shrug:

[Mojambo]

4. No vacation, no sick days, no raise in 2 years

Oh, and I work six days a week to get 35 hours.

Guess I shouldn't have dropped out of college.

[Chan790]

5. Wow! Do you work for a fine purveyor of coffee too?

That's me except I got a raise of 3%.

[Mojambo]

6. No. I work at a newsstand kiosk right across from one though.

3%... That's insulting.

Those employees bust their ass, I've noticed.

[Chan790]

7. We do.

Corporate is blaming us for the economic downturn and the company's shortfalls. We're expected to do more work (literally...the new offerings require more labor to produce) with less people and less hours and somehow make more profit-per-store. I was told when I started that a management trainee position was mine as soon as I felt comfortable to make the jump. 2 years and I'm waiting.

The morons are running the company into the ground.

[Bombero1956]

8. I work in the public sector

I've been on the job for 30 1/2 years. Pay raises are negotiated by our union and average out to 3% a year with increases every 6 months. Our current contract is due to expire in 2 years. We never get a contract of more than 3 years. Medical is a 60/40 split with me paying 40% per week for family coverage. Vacation for me is now 32 tours or days off per year which works out to 8 weeks off. I can take them any way I want so long as there isn't a conflict. By that I mean that since I'm a supervisor I can't take vacation if the boss is off. I get 180 sick hours every year. If I don't use them I can bank them and sell back to the city when I retire. I get 11 paid holidays off per year. The city provides me with 4 t-shirts, 2 trousers, 2 uniform shirts and 1 sweatshirt per year. I also get paid a bonus for my saved sick hours every year. This may sound like a lot but only because I've hung around to get it. I forgot to include my retirement. I've had 7% taken out every week since I started and also have a deferred compensation package that I began 8 years ago.

[OmahaBlueDog]

9. I have pretty good benefits

I work for a company that is not technically a not for profit, but operates on a revenue neutral basis. We provide information services to a segment of the insurance industry. The company offers most of its employees a choice between an HMO and a PPO from a major provider. My insurance premiums are split 80/20 with the company, but I pay a signifigant chunk for the family. I have PPO Dental and Medical, and I think they take about $225 a pacheck out, pre-tax. I've been with the company 11 years. I get 3 weeks paid vacation, 3-4 personal days, about 10 days of sick leave, and I buy a week of vacation (which I trade back at Xmas time for a weeks pay -- it's like a xmas club account, but I want the extra week in case a family emergency or bad illness arises). I have a 5% non contributory pension, a 401K that is matches 1 to 1.

I won't get rich doing this, but it keeps us in potato chips.

[femmocrat]

10. I work for a school district.

I'm not sure how much our raises average, because we are on a "step-scale", depending on years of service and level of education. I guess about 2-3% in the last contract.

We get 10 sick days and 3 personal days in addition to school holidays. We pay part of our health care and have co-pays on doctor visits and prescriptions. We pay into the state retirement plan and the school district matches our contribution. We also have paid life and disability insurance (although higher level disability is "extra").

We receive college tuition reimbursement if we are still working on permanent certification or advanced degrees. They also pay for pre-approved continuing education coursework required for renewing certification every 5 years.

Can't think of anything else! :)

[From The Ashes]

11. I work as a tech support person...

...little bit of upselling also. If I mentioned the name of the company, I'd probably get booed outta here. Suffice it to say its a cable company.

Hourly: Just a whisker over $11 per hour.
Perks: 2 weeks paid vacation, after 6 months. Sick days and 'personal days'. Paid holidays. Free cable, internet and half price phone.

Medical, dental, 401k and I get a bit of commission on everything I sell.

All in all, it's a sweet deal. of course, there's a lot of shit I have to put with, too.

[My Good Babushka]

12. I'm a Stay at Home Mom

which is only considered work when people are in a patronizing mood.

[Nikia]

13. Mine could be better

I work for a privately owned company.
Raises are determined by the dictator...I mean company president/owner. My first year raise was just over 6%. My second year was a little less. I have heard though that some people there haven't received a raise in a few years.
I get 2 weeks vacation. That begins the first year prorated, such as 5 days if you start half way through. I don't think that I get 3 weeks until I have been there over 5 yeras and then 4 after 10 or 15 years. No additional days, except berevement for close relatives are paid officially although the company president will sometimes give people a couple additional days off with pay if he feels like it (extra days for berevement, family emergency, serious injury/illness).
The company pays 80% of our health insurance. I forget how much is currently taken out. We don't have dental insurance though. They do give us $300 to use on medical bills, but we have to turn the bill into the company president to get it.
There is no pension plan that involves an employer contribution.
In some ways, I make "good money" (for the area, for employees at that company, for jobs that I could expect to get). In other ways, the amount of effort and work expected of me, general hostility of the work environment, and lack of tools to do my job as well as the company president expects makes it not really worth it. After I have my baby, I will decide if I should actively pursue other options.

[Hawaii Hiker]

16. That's a good point you bring up about hostility of the work environment

What really makes or breaks a place is the environment/people....Though there are a couple people I work with I can't stand, it's not too bad where I am, it's tolerable in that regard...

Another thing is being non-profit, it's a 35 hr. weeks & that's it...Also, most people in our company take their one hour lunch religiously every day, & if they work thru their lunch hour, then they leave early...

Another good thing about our place is the sick leave, 12 days a year which carries foward & you can use sick time in hour increments....So if you want to take 3 hrs. sick time in the afternoon to go to a doctor's appt., you can do that...

[Raven]

14. I work for a town in NH. We have a default budget this year (meaning

that the voters refused to pass the 2008 budget so we are operating on a 2007 budget). No raises on the horizon but decent health care and vacation/sick policy. It is clear that people are hurting up here and in a month or so, when folks start to worry about heating their homes, it's going to get worse.

[sniffa]

15. I work as a Land Surveyor

Benefits are so-so: You have the option for a bad HMO, or a pretty good plan (that costs more); crappy dental plan that most places that offer it carry; they have a 401k but they don't match or contribute anything - I have yet to participate because I use every penny of my paycheck, but I'll probably start soon, and try out small contributions; after one year you get 3 weeks PTO which covers sick/personal/vacation - after 5 years it bumps up but I'm not sure if it's 4 or 5 weeks; I had gone about 2.5 years since my last raise (.75/hr) but this week I was promoted and my boss is going to try and get me a $1.75/hr raise, and I will get my own company vehicle; my company also pays for college related to our industry which will be great for me as I'm going back in September.

[av8rdave]

17. It's like this:

Pay: 1/2 what it was a few years ago

Pension: Used to have one, not anymore

Benefits: Have medical, the family deductable is only $4800. Dental: It's technically there, but they always find a reason not to cover stuff.

Vacation: Pretty good. I get 5 weeks (20 years with the company) though have to take it in a minimum of 7 day blocks, with a maximum of 4 vacatin periods a year.

[datasuspect]

18. i'm the executive vice president for north american operations for a major corporate real estate

firm.

i receive compensation derived from several sources:

-a base salary
-a percentage of the gross real estate commissions for the US, Mexico, and Canada
-performance-based bonuses

additionally, i receive a vehicle allowance, gas card, expense accounts, housing allowance, and livery service to my door every morning to take me to the corporate hq in northbrook, il.

oh, and i haven't paid for lunch since i interned at my uncle mort's company after college.