Q: How does pay work in travel assignments? How is it broken down?
A: You may have noticed that pay packages for travel therapists are quite different than a normal permanent/full time position. A normal job essentially pays you an annual salary or a hourly wage. All of that is completely taxed. That is not so in travel therapy.
That said, your travel pay package includes three major components.
First, you have a hourly rate. Typically, this will be lower than a normal hourly rate for a permanent employee. This will be taxed.
Second, you will have a housing stipend. This varies in every area of the country. The maximum allowed is based on the GSA. All of this money is not taxed.
Lastly, there is a meal/incidental stipend. This number is also variable, is non-taxed, and can be based on GSA.
That all said, every facility has their own budget. So, the hourly rate can differ because of that. We will always give you a complete breakdown of the numbers when we chat about specific jobs.
Here is a sample of what you could see in a pay package. Remember, this is not an actual pay package, but the total weekly pay is pretty similar to most we see across the country. It’s also good to note that there are other factors that could change this figure like the benefits you elect and reimbursements included on a paycheck. I will use basic round numbers to make it easy!
Hourly rate: $16/hr x 40 hours per week= $640.
Taxed at 25% would be $480.
Housing stipend: $658 per week
Food Stipend: $385 per week
$480 + $658 + $385= $1,523/wk after taxes