Offer Letter Negotiation...

[DanGarion]

I'm just about to accept an offer letter with my new employer, but I have two sticking points that I would at least like to negotiate before accepting. I'm considering sending a response much like this to the HR person that sent me the offer.


Hello Kim,

I have had a chance to review the offer thoroughly and I am very excited about this opportunity and my ability to make a significant contribution with XXXX. I'm happy with the overall benefits package, and I'm pleased with the cost. Although I had wished to have a higher offer on salary I appreciate that the offer matched what was previously mentioned during our initial conversation.

I did however have a couple questions regarding some specifics on the benefits. How long of a waiting period is there for the company benefits to kick in? This wasn't listed in the offer letter nor in the benefits overview. As it stands right now I'm paying nearly $1,400 a month for my COBRA coverage from my previous employer. If there is a delay in the medical benefits starting I will be continuing to pay for my COBRA benefits till my new medical coverage starts and it would be extremely important to me if the company were able to start my medical coverage on the date of hire. Secondly I see that I'm starting at Tier 1 for PTO, I would like to request to be started at a higher tier for PTO.

Once again I'm very pleased with the offer letter and I'm nearly ready to sign, but would like work on resolving these two concerns before finalizing my acceptance.

Best Regards,
Daniel

Suggestions?

[DanGarion]

Should I specify exactly what tier of paid time off I want or be happy if they offer the next tier?

[Young Drachma]

Call? In person? Writing a letter seems strange. But I suppose depends on the field.

[DanGarion]

Call? In person? Writing a letter seems strange. But I suppose depends on the field.

Well the HR person doesn't seem to ever answer her phone directly. I guess I can ask her to call me and do the negotiation then...

[digamma]

The company may not be able start you on their insurance coverage due to their own policy limitations for at least 30 days. You may have more success asking for a little more scratch.

[DanGarion]

That was my second request if they can't. Extra money to cover the COBRA costs.

[Desnudo]

I would explain why you deserve more PTO and ask them to kick in whatever you need to cover cobra costs. You want to consider throwing in a 3rd throw away ask that you don't care about, like start date or whatever.

[BrianD]

The last 3-4 offers I got had defaulted to 2-weeks of vacation. I asked for 3 weeks each time and got it. If you have been in the industry any length of time, that is generally expected. You probably won't have much luck with the insurance request. Those are generally tied to a very strict company policy.

[Tekneek]

Crummy that insurance doesn't start from day 1. I haven't had a job where insurance didn't start on day 1 since I did temp work.

If you've worked well with the recruiter so far, I would discuss it over the phone first and use that to check the temperature. I've usually been able to gauge the likelihood of these things with a short phone call.

If you're willing to walk away from the opportunity, then you can push a little harder for what you want. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. In that situation, I would send a written response if the phone call doesn't work. That is something they can take up the management chain for approval, where a phone call might not get beyond the recruiter talking to the hiring manager.

If I really want/need the job, I obviously don't push as hard. When I could stick with what I have easily, then everything is negotiable from my point of view.

[CraigSca]

Crummy that insurance doesn't start from day 1. I haven't had a job where insurance didn't start on day 1 since I did temp work.


I've had it happen before, but i don't think every employer has that policy. As with DanGarion, I was paying COBRA at the time, so the lack of immediate insurance was a bitter pill.

[CU Tiger]

I know it is law in SC and I think it is a federal law actually, but COBRA coverage can be retroactivated at any point during eligibility back to term date.

So if you do not have an existing consistent condition where you have to by expensive monthly medication or regular monthly doctor visits, it is usually best to not sign up for COBRA, and if you have a major issue arise you can retroactive it.

Even if that isnt the case whee you are and admittedly maybe Im in the minority but I hear all the time about people "having" to pay for COBRA between jobs, I just dont get sick that often and the risk reward gamble seems off the charts to me. You are essentially paying $4,200 to reduce a potential $20k event to a $4k event that has what probabliity to even happen

[DanGarion]

Well we had a baby born three weeks ago, so we had to continue our coverage both before and after. :)

I know it is law in SC and I think it is a federal law actually, but COBRA coverage can be retroactivated at any point during eligibility back to term date.

So if you do not have an existing consistent condition where you have to by expensive monthly medication or regular monthly doctor visits, it is usually best to not sign up for COBRA, and if you have a major issue arise you can retroactive it.

Even if that isnt the case whee you are and admittedly maybe Im in the minority but I hear all the time about people "having" to pay for COBRA between jobs, I just dont get sick that often and the risk reward gamble seems off the charts to me. You are essentially paying $4,200 to reduce a potential $20k event to a $4k event that has what probabliity to even happen

[CU Tiger]

Well we had a baby born three weeks ago, so we had to continue our coverage both before and after. :)

WOW..congrats!
Didn't know.

Carry on Ill go sit in the corner.

[DanGarion]

WOW..congrats!
Didn't know.

Carry on Ill go sit in the corner.

Hah, no worries, I don't expect everyone on the board to know what is going on in my personal life. :)

And thanks!

[Logan]

Congrats Dan. A lot of good news...

[DanGarion]

Negotiation success! First off my new boss really seems great! I talked to her about it earlier and she said to bring it up when I spoke with the HR Benefits Rep. Well a little bit before the call from the Benefits Rep my boss emailed me saying she told them to let me have the higher tier of vacation (but for me not to tell the HR person she told them that). I spoke with the HR rep, and she agreed to the higher tier of vacation! And I also found out that medical benefits start from the date of hire! So everything worked out great.

[DanGarion]

Congrats Dan. A lot of good news...

Thanks!

[JonInMiddleGA]

So everything worked out great.

Excellent