RE: Hourly Rate & Per Diem??

["Kachurka, Brad M." <BMKachurka -at- West -dot- com>]

I know that this we are supposed to keep it clean on the messages but
agencies are glorified labor pimps. Agencies whether dealing with employers
or employees are only concerned with the bottom line (just like a pimp). By
the nature of the business they can't get "attached" to an employee because
the nature of the jobs or temporary. Some might argue that  If you think
that they are not concerned about the bottom line, ask them to show you the
bill rate they charge the company. 

Brad Kachurka	
Technical Writer



	-----Original Message-----
	From:	Anthony Markatos [SMTP:tonymar -at- hotmail -dot- com]
	Sent:	Thursday, March 16, 2000 9:14 AM
	To:	TECHWR-L
	Subject:	RE: Hourly Rate & Per Diem??

	Tony Markatos responds to Len Humbird's (below) comments that per
diem is 
	typically dollars above and beyond hourly pay:

	Thanks Len, this is valuable information.  If so (and I have no
reason to 
	doubt), then agencies have been trying to "snooker" me.  I have been
talking 
	with several agencies about remote contract positions.  To be
honest, all 
	have told me that per diem is a subtraction from posted (or
negotiated) 
	hourly rate - not separate dollars above and beyond the hourly pay.

	As you can well imagine, this is a significant chunk of change!

	Many agencies (W2) act surprised if I ask if the per diem is dollars
above 
	and beyond posted (or negotiated) hourly rate - like such is unheard
of.

	Any other experiences would be greatly appreciated.

	Tony Markatos
	(tonymar -at- hotmail -dot- com)


	Len Humbird (originally) said:


	You could make assumptions like these, but it's not how all
companies do 
	this. A per diem could be negotiated as completely unrelated to your

	paycheck rate or wage.

	I posted about this two years ago (check the archives for "per
diem"). With 
	one agency, They took the per diem out of my wages, to the tune of
about 
	$10/hr. I got a weekly "tax-free" per diem check as well as a
regular 
	(puny)paycheck. No receipts were involved. Some on the list thought
it was 
	absurd to consider that per diem was subtracted from the wage/rate.
Others 
	questioned the validity of the so-called non-taxable nature of that
per diem 
	check. (The per diem amount was not included in my annual wage
statement,
	thus reducing my taxable income.) Still others considered the per
diem
	amount that I quoted to be unreasonably low.

	This link is a little out of date, but it shows GSA per diem rates
for 1997. 
	Use it as a guide to what's reasonable and customary:
	
http://www.policyworks.gov/org/main/mt/homepage/mtt/perdiem/perd97.htm

	My best suggestion is that you check with a business tax accountant
to see 
	what's reasonable and customary, and what you can actually get away
with 
	that's legal.

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