Seeing as I just officially signed and started my contract extension, I think now is a good time to talk about how to negotiate this seldom talked about subject for travelers.
We know how important initial contract negotiations are, but contract extensions, in my opinion, are just as important and often more in your favor when it comes to negotiations as we will discuss.
Yes, contract extensions can be as simple as signing a 13 week extension of the same negotiated contract you signed 13 weeks prior. However, I feel you are cutting yourself short, and often allowing your traveling company to make more off of you.
I’m not saying you should be the clear winner of every negotiation. But it is important to discuss all aspects of the deal to make sure that all three parties are receiving the maximum benefit of your skill set. Your traveling company, your contracted employer, and yourself.
At the end of the day, knowing your worth to your traveling company and your worth to your current assignment becomes a very important negotiating tool in traveling healthcare as it does with most compensation negotiations.
Know Your Worth
As every traveler knows, most employers are doing everything possible to not have the need for a traveler. At all times, you are trying to be replaced by someone far less expensive then you, usually, a full time staff. This is something that should always be in the back of your mind during your contract and in preparation for extensions.
Most employers will give you a notice, but I have heard horror stories of travelers getting cut without notice, leaving you scrambling to find your next position quickly. Thankfully this hasn’t happened to me, but I am always keeping one ear open while at work.
There are also select situations where travelers are used for seasonal help. This creates a slightly different narrative as often travelers are easier and cheaper to bring in than hiring someone full time.
As I tell every traveler I talk to, there is always a reason this company needs your services. The faster you determine this, the easier contract negotiations get.
When to Begin Extension Discussions
So when to start this process. I normally advise travelers to begin formal negotiations around their final 4-6 weeks. However, informal discussions about the companies potential need for you to extend should begin after your first few weeks of your initial contract.
It’s never too early to get a sense on if the company may need you or if this is a hard 13 week contract. This then allows you to begin your search for your next job.
Waiting too late to discuss a contract extension could leave you jobless if your employer plans to go another direction. This has you scrambling for another position which increases the stress of traveling and may to you taking a sub-optimal setting, salary, or location as a result. It also could force you to take unplanned weeks off from work which again hurts your final income. Which is a major part of the reason we travel.
So What Exactly Should I Be Negotiating When Extension Discussions Begin?
So the obvious answer is more money. This can be as simple as negotiating a higher hourly rate or adding a bonus but you should not limit yourself to this. Often times employers push back against an increased hourly rate.
The typical answer will consist of “we are already paying you the maximum amount of money we could at this time”. Which in the grand scheme, as a traveler, you always appreciate getting the most upfront money that you can because you never truly know if a contract extension is going to be an opportunity.
However, this logic is slightly flawed as extending often saves your traveling company AND your current contracted company money. So let’s break down the reasoning to use with your employer/contractor when going through negotiations:
No Orientation/Ramp Up Time: With a contract extension, your contractor doesn’t have to bring in a new traveler which means no 1-3 days of orientation. And for an employer, orientation means they aren’t making money.
A new rehab traveler also has to build a caseload. Even the travelers that can hit the ground running, still ramp up. Meaning they have openings and increased documentation time or shadowing built into their schedule, again leading to decreased billable time.
A 2 dollar/hour pay raise for a 13 week contract only increases your pre-tax income by $1,040 which if you calculate how much money you’ll make your clinic over a new traveler, you see that you easily pay for this small raise and then some.
Extended Interview/Your fit: You have just spent your last 13 weeks working for a company, if they want to extend you, then clearly you have already passed their 13 week interview.
You likely fit in with the staff, company, and patients. If you didn’t a company likely wouldn’t extend you. Bringing in a new traveler brings uncertainty about whether someone is a fit for the current job, which again provides more evidence in your favor for a slight bump in pay.
I recently had a contract end and was replaced by a full time PT. The company I was contracted with sent this PT to a week of orientation, and had her shadow myself and other PT’s for a week to learn the clinic flow and meet the patients. Over 2 weeks on non-billable time.
