Compensation Applicants Things Money Job Insurance Negotiate Negotiating

Many American companies offer "complex" (not simple; with many different parts) compensation packages to their employees. Many job applicants focus on salary, but other "components" (parts) of the compensation package can be even more important.

Compensation packages include "leave" (time when one is paid but does not have to work), such as vacation time, "sick leave" (days when one is sick), holidays, and "personal leave" (days when one can take care of things in one's personal life). Some compensation benefits also offer health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, "disability" (money one can receive if one is no longer able to work because of an injury), and long-term care (money to pay for help if one can no longer live alone). There are also many programs for "retirement benefits" (money one will received after one has stopped working). These things usually cannot be negotiated, because they are part of a "corporate-wide" (affecting the entire company) "policy" (a written explanation of how things are done).

At large companies, job applicants often can negotiate a "starting bonus" (money paid when one accepts a job) or "stock options," where employees receive the "right" (ability to do something) to buy "stock" (shares; partial ownership of a company) at a certain price in the future. If the company does well, the employee might "exercise" (use) those stock options and buy stocks for less than their "market value" (the normal price at which things are bought or sold).

Other job applicants try to negotiate a "flex" (flexible) schedule, maybe working four ten-hour days instead of five eight-hour days. Other applicants try to negotiate a schedule where they can "telecommute" (work from home, without coming into the office) at least a few days each week.