How Companies Approach Compensation and Benefits for Flexible Jobs

“Salary commensurate with experience.” “Competitive compensation and benefits package.” For job seekers, these phrases are used all too often, with little information to explain what exactly they might mean. To shed a little light on this job search mystery, we got the lowdown on how companies approach compensation and benefits for flexible jobs.

During a recent FlexJobs employer webinar, where job seekers get to interact directly with employers offering flexible jobs, one audience member asked about compensation and benefits.

What followed were detailed and thoughtful answers from representatives of FlexJobs Featured Employers—DVMelite, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Haynes & Company—that helped explain some of the confusion surrounding compensation and benefits for flexible jobs (view the full webinar here).

Here are some of the ways companies handle compensation and benefits with flexible jobs:

Salary: Do Flexible Jobs Pay Less?

Is there any difference in the salary and benefits packages for in-office jobs vs. flexible or remote positions? This is one of the most frequent questions we receive from job seekers—and with good reason. People want to know if they’ll be giving up pay in return for flexibility.

The short answer from these three companies is: no. There is no difference in the salary and benefits offered to someone who works from home as opposed to someone who works in an office for the same role. Each company was clear about that. So, if you work remotely, you’re not automatically going to be paid less than if you worked in the office.

Each company, however, had its own approach to choosing a salary for its jobs:

1. Compensation Based on Experience and Performance: PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Shannon Leigh, tax global delivery model, or GDM, and national practice talent acquisition leader, was very clear: “There’s absolutely no difference whether you’re in the office or remote.”

“Total compensation is based on the position as well as the performance,” Shannon says. In short, for PricewaterhouseCoopers, location has nothing to do with it. Roles are assigned salary and benefits packages based on the position itself, and the performance of the person who holds it.

2. Compensation Based on Geographic Job Markets: However, sometimes a person’s geographic location does factor into a company’s compensation and benefits packages. Elizabeth Haynes, founder and president of Haynes & Company, says the company does factor in the geographic market rate when determining salary and benefits. But because the entire company is remote, it has nothing to do with the fact that the positions are remote. It’s all about the geographic job market where the applicant lives.

“We really focus on comparing what we provide in terms of salary and benefits to ‘in-office jobs’ in the market,” Elizabeth says. For example, Elizabeth explained, Haynes & Company does not pay someone who is working from New York City the same rate it pays someone who is working in Oklahoma City because the going market rates for in-office jobs in those areas are completely different.

3. Compensation Based on the Role: For a third perspective, Sally Van Dyke, team builder manager at the fully remote company DVMelite, says, “We are 100 percent remote. We do pay, the position will pay one amount no matter where you live.”

As you can see, each company approaches this differently, which is important for job seekers to understand as they compare and choose from different remote and flexible job opportunities.

Benefits: Depend on the Role, Not the Job’s Flexibility

We asked each of the representatives from these companies to talk about the benefits and perks they offer with their flexible jobs.

One thing is clear: The types of benefits offered by each of these companies has nothing to do with whether the job is flexible.

The people they hire to work from home or have a flexible schedule are equally eligible for things like health coverage, vacation time, and 401(k) programs as their in-office coworkers.

Freelancers, these reps tell us, are generally on their own when it comes to benefits like health insurance, 401(k) plans, and other benefits. That’s standard practice across the many thousands of companies we’ve worked with because freelancers are independent contractors, which equates to being self-employed, and therefore self-reliant for benefits and compensation.

Additionally, companies often view work flexibility as a benefit in and of itself.

Says Haynes’ Elizabeth, “We try to provide a competitive benefits plan, but at the end of the day, if you’re a great fit for us, the number one benefit we offer is that you work from home. For most of the folks that join us, that is the core benefit they’re looking to check the box on.”

Haynes & Company also offers paid time off, paid holidays, a healthcare premium reimbursement plan, a 401(k) plan with an automatic match, and short- and long-term disability.

Unique benefits are something job seekers should consider, especially when working at remote companies, which tend to get really creative with them.

At DVMelite, Sally says it provides bonuses every quarter, and something called team bonuses that are paid in “shared experiences.” “If we reach a team or company goal, we’re all able to take part in a shared experience wherever we are, and do it wherever we are, and then share it at team meetings. Some of those have been rock climbing, indoor skydiving, manicures and pedicures, and hot stone massages,” she says.

How Job Seekers Can Figure Out Differing Compensation and Benefits

Sometimes in searching for jobs, it feels like there’s not really any rhyme or reason to how companies offer compensation and benefits. The reason for that feeling might be because each company typically has its own system for determining salary and benefits.

1. Salary range: As a job seeker, it’s up to you to know your general salary or pay range for the positions you’re seeking. Research those ranges on Salary.com or PayScale, which both allow you to research by location. That way you can compare the range in your locale to ranges in larger or smaller metro areas, and to the headquarters of a company (if it has an office) to get more of a complete range.

2. Freelance vs. Employee: Understand the difference between freelance jobs and employee jobs, so you’re not caught off-guard when applying to freelance or contract positions.

3. Benefits: Most companies discuss their benefits on their careers websites, and you can also use review sites such as Glassdoor to see how employees rate companies in areas such as work-life balance, benefits, and more.