New job..part time employed for charity org. working from home..pls help..

[rushour]

Hi, i've been offered a post to work from home 3 days a week for a national charity. In the next week I've been asked to give them a call to negotiate my salary, which I've never done before in any of my previous jobs.

I'm not motivated by money, however, I need to know whether I need to take into consideration working from home expenses? If so, could you help me list them with a value against each?

That way I know how much salary to negotiate for. Many thanks.

Yes! Definitely. There's a whole calculation you have to do to work out your overheads (including electricity, heating etc), as well as setting up a suitable working environment (desk, proper chair etc, PC etc). I can't remember exactly what the calculation is but I'll try to look into it for you later today. There are tax considerations too but I can't remember what they are either...sorry, I've got my scatty pregnant head on! Maybe someone else will be able to give you some more useful advice.

the business link guide might be a useful reference - aimed at employers, but covers the stuff you need to thinl about.

Will you work freelance or as an employee?

You could ask for a package whereby they are responsible for setting you up with home links and furniture etc. and then pay you seperately with allowances included to take into consideration the expense involved in working from home. Might be good to check the HMRC webpage as well for some advice on taxable issues etc so that you're doing it in the best way possible for you.

This is very unusual, most charities have a rate for the job, not the person.

If you look on Charityjob.com, you'll find a range of charity jobs and you can get a good idea of what the going "charity rate" (as opposed to market rate) is.

Make sure they're very clear about what sort of holiday etc. you're entitled to. For example, if it's home based, pt, what do they do about bank holidays? (most pro-rata it.)

thanks for all your responses.

miss bumpy, did you figure out how to do the calculation? I would appreciate some help with this.

Thanks for the link Betsy boop will look into it later.

I'll be working as an employee not freelance, so I'm sure there will be a differene between what I can claim by working at home as an employee, rather than freelance.

I used to work for a charity at home and tbh there isn't really a lot you can claim.

If you don't already have broadband and need to get set up for the job, then you can claim that.

Anything like computer, phone, printer etc. will obviously be provided by them (unless you have your own you'd prefer to use). Stuff like heating and lighting costs though, they don't pay!

Check out what they're paying for mileage. The taxman allows 40p per mile I think it is, so if they only pay 30p, 35p, you can claim the extra 5 or 10p at the end of the tax year

Hi there. I've just got off the phone with the council Business rates section, who said I should just pay normal council tax rate, not business rates, because its just a home office I'm setting up and not a business where I'm inviting clients into my home, meetings etc.

The home insurance company said exactly the same thing too. I'm covered with my normal home buildings and contents cover.

So, does this mean I don't take into account the extra expense these could've incurred? Or should I consider including a small % of my current home insurance cover and council tax?

I'm really sorry with the questions, but I could really do with a list of expenses I need to cover into my salary, which I'll need to negotiate next week. So far I've got:
Lighting, Electricity, Heating, Phone calls, Broadband connection.

I've got my own PC but was thinking of buying a laptop, because there is a lot of travelling associated with the job, for which they will pay travelling expenses for.

I actually can't wait, because it means I can get rid of my car and go everywhere by public transport, which the greener part of me really likes!

I've remembered where I saw all the info on home working. I'll look it up later today when I get a mo and I'll let you know if there's anything interesting...

thanks. I've just had it clarified that actually all expenses are paid on top of the salary. They will set up the home office, equipment etc.

So, how do you negotiate a salary for a unique post?

Hi cbcb, thanks. The salary scale is between 26k and 35k.

I'm currently on 25k in the public sector, so this post will be a promotion for me. I was thinking of stating an offer with a view that after completing the 6-month probationary period they increase it by X amount.

I find it really hard to do this, because the salary was not the motivating factor when I applied for the job, hence I just don't know how to approach this.

Hi,
the guidelines I've found are just that, guidelines and best practice rather than proper legislation. It suggests that you should have a proper risk assessment, you should have a dedicated work room (rather than working at your kitchen table), you should get help towards lighting/heating etc, you should get all the office equipment you need, and you have regular contact with head office so you're not left feeling isolated.

With the salary thing, if I were you I'd ask for something reasonable towards the bottom of the scale (£27-£28k?) and, as you say, maybe build in an increase in 6 months or a years time.

Good luck!

If you're on 26 now and that's the scale why don;t you ask for 30? it's bang in the middle of the scale, it's a reasonable increase for you. I know money's not yuor motivation but there was an interesting article in teh Guardian the other day about the pay gap between men and women. apparently it's not as simple as women beng hesitant to negotiate - some recent research shows that the reason women are less likely to negotiate is because they - correctly - expect a negative reaction. people respond differently to women who negotiate hard as opposed to men. doesn;t that suck? Not sure it's very helpful - but I now see it as my sisterly obligation to negotiate and be "nice" and easy/good to work with. just to chip away at these perceptions...maybe you should ask for £32k...

I think one way of looking at it is to look hard at the job description/person spec and point out ways in which you more than meet it. eg if it says minimum 2 years experience and you have 4; if it says certain skills you have are desirable, rather than essential etc.

sounds like a great job btw - 3 days a week and from home! well done!

thanks so much for your suggestions and advice. DH is hopeless, as he just wants me to go for the top of the payscale, however, I have to be realistic about my skills, knowledge and experience.

I will ask for 29k with an increase at the end of the probationary period.