Negotiate Locum Pay
When negotiating locum pay, always keep in mind the suggestions set forth in this article, as they will give you leverage as to who needs whom the most.
Steps
- Find out whether there is a shortage of locums. If there is, find out what the shortage consists of. Usually, it is one or more of the following:
- A shortage in your area
- A shortage at a particular time of the year/day of the week, for example, holidays
- Low volume of locums as a whole in your profession.
- Increased urgency caused by shortages means more pay for you.
- Find out how quickly they need your services. Ask them: "How soon do they require a locum?" The faster that you can respond, the higher the pay you will likely be able to negotiate. Timescale is the most important factor for negotiating your locum pay, as the sooner they need you, the more room that you have for negotiation. But remember that if you are too expensive, they will just cancel the clinic. Ring back to see if they have found anyone cheaper (and, at this point, reach a compromise).
- Consider how far away are you from the job when responding quickly.
- Also factor in the number of days you can do.
- Explain your qualifications Do you have better qualifications then the rest? Can you have someone who can vouch for your quality of work? Have you got the number of years behind you for this type of work? Each of these things will feed into the amount of pay you can demand.
- Check out the company requiring your locum services. Ask the following questions:
- Does this company typically pay well?
- Do they require longer hours/shorter lunch?
- Does anybody want to work for them?
- Calculate how much it will cost you to get to and remain at the place. How much this will cost for you are you going to pay extra for mileage/accommodation to help them out? Will the parking be expensive? Will it take you 4 hours to get to (time is money)? Be sure to include these costs in the fees you're charging.
Tips
- Always sell yourself well. For example: "I have been qualified for 10 years with a master’s degree and have exceptional communication skills that will guarantee people coming back."
- Never negotiate with negativity; although your fee is sacred to you, would you rather be sitting at home in anger or feeling happy that you did your best to compromise?
