My Hourly Wage, your opinion please 2

[Jaheel22]

I'm an IT professional on H1B visa working in a IT consulting company in Maryland as software engineer for past 5 years. My employer is charging client (where i work) $55.32/hour for my work. Then he gives me $29.78/Hour while he keeps $28.25/hour. In other words, he kinda keeps 50% and gives me 50%.

My question:

How much (in percent) employer should keep and how much employee should get so that it can be called a fair distribution ?

Please note my employer is sponsoring my green card and i'm getting healthcare (i pay $100 each pay period) through the company. I have 5 sick paid days plus 10 paid annual leave. That's all the benefits.

Thank you indeed.

 

[sleipnir214]

How much (in percent) employer should keep and how much employee should get so that it can be called a fair distribution ?

What do you mean, "fair distribution"? You are not a party to the contract between your employer and the client, so you don't even have a right to know that he charges them for your services, much less have any claim to the amount charged.


Typically, an employer has to charge clients twice what he pays employees, with the extra amount going to cover employment taxes, FICA, SSN, those paid holidays, the employer's part of health insurance, rent on office space, etc.

The only time there might be any tentative connection between what your employer charges for you and what he pays to you is if your employer routinely gets many times what he's paying you. Then when you next renegotiate salary, you can tell him that he is underpaying you. If you're such a cash cow to him, chances are he'll give you more.

But you do not have any right to any percentage of the amount he charges his clients.



Want the best answers? Ask the best questions! TANSTAAFL!

 

[mmorancbt]

sleipnir214 is 100%.

Charging double what you pay is certainly not exorbitant - particularly at the rate he has you billed out at.

It is his company, his reputation, his marketing, his relatinships, his office space, his billing system, etc. etc.

Just keeping the lights on and undertaking the risk of having someone work for you is worth incredible renumeration.

However, if your real question is more along the lines of how can you earn more? Then I can offer the following:

Create an income goal - not based on what he charges you but based on the value you believe you can bring an organization. In the context of a consultant, how much business can you generate.

If you can bring in new business, make other consultants more valuable, manage projects and client relationships - you are worth infinately more than what you personally bill. That is why consulting partners at a consulting company can earn great money!

Talk to your current employer and ask how you can transition into such a role. Find out how to build business and take a share of the business you develop.

Currently, it sounds like you are doing okay.

Matthew Moran (career blog and podcast below)
Career Advice with Attitude for the IT Pro

http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/pm/career

http://techcareerconsult.blogspot.com

 

[Stella740pl]

Besides what previous posters said, if he is sponsoring your green card, I don't think you will get much more money until you get it. If you are there for 5 years already, it shouldn't take much longer, I would guess. From what I've heard, it seems to be the common practice to get more for less from sponsored H1B workers. I don't know if and how much it costs your employer to sponsor you.

 

[LadySlinger]

I agree with what everyone has said here.

I'd almost say he's being pretty generous. Sponsoring a green card is not cheap.

Like what the others have said though, it's his company so he can charge what he wants to and keep whatever percentage he wants to. If you decide to get your own green card or receive your citizenship, you may be able to bargain a little bit more. However if you do this right now, he can easily drop your sponsorship too.

 

[58sniper]

I used to work for a huge IT staffing company as an internal IT engineer. I used to see what they were billing for people vs. what they were paying them. Be glad you get 50%. Seriously.

Pat Richard, MCSE(2) MCSA:Messaging, CNA(2)

 

[zbnet]

Agree. I get 20% of what I'm charged out at!

 

[bdbBear]

it's what you learned or should of learned the first week of Econ 101: Whatever the market will bear and whatever you can negotiate.