Is it possible to guarantee getting paid for a certain amount of time?

May 5, 2008 7:00 AM

How can I guarantee two years of pay at a certain rate?

I want my employer to pay give me a 150% raise and guarantee to pay me for two years. Let's say I'm in prime bargaining position for this to happen, if they can find it in the budget. What's the best way to guarantee getting paid (I want to have 5x my current salary at the end of two years)?

They could increase my salary, but I wouldn't want them to terminate my at-will employment when they felt they didn't want to pay me anymore. I don't need health benefits, so I could become a 1099 contractor, but I'd like to avoid having to hunt down money on a regular basis.

How can I make this happen?

posted by clearlynuts to work & money (5 comments total)

I would ask for 1000% of your current salary as an unrestricted retention bonus and negotiate to a lower number and some appropriate terms from there.

In my personal experience, though, employers often don't realize the primacy of a key employee's negotiating position and will react angrily to any such proposals. Be prepared to be let go on the spot.
posted by backupjesus at 7:22 AM on May 5, 2008

Full-time employees can have contracts of a set duration- this happens with newly-hired executives fairly often. It doesn't make you a 1099 contractor.
posted by mkultra at 7:28 AM on May 5, 2008

You can put it all in an employment contract. Have the contract set for a specific duration, and include a "just cause" provision (which gets you out of the "at will" framework). Any employment lawyer could help you negotiate with your employer.
posted by pardonyou? at 7:33 AM on May 5, 2008

Pardonyou? is correct. This is what contracts are for.
posted by Pants! at 8:26 AM on May 5, 2008

I want my employer to pay give me a 150% raise and guarantee to pay me for two years.

Are you an executive, or a "normal" employee? What line of work are you in? If you're not an executive, if you don't have a unique skillset, and if you work in a field where there are lots of people who do what you do (even if they're nowhere near as good as you), prepare to have this proposal laughed out the door faster than you can finish the sentence.

Unless your employer has a history of doing such binding contract-based employment (if they've done contracts for other people), don't expect they'll make an exception for you, no matter how good you are at your job.

I wouldn't want them to terminate my at-will employment when they felt they didn't want to pay me anymore.

And I'm reasonably sure your employer would prefer to reserve the right to do just that. If they do take you seriously, are you prepared to give them a guarantee that you will work at the same level once you sign this big fat contract that you do now? After all, if they've guaranteed to pay you for two years, your incentive to work as hard as you did up to this point is pretty much out the door (at least from their point of view); you'll have to bring something to the table that guarantees your performance in return for that guaranteed pay.
posted by pdb at 8:35 AM on May 5, 2008