How to Calculate Travel Pay as a Histotech or Pathologists’ Assistant
Nicklas Medical Staffing
The pathologists’ assistant owned staffing agency. For PAs and HT/HTLs only. Permanent placement and temporary staffing.
A travel role as a pathologists’ assistant or histotech opens up many exciting doors. Traveling the country is fun and rewarding on a personal level. But as with any job, you’ll also want a clear idea of your compensation on each given placement — and how it compares with other opportunities.
Some of the most common questions we hear from our travelers are: What goes into my total compensation for a travel placement? How is hourly pay calculated? How can I break out what I’m really making in hourly, per-contract, or annual terms?
Here are a few of the key elements to add up as you analyze the compensation package for your next travel opportunity:
Location, Location, Location
The area of the country where your placement is located has a huge impact on housing costs, and therefore on your housing allowance. Housing is more expensive on the East and West Coasts, for example, than in the South or Midwest regions. Your housing allowance will therefore be higher on a coastal placement or in other areas with high housing costs. Ultimately, this means your total compensation (and calculated hourly pay) will be higher in those areas, too!
Meal Costs
Your approach to dining can definitely impact your final compensation calculations. Thrifty grocery trips can make a provided meal budget last, but eating out for every meal can burn through it more quickly — leaving you with extra costs that would need to come out of your regular pay.?
For example, if you’re able to work 20 days per month with a meal allowance of $45 per day, you’d have $900 to work with for the month. That money may not be reflected in your base hourly pay rate, but it definitely has an impact on your effective hourly rate because it takes care of your grocery budget. If you’re able to contain your dining costs to your meal allowance limit, you can reserve your regular pay for other priorities!
Transportation Allowance
Temp or travel employees are often quite a distance from a permanent residence or vehicle that they own, and will need money to help with transportation. Whatever car allowance your agency supplies will also contribute to your total income and should be calculated into your estimated hourly rate for a placement.
Mileage or airfare estimates can also become relevant in certain circumstances — check with your agency!
Tax Implications
Did you know that all of the above allowances are tax-free? That means you are not paying taxes or having them deducted from the allowance, leaving you with the full amount to spend, or save, as needed. For example, if you were to receive $900 in meal allowances, you will not have to pay federal or state taxes on that amount. Receiving these allowances tax-free can make a big difference in your hourly and take-home pay!
Retirement Benefits
If your employer offers a 401k match program, this is, in essence, a free contribution towards your retirement savings and a part of the money you’re making at your placement. Be sure to calculate any matched contributions into your total compensation each month to find your true hourly pay rate.
Health, Dental, and Vision Benefits
Anything your employer contributes towards these critical benefits programs is also a portion of your compensation for the travel assignment. At Nicklas Medical Staffing, all of our temp and travel employees get health, dental, and vision from day 1. This is a valuable facet of your total pay as a travel pathologists’ assistant or histotech.
Check Out the Hourly Pay Estimator
These are only a few of the factors to consider when determining a final histotech or pathologists’ assistant salary. Your effective hourly pay rate starts with a contract length, a region, and a base hourly rate, and the total grows from there depending on your additional allowances and benefits. There may be potential for paid holidays, certain types of insurance coverage, and other contributing factors not mentioned above.
Check out this free temp/travel hourly pay estimator to plug in the math and get a clearer idea of where your total compensation might fall for your next travel placement!