This PT resigned 3 months later leaving the clinic again understaffed and in need of a PT. She didn’t mesh well with the patients or staff. That alone cost the clinic thousands. Fit matters in healthcare and should be discussed when in negotiations.
Extensions Don’t Receive a Travel Stipend: If you received a travel or relocation stipend when you started a contract, then this is money that your traveling company allocated to you out of the *pie chart of money they contractually received from the clinic/company you currently work for.
This chunk of money is now not used since you no longer need to travel to get to your new job because you are extending. Meaning, this money is now money your traveling company will likely pocket.
This really should be your money since your company was willing to offer it to you the first time around and should be discussed as part of your argument for a raise or bonus.
*Pie Chart meaning that every assignment receives a pool of money, different traveling companies break that money down in different ways but at the end of the day, it is the same pool of money. If a contract offers a bonus, it’s likely that your weekly income is less and vice versa. The pie of money is the same no matter which way you slice it.
No Credentialing: Meaning your company does not have to pay for a drug screen, a physical, a TB test, or any other medical screening. They also don’t have to reimburse the traveler for their state license, finger print card, or the verification cost of your transcript, boards, or past state licenses. Again, meaning that by extending you are saving them money in the long run. Making more money available for your raise.
Note: Some traveling companies add a burden to every rate sheet (which is essentially the pie talked about above). This burden is often a % of the pie or a set monetary amount. If this is the case, then your extension may not open up any extra funds for you. This is an important question to ask when negotiating extensions and signing on with a traveling company initially.
Saved Time: By signing an extension you are saving time for your traveling company, your current employer, your recruiter, and everyone involved in processing your contract.
For a traveling company as a whole, it that means less time spent setting up interviews, reaching out to potential candidates, credentialing, and less time spent answering questions and relaying information about a contract to a multitude of candidates who may or may not even accept the position.
This means more time for employees to spend on outreach on potential new recruits and travelers which thereby makes the company more money in the big picture.
For your contracted employer it means less time spent talking to recruitment companies, interviewing potential employees, and again relaying information to all parties involved.
It can also mean less time spent without having the position staffed. Because if you don’t extend, there is no guarantee the company will immediately be able to find a replacement traveler or a full time employee to hire. Which means more potential patients turned away, decreased billable time, or an unsatisfied current staff as they are overworked due to being understaffed.
Loyalty: By offering a slight bump in pay to an extension contract it shows you as an employee that your current traveling company is loyal and dedicated to keeping you. Staff turnover is one of the biggest losses for traveling companies. They know that the more employees they retain the more money they make. It’s why some companies offer reward bonuses after a certain amount of time spent with on company.
By showing you loyalty and that they are doing everything possible to maximize your income it decreases the chances that you up and leave to one of the other 50 traveling companies out there.
How to Negotiate a Contract Extension
As with any negotiation, these argument points listed above aren’t to be used to throw into anyone’s face. Aggressive negotiations are a good way to shut down all conversations and may leave you without a potential job.
The negotiation and discussion should always be polite and respectful but should always display your worth. And the more you know your own worth, the easier negotiations become. At the end of the day, they may still say know, and you always have the opportunity to walk. Or you can sometimes get creative.
Flexibility with Contract Negotiations
Like I mentioned, even after all of the negotiation and discussion above, the answer still may be a no. Which then puts the ball in your court to decide if the current position is still worth it or if you are ready to go explore a new location.
However, you may still be able to negotiate some non-money related items into your contract:
Hours: Often times you can discuss with your employer the hours you work. I have had employers that have been flexible enough to let me transition my schedule from a five 8’s to 4 10’s or move the day I have off.
You could also inquire about starting earlier or starting later depending on your preference. Nothing in your contract will say they have to let you but often times your employer knows how much losing your extension could cost and will be willing to make these small adjustments.
