>Here's the deal. I am currently working under a 1099 contract at $17.50 per hour (mostly off-site from my own office and I am told that I am grossly underpaid). Of course, I pay my own health insurance and FICA taxes too (Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!).
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>But the thing is, I love my job and my employer so much that the money doesn't matter to me. But the Mrs. has asked me to look for a new job or a new contract that offers health insurance benefits and W-2 status. I see her point, but...
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>So my plan is to find another full-time VFP position that offers benefits and W-2 status. Then, I will have two full-time jobs for awhile. I plan to keep my current contract going as long as I can and as long as it does not impact either job in terms of performance and productivity.
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>What I need is some guidance as to what hourly rate should I seek vs. benefits/no benefits and W-2/1099? Unless I go with a larger company, the benefits don't seem to be there. I am not sure I can handle two full-time positions, but my original flexible contract will allow me to work during off-hours and weekends. I would probably work 8-5 if I go and find a job locally here in the Tampa Bay area.
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>I've seen jobs on the Internet for VFP in the Tampa area that pay $15.00 - $20.00 per hour on average. So I don't believe my current rate is out of line for the area. I have talked to some local VFP programmers who say I should get $50.00/hour (which I would love, but I don't think that is realistic given my experience and knowledge of VFP). I have 2 years of VFP. But I do have 10 years of mainframe programming in COBOL, Fortran and Assembler for the record.
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>I don't look forward to leaving the comfort of my home office for the towers of downtown Tampa and the traffic, but you got to do what you got to do.
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>Thanks for your inputs. I might feel better after I sort this all out.

Steve,

Do not charge less than $50.00 per hour if you're a programmer worth your salt. I'd say a reasonable range is somewhere between $50 - $100 per hour depending on the area. $17.50 is unheard of and you should renegotiate that contract immediately.

-JT