I am employed by a consulting firm that contracts me out to a company I work at daily. I am a full employee, benefits, 401(k), the works. The contract allows me to be hired directly by the daily employer without penalty after 6 months, and my daily employer is very keen to hire me on and stop paying a middle man.
This situation is new to me because I have never negotiated compensation where:
- I am already 6 months into the 'spin up' period of the job.
- My employer already knows my abilities and working style, and seems happy with me.
- There is no mystery accepting an offer. I know exactly what the job involves- great coworkers, interesting work, poor work life balance, poor opportunities for upward mobility or skill development.
- I know my employer is extremely short staffed, and desperate to keep what few employees they still have in this position.
- I am currently paid hourly, which is great because 48+ working hours per week are the norm. If hired, I would become salary (exempt).
- I would like to stay, but I am willing to walk away if an agreement can not be reached.
Considering how much I work, I would be asking for at least +20% to go to salary instead of hourly. Informal conversations have implied that a salary match (so a substantial pay cut) is all my manager is expecting to offer. Other perks (better work life balance, cross training opportunities) are not realistically going to be granted.
I am not asking for normal expectations for contract vs. full time employment compensation or how much to ask for or when to broach the subject. I am asking for techniques to appropriately negotiate a salary at the end of a contract to hire period, similar to this question but with understanding of the unique negotiating positions created by a contractor being hired on full time.