First year pay (as of now) is 43/hr which made my small check about 1100.00. That's living in Florida with no state income tax and I selected the Bronze family EPO. It was the cheapest family plan, but in my area I found no problem locating good doctors for the kids. I was able to credit around 95-100 hrs per month and still manage at least 15 days off, all commutable. With that credit the larger check usually ran around 2700 - 2900.00. (It has the overtime & perdiem)
Second year goes up to 56/hr and makes the small check around 1575.00 and the larger around 3200 - 3500.00. Also the health insurance drops quite a bit after the first year.
If you live in Atlanta the lines are better as far as pay. With the late starts/early finishes on the commutable lines it seems harder to get the pay credit up higher. I think its a little easier to bump your credit up in base without giving up QOL.
I came from a six digit income, so I'm trying to make the loss less painful and so far my overall schedules haven't been so bad. You can have a great schedule and easily get 78 - 83 hrs, or utilize SAP I/II, the tradeboard, and opentime to increase those numbers and only lose a day or two.
Compared to my last job, the QOL here isn't so bad.
Hopefully some good improvements will come with the next contract.
It's all what you make of it anyway. We all knew what we were getting into with this industry, so in my opinion, go for the good schedule with less credit and start your own business with your days off. I'm about to start 3rd yr pay and that's what I plan on doing. Never know when this job might be gone. (Make sure you sign up for Mutual Aid! It's only 12 bucks for FO's)
Some other guys will have different stories. This is just my side. Hope it helps. Welcome aboard.
