Got an offer from a hospital about 25 minutes further than where I work now. It's tele step-down, which I've done for 3 years, so no learning curve. Base is $3.50/hr more than I make now plus a $15k sign-on bonus. The catch is a 2 year commitment, and if I leave early I pay back the whole thing. Not prorated. The whole thing.
They also said ratios are 1:4 "most of the time," and anyone who's worked step-down knows what most of the time means.
The recruiter keeps saying everybody signs it and nobody actually gets hit with the payback. I don't know, that's what you say right before somebody gets hit with it. Has anyone actually had to pay one back? And is a non-prorated clawback a dealbreaker or am I overthinking this?
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Post reply1:4 most of the time means 1:5 every shift someone calls out, which is every shift. My current place advertised the same thing and I have had four patients maybe six times since Christmas. A big bonus with a big clawback usually means they can't keep people.
Ask for prorated. Worst case they say no and you're where you are now. I got mine changed to monthly proration just by saying I wasn't comfortable signing it as written. Also ask what the unit's turnover was last year, and watch how fast they answer.
Do you get the whole 15k up front or is it split up? Mine paid a third at 90 days, a third at a year, and the rest at 18 months, so I was never on the hook for money I hadn't been paid yet.
Run the numbers before you write it off. $3.50 more at 36 hrs a week is about $13k over two years, so the raise alone almost covers the bonus even in the worst case. The thing people miss is that you get the bonus after taxes but usually have to pay back the gross amount. Ask HR how they handle that.
I paid one back. Left at month 19 because my mom got sick and I needed to be closer to home. Same deal, not prorated, and they took what they could out of my final check and sent me a bill for the rest. Recruiter told me the exact same line about nobody getting hit.