Independent contractor and equivalent salary conversion?

Question

My husband is starting a new job on monday after being out of work for 2 months. He has to be an independent contractor for the first 90 days, so no benefits, no paid days off, no taxes taken out, etc. He is going to make $50/hr, and when he asked them what they would give him after the 90 days they just said they'd discuss it then.

He may be fine with that but I'm not. He already took a large pay cut in taking this job (was paid $110K w/benefits, now $50/hr no benefits). Does anyone know what salary we should expect that they're going to be offering? All I could find was on salary.com they had a calculator that came to $80K/yr salary converts of $50/hr w/no benefits, but this calculation was from 2002. I couldn't find anything else besides that.

I've told him that he needs to find this out ASAP, and that their answer isn't acceptable because in 3 months he could find that they're offering far less than even what we're expecting (in which case he will be looking for a new job pronto). Thanks!

Answer 1

I'd say that $50 an hour as an independent contractor is about the same as $20 to $25 per hour as a regular employee, depending on the benefits.  But you need to keep a broader viewpoint.  Almost any work is better than no work.  Even a part time position fills in the space on a resume or CV as well as helping to pay the bills.  The time to deal with what they'll pay him when the 90 days is over is when they start talking about it.  If he doesn't like the offer, he can refuse it.  Another potential employer would see that he was trying to work rather than just sitting back and lazing about.  This can't hurt.  It also keeps him from getting depressed about not being able to find any work at all.  In the meantime he should keep his eyes and ears open for any position that might be a better deal.  You might also need to understand that he might not be able to get an equivalent pay in today's job situation.  He might have to settle for a lesser paying job, at least for a period of time.  Hopefully, the economy will improve again.