Top 5 Tips when negotiating a Physiotherapy Salary.
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As Physiotherapists we often don’t think about negotiating our salary. If you work within the NHS the salary is generally decided for you based on years of service in the particular role. But that is not the case in every job. What if you are starting some extra private work in the evenings? Working for a sports team at the weekend? Or even moving your full time work into the private healthcare sector? This can seem daunting and a big challenge if you are not used to it so here are my Top 5 Tips for negotiating a Physiotherapy Salary.
“In my experience I have had a fair agreement when I have been brave, asked for what I wanted and gave clear reasoning for my price.”
My top 5 Tips when negotiating a Physiotherapy Salary:
1. What benefits do you bring to the role?
2. What are the employee benefits?
3. Ask your network.
4. What if the pay structure is a percentage of the client fee?
5. What if the pay structure is set at an hourly rate?
What benefits do you bring to the role?
Start by looking at the job specification and list all the qualities you have in relation to the essential and desirable criteria for the role. Highlight qualities that show your unique abilities which, allow you to serve a specific type of patient, see a diverse range of patients or meet a specific need of the practice/team that sets you apart. You can use these qualities as your evidence to justify the salary that you are requesting.
2. What are the employee benefits?
For some clinics employee benefits can include pension contributions, healthcare benefits, gym memberships, car/bike salary sacrifice, bonus payments for good performance, accommodation, travel and food paid for or subsidised.
You may need to take certain things into account for example, if travel is not an included benefit, are you expected to travel between clinics or sporting venues? If so you will want to factor this into your pay request.
Likewise if there are a lot of benefits that would save you from paying out of your own pocket, you may be happy to take a lower fee.
3. Ask your network.
The chances are if you are reading this you may not have anyone that you can ask or feel comfortable asking about their salary. In my experience, Physiotherapists are quite open about the money they make and someone who works locally to you is probably the best person to ask to understand the local market rate. There are also other sites such as Glassdoor or LinkedIn may be able to give you some insight.
4. What if the pay structure is a percentage of the client fee?
A lot of private clinics offer you a percentage of the appointment cost. The clinic will factor in their overheads such as building costs, light, heating, administrative salary, equipment etc into their offer.
When negotiating your percentage this is where it is important to know the value you are offering to the clinic. Depending on your experience, the location of the clinic and the type of clients you are seeing, you can expect anywhere between 40-50% usually.
An idea of where you should pitch yourself will depend on whether you are able to offer all of the services the clinic has to offer it’s customers. If you have some gaps, you could negotiate to increase your percentage once you have completed training. Perhaps you could negotiate a higher percentage fee for clients that you have brought to the clinic yourself or have attended by word of mouth from happy clients?
5. What if the pay structure is set at an hourly rate?
If the pay is set at an hourly rate or a fixed fee per patient it is important to negotiate at the start. For some clinics, the pay is fixed for employees regardless of experience to keep things simple and therefore there will be less room for manoeuvre. Which can make creating more income for yourself with the set number of clients you have challenging. This does however make it easier for you to calculate how much you will earn each month as client fees can vary greatly between different medico legal companies and self funded clients.
As you can see, there are a lot of factors to take into account when considering what pay you are willing to accept in return for your work. Ultimately if the job is the right fit for you and your employer values your work, your idea of pay will likely be very similar.
In my experience, I have had a fair agreement when I have been brave, asked for what I wanted and gave clear reasoning for my price. It can be scary to negotiate your salary but it is much better to have a few moments of feeling uncomfortable compared with years of feeling undervalued and underpaid all because you didn't ask.
If you are reading this post in preparation for an upcoming interview, make sure you read my post: 5 Tips for Physiotherapy Interview Preparation and download my FREE Physiotherapy Interview Checklist!
What jobs are you applying for? Has anyone been brave and negotiated their salary? Do you have any tips? Let me know in the comments below, I would love to hear from you.
About the Blogger:
Hi, I’m Rebekah.
I’m a Physiotherapist with a passion to support others to get to where they want to be. I love to organise and plan which, comes in handy for my mission to empower others to achieve their Physiotherapy career goals.