Days Off: On every contract you should be building your days off into your contract so it is in writing. However, on extensions, you usually have more flexibility to ask for more sought after days off such as the days before or after holidays. This may not be much but it is something you can discuss during negotiations rather than after you have already signed because at that point you have lost all leverage.
Guaranteed Hours: This one is big. Obviously it is important to fight for guaranteed hours before you sign your initial contract but travelers understand that it can be competitive for jobs at times and sometimes the employer has the leverage during the initial contract. However, once you are asked to extend, you now have more leverage than before so it is important to get this built into your contract right away.
This now guarantees that you get paid for 40 hours of work regardless of if your hours are cut for low census, or if the clinic closes for any reason such as holidays or weather. This is especially nice around the holidays. It allows you to get paid more like a full time employee and makes your week to week pay checks very consistent which helps with financial planning. This is something that should always be negotiated for.
Mileage Reimbursement: You’d think that if you would be driving for work that this would already be in your contract but some companies are shadier and don’t tell you about potential driving you may have to do during your contract. It should be argued and talked about during your initial contract but sometimes to no avail.
So on your extension, you’d better make sure that before you sign, that mileage is included in your contract. Honestly, it’s probably best to just get it in your initial contract even if the employer states you won’t be driving for your job. Employers will try to take advantage of you as a traveler sometimes so it’s important to get everything in writing. A little CYA never hurt.
Every Situation is Different
However, it’s always important to remember that every situation and contract is different. Negotiations are all about leverage. So it’s important to recognize when you have the leverage versus when your employer does.
As the competitiveness for your job goes up, your leverage in negotiations goes down. It’s simply supply and demand.
If you are working in an area that is very sought after, meaning a desired location, setting, salary, hospital system etc, then your negotiating power decreases.
Also, if you are worried about staying in a certain location/city, or you won’t make as much at a different contract, then it’s again important to recognize this because it limits the amount you should push during negotiations because you are tied to this position.
You shouldn’t tell your employer this, but it’s important to keep in the back of your mind while you are negotiating. Because, I do still recommend always attempting to negotiate because you are saving both parties time and money so you never really know what the other side might be willing to offer to keep you. Just don’t push as hard if they begin to push back, tread lightly.
However, the more flexibility you hold in your work/home life, then the more you are capable of pushing while negotiating. If you know you are fine relocating and taking a different assignment in a new location or state, then you have more leverage to push for better compensation. Again this doesn’t mean being disrespectful as talked about, but it just means stating your case and demonstrating your worth more. Flexibility enhances your leverage.
With every assignment I work I am always keeping one ear open and casually asking questions about the practice to your supervisors, co-workers, patients, etc. This will usually give you a very good idea as to why they in fact needed a traveler. And I mean the real reason, not the reason they likely told you during the interview. Usually it’s either seasonal, location, or most likely poor management/structure.
It also can give you an idea to how easily or difficult it has been to find a full time staff member. If a location has been spending months looking for staff and not finding it, or offering large bonuses for full time employees, then you know the clinic is desperate for coverage. You now have the leverage.
For my own unique case, one of my contracts was a combination of all 3 reasons to bring in a traveler. I worked at a satellite clinic which through normal conversations I knew had been staffed by travelers for months, they hadn’t had any leads to fill that position with a new hire, nor were any of the current employees willing to go work there. Which again increased leverage and helped with my negotiations.
Conclusion
Negotiating extensions in traveling are just like negotiating a contract with any other job. They should be done respectfully, and should try to offer all parties the best deal possible.
However, like with all jobs, you need to know your worth, what it is you want and the rules of the game. Otherwise, you are prone to be taken advantage of which is what happens to many of the travelers I talk to.
Hopefully, the above will help you to better recognize your worth as a traveler and what you likely mean to your traveling company and your current employer. This should then help you to better negotiate a contract whether that be for increased money or flexibility.
I can’t say it enough, know your leverage and know your worth.
Good Luck!
Let me know if you have any questions in general or specific to your current contract negotiations, I would love to help. Feel free to comment below or reach out directly here!
