Vesting of benefits

[otc]

How are benefits decisions made when people swap jobs at more senior levels (after several years of employment with a company)?

It seems like a lot of companies base things like vacation time and retirement plan matching on how long you have been an employee. For example, 401k matching may only be 80% for the first 5 years or you might gain additional vacation time as a result of a specific policy that bases it on time worked.

If you switch jobs and go to another company, do you start at the bottom again or do they give you a sort of credit (giving benefits as if you had been with the company for X years despite being a new hire). How do they decide on this credit? Is it something they base on years of experiance in the industry, try to approximate benefits from a previous job, or do they use it to play around with to sway people in hiring decisions?

 

[Pennglock]

Ive never heard of a company speeding up the vesting of benefits based on "time in the industry."

Vesting of 401k benefits especially is a sham. Companys use the 401k match as a selling point, but hide the vesting in their fine print. In this era of employee mobility, I think vesting is mainly a scam for companies shirk paying benefits rather than a tool to promote loyalty to the company.

Starting at the VP level benefits packages are usually completely different from the rank and file, and are more negotiable as well.

 

[otc]

So if you jump ship you could expect to drop back to say...2 weeks vacation/partial matching/etc?

 

[Grenadier]

You could, yes. Employee benefits are entirely at the discretion of the company. A benefit scheme that gets better for length of service is designed to keep employees working at the company so that the company doesn't have to train new people. If you have prior industry experience, it'll probably be recognized with a greater salary offer.

 

[SirSuturesALot]

..

 

[otc]

Actually...looking at the benefit schedules of the place where I am interning, I seem to have found a partial answer.

Things like vacation are definitely scaled by time with the company but those scales vary with the level of the position. Starting at a more senior position will put you behind those at your level with more time served but not in the same place as someone starting in a lower position.

 

[indy116]

Your overall compensation package is negotiable, not just the actual salary.

I'm a long term contractor (almost 3 years now..). I get more vacation time from my contract company than the company I'm working at gives to their full time employees with less than 5 or 10 years service. I've known guys that have transitioned from contractor to regular employee and made the company match the vacation time of our contract company.

Our health plan co-pay is also lower, but they haven't been able to change that.

 

[otc]

Related question: What about negotiating on salary/benefits for entry level positions? I figure it can't hurt to try once they have extended an offer (right?) but is there really much leeway or does it become a take it or leave it situation?)