Would you give up private healthcare and a bonus for total flexibility over your working week?

i have 100% work from home (bar being in London once a quarter) and total flexibility. Honestly, it’s a game changer. I’ve been looking for a new role for other reasons, and finding something that would even get close is tricky.

It can take some getting used to, but once you do it’s amazing. sports day, school meeting, lunch with a pal. Off I go and flex my day.

Im always available in core hours. always communicate with my team and line manager, and the do the same. Even our CEO flexes to be with his kids.

After a while that has become a really important way of working. Everyone benefits and it's an ongoing reminder that the business trusts us all. So I'd take the flexibility if salary is on par.

Honestly, no, because you’re going to want to do some work throughout the day and you can’t do that with a two-year-old in tow so you’re gonna have to put your two-year-old into some sort of childcare which will be daytime hours. I will try and stick with the job with the healthcare and dental and see if they could be in anyway flexible with start time or finish time try and get the best of both worlds.!

I think the healthcare is a bit of a non issue to be honest. At your salary and the amount you save you could afford to pay for it if you wanted. So for me it wouldn’t be a deciding factor

I would definitely prioritise a wfh job. But with the caveat of being aware they could change this.

id be focusing more on the feel of the company. Both as an employer/co worker vibe, they type of work I’d be doing, experience gained, promotion opportunities and maybe most importantly how secure is the job/company. 1 week sick pay does seem poor though?

It sounds like right now flexibility is more important for you, so i’d go with that. For my circumstances (older kids, hate WFH) i’d go for the other. But it’s what suits you and makes life easier. Money isn’t everything.

Do what's best for your mental health

What do you think the chances are of the flexible job being chAnged to back in the office full time? Lots of companies are bringing people back in...

Ive always had private healthcare and have barely used it in twenty years. I'd just live without it.

I'd take the flexibility/lack of commute tine/cost over a 6k bonus every time.

Cost it properly. Compare the cost of commuting, the value of your own time spent doing it.divide the pay for each job by total hours including commute time.

You have to be paid a LOT more to make it worth it.

I have total freedom to sort my calendar as I see fit, but that doesn’t mean I can come and go as I please. If I have an escalation at work, or a customer needs me on a meeting etc, I have to attend. Work always comes first. My manager has told me that as long as my customers are happy then I can sort my diary out to suit me. So I will schedule a lot of my meetings around my needs, but for me it’s give and take, i will need to work unsociable hours, now and again, when the shit hits the fan.

There’s no way I could look after a two year old (or any age child) whilst doing my job.

But I’d take this over a higher salary with less benefits as I couldn’t stand being back in the office with a commute to work

6k is what, 3.5k after tax? So if you spread that over the year it’s 375 a month loss if you include paying for your private healthcare.

I think with a two year old if all other things (progression, job satisfaction) are equal I’d take flexibility over office working even if you get circa 90pc net of the other salary. Less than 100 a week difference which I’d hazard a guess you will recoup in some ways (less food and coffee out, lower commuting costs).

Are you currently in the flexible job?

Personally I’d prioritise (after fair salary and good role), a strong and reputable company, decent (meaning both competent and not an AH) manager, career/salary, flexible working arrangements, and then extra benefits (in that order).

I'm with @AbzMoz . At your salary you'll lose a lot of that bonus to tax, unless you're happy to push it into your pension. Healthcare, as pp have said, is more or less valuable depending on your age. Same goes for sick pay. 1 week is very very mean. A bout of flu or COVID could wipe that out. We get 1 month in my place and even that worries me because any need for chemo or surgery and you could be looking at surviving on statutory sick pay (unless critical illness pays out) with very little warning. Does your household have another income you could survive on if that happened?

I would prob take the extra flexibility with young children, although childcare is much easier at age 2 than when they start school. One thing to say is that company policy is always changing, my company has now mandated 3 days in the office a week, which wasn't the policy when I joined.

The sick pay policy would be deal breaker here for me. Bonus and health care I could maybe live without (I have both) but one week’s company sick pay would make me nervous. I’ve never used much of mine, but it’s a valuable safety net.

Just to throw another consideration into the mix - is the ‘completely flexible’ job committing to that and does that fit well with the role (or are those WFH potentially penalised). More and more companies, especially those with HQ offices, seem to be rolling back flexible working and mandating a 3/4 day in office policy.

Personally I’d prioritise (after fair salary and good role), a strong and reputable company, decent (meaning both competent and not an AH) manager, career/salary, flexible working arrangements, and then extra benefits (in that order).

I think if you can save £800 per month(!) then £85 from that won’t make a huge difference.

Wow what do you do???

I don’t think there is anything that would have me willingly give up my flexible remote working with the odd day in the office. It’s the most important benefit that my role offers and how I manage to keep life's plates spinning. I don’t think an extra £20k would have me in the office full time

Flexibility is worth a lot to me,
If you have some savings in the bank you could always use them for private healthcare if and when needed.

It’s a tricky one. Don’t look over the fact you’ve had a bonus for 14 years, without realising it you have probably become adjusted to that. Equally given you are 3 days WFH as it is, being in the office full time is a big jump.

Health care / dentist didnt bother me too much as it’s the same service, I’ve not had to use it for any emergency or diagnosed conditions illnesses etc so could live without that.

1 week sick pay isn’t great IMO. Especially with kids. I very rarely am ill but i did have an accident last year which meant i was off work for 3 months.

I do have private healthcare (which I’ve used for myself and dd) and a bonus.

BUT
Cost cutting has meant my employer has pared back the healthcare scheme so some things previously covered are no longer covered and the choice of specialists is significantly worse. They are still providing healthcare in accordance with employment contracts - but it’s a lot less useful.

Similarly with bonuses - they’re not guaranteed and have varied.

If you do opt for wfh make sure it’s explicitly set out in your employment contract that your permanent location of work is your home and it cannot be amended without your consent. Look out for any obligations on you to go to other locations.

As another poster said, it’s an unstable job market so be sure as you can be that the move won’t result in redundancy at month 23….

....and the terms of my company private healthcare cover simply can't be reproduced privately, it just doesn't exist.

If the OP is 25yo it probably makes no difference. If the OP is 45yo it's a serious consideration. (Maybe not a deal breaker, but need to be considered.)

Yes ... I did this 2 years ago. Went from private industry to academia. No bonus which is sad (used to spend that on holidays!). But now I work condensed hours 5 days in 4, 2 of those from home. I manage my own time. No health care but I currently pay £34 per month for me and DD. Pension and annual leave is great. I think if you can manage on the salary and the job itself offers progression/stability/interest then you don't always need to be chasing the highest pay cheque.

Personally I’d keep the healthcare, I used my workplace one heavily the last two years and I’m going to be staying in the job in order to keep it.

How much would you save by not commuting: would it be more or less than £85 a month?

How much have you used your private health insurance to date? I've never had it through work and pay privately - never used it for me or my family, but maybe I'm lucky.

If the above tally financially, the benefits of flexibility with young children can be huge. I never missed any of my DCs school events, was able to work round their sick days/inset days/covid home schooling with a very, very supportive employer. That to me was worth so much more than any additional benefits that may have come my way.

I now work out of the home 9-5 and really miss the flexibility of jours, and mainly working from home.

Go for the less stress role - you have plenty of salary available each month - I only have £600 per month after bills left and out of that pay £92 for private medical insurance - I feel its worth it either way the state of the NHS and hearing about friends’ cancelled appointments and operations -