Offered new job - negotiation

charlie_2015

Hello

I have been offered a job but I am in a bit of a pickle on a few points

- I advised the new company I am currently on a flexible working hours contract and would require the same in this role. They said they do not offer flexible hours officially, however, it wouldnt be a problem unofficially. If this isnt in my contact, they can turn around and dictate my hours . what should I do?

- 24/7 on call was advertised at 5k per year, however it appears this is not guaranteed/official so that leaves me 5k short. Should I negotiate a larger salary? (I have asked for the top end advertised already).

The company is very large and a well know global name.

Any help would be great.

sangie595

charlie_2015 wrote: »

Hello

I have been offered a job but I am in a bit of a pickle on a few points

- I advised the new company I am currently on a flexible working hours contract and would require the same in this role. They said they do not offer flexible hours officially, however, it wouldnt be a problem unofficially. If this isnt in my contact, they can turn around and dictate my hours . what should I do?

- 24/7 on call was advertised at 5k per year, however it appears this is not guaranteed/official so that leaves me 5k short. Should I negotiate a larger salary? (I have asked for the top end advertised already).

The company is very large and a well know global name.

Any help would be great.

You can ask for anything you want, provided you are prepared for them to say no if they don't want to give it you.

Personally, I'd be concerned that unless I am a really great catch, asking for lots of things will result in the offer being withdrawn. Is this really the job for you if the hours and the salary aren't what you want?

charlie_2015

I think i am in a pretty strong position to negotiate. People with my skills are few and far between around here.

Flexible hours in my role is pretty common and is important to me. If a global company do not officially offer this, what are the chances they will include it in my contract, can they make exceptions for certain people?

The salary I am less bothered about but i will still enquire about it.

sangie595

You can apply for flexible working. They can refuse on various grounds. Whether they will give it to you is their choice. Sorry, but it's impossible for us to say. You can only ask.

charlie_2015

Not sure what you mean by applying for flexible working? I have not accepted the job yet.

I suppose my question is it common for global companies to make exceptions to their standard policy/negotiate hours before I accept the job?

TELLIT01

The level of willingness to apply exceptions to their normal working rules is likely to be greatly influenced by the pool of workers with the required skillset. They will also consider the effect any exception deals may have on existing staff.
To allow one employee to have flexible working hours when this isn't available to any others may be more trouble than it's worth.

silvercar

They said they do not offer flexible hours officially, however, it wouldnt be a problem unofficially.

If they have said this, then they shouldn't have too much problem putting it in writing.

If they really want you and your skill set is relatively scarce, then they should be obliging. It is possibly a test of how genuine they are that they have said it is allowed unofficially.

charlie_2015

Just been thinking about this. What is the difference between having it in writing and them giving me their word? They could just change my contract anyway and Ill have less than 2 years?

I think they issue standard contracts to employees, if I was to have this specified in my contract it would not be the norm in the company.

Savvy_Sue

charlie_2015 wrote: »

Just been thinking about this. What is the difference between having it in writing and them giving me their word? They could just change my contract anyway and Ill have less than 2 years?

Yup. Or a new manager might start who says "there's nothing in writing about your flexible hours, not happening on my watch".

In short, if it matters that much, you need it in writing.

However, in this situation and depending on how much flexibility you're after, I would see if I could find out from your future colleagues what actually happens.

Personally, I'd hate to work somewhere with fixed hours, where I had to be there at 9 am and stay until 5 pm, but I could (just about) live without a formal flextime scheme which let me build up time for odd days off.

charlie_2015 wrote: »

I think they issue standard contracts to employees, if I was to have this specified in my contract it would not be the norm in the company.

And they may or may not be willing to make an exception for you.