Answer: Here is Part 4 in a series of 5 blog posts with check lists to jog your memory about financial and non-financial benefits. This list identifies benefits earned due to your longevity with your employer that you will leave behind. Some have no monetary value but are highly desirable and should be included in negotiations for a new job.
Assuming there is a reasonable period of longevity at your current employer, you have amassed benefits that can’t be transferred. You will need to start again to replace those benefits.
- What are your vacation and medical benefits including time off and medical leave arrangements? Vacation days and medical leave (to care for children and elderly parents, for example) may have increased to a maximum of 5-weeks with extended care leave and personal days off, in addition to traditional holiday time off. Do you have a full week off during the Holiday season due to company practice? Or you may be able to take that time off due extra hours worked during the year.
- What is the value of the stock you own? Being fully vested in stock awarded over your history with the company, can mean you have a stock portfolio as well as stock you purchased at reduced prices. You will leave stock options on the table when you leave and it will take several years to be fully vested when you join your new employer, assuming they have an equivalent program.
- Flexible work schedule. When a working couple has children that attend a variety of afternoon activities, some organizations allow employees to leave work to drive children to those activities. The employees complete their workday later that evening working remotely and are available via phone while away from the office. This benefit occurs because a trust relationship has been established with the current employer that allows for this flexibility.
- Low risk, cultural fit and stability: With several years of working for one organization comes a degree of stability and expectation that if there are major changes, you will be adequately compensated with a reasonable package. The risk is minimal that there are issues with cultural fit after several years with one organization.