r/sysadmin • u/ITNoob121 • 1d ago
Leaving company - $200/hr a reasonable post-departure rate?
I'm leaving my company. I was asked regarding the potential to do contract work following my departure. I really like my boss on a personal level and don't want to screw him over, but at the same time this company has had over a decade to build some redundancy into this role and they haven't.
I'm burnt out. I want to get out and be done. I really don't want the contract work, but I don't want to totally screw my coworkers either. Is $200 a good rate to set, not too insultingly high, if they need it they can pay it, but hopefully I won't be contacted all the time?
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u/society_victim 1d ago
Depends on what kind of exact role but always include that this is per started hour (or half hour) so you won’t get pushback like “this was just a 2 min call”
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u/wiisucks_91 1d ago
It's not just banging on the pipe, it's knowing what pipe to bang on.
You do a minimum of 1hr.
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u/VeryRealHuman23 1d ago
2hrs is standard MSP, at least it is for us. You have to account for the opportunity cost of not doing other work during that time and the mental shift of switching tasks.
So OP, make it know that it’s a 2hr min.
Also don’t get caught up in making $1k, the real pain for you will be doing taxes and all that overhead bullshit related to it, that is cost you should consider and include in your pricing.
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u/ACoolCanadianDude 1d ago
Around here it’s 1h minimum during business hours or 4h minimum outside of those. If travelling is required, timer starts when the call is done and ends when the MSP’s tech pulls back at MSP’s offices.
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u/Corgilicious 23h ago
And for goodness sakes, get all the details in writing. Do not do this on a handshake in words.
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u/VeryRealHuman23 22h ago
Yep, and document, and invoice...it's a lot more than agreeing to just a price, you become a vendor which is why the price is higher, that all takes time.
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u/kuahara Infrastructure & Operations Admin 10h ago
I've been doing 2hr minimums for 20+ years. I'm also not looking for work, though, so I have the luxury of not giving a crap who I scare off.
Back when all those personality quizzes were all the rage during job applications, I did the first 2-3 before realizing what direction the industry was going with that. This was data collection and they were using me for free. I started quoting HR departments my hourly rate with a 2 hour minimum to complete those things. It made all those worthless places take me off their callback list.
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u/locke577 Sr. Sysadmin 21h ago
You guys are getting 2hr minimums? I'm only getting 15 minute minimums or 1 hr minimums on onsite
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u/VeryRealHuman23 19h ago
Depends on the client and our contract...but our base contract for on-call availability is a 2hr min for project work/emergency.
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u/society_victim 1d ago
That’s what we do too, but a focus shift of 2 hours seems steep. One hour is minimum tho
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u/VeryRealHuman23 1d ago
I was thinking for OP, without know what he is doing next, if the company asks him to jump on a 10am call, then he has to plan to be home and can't do something else that morning.
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u/TechMonkey13 Linux Admin 16h ago edited 16m ago
This reminds me of when I had to do this lol
During the economy collapse around 2010, I was let go from a company as the main IT admin and leaving it in the hands of the owner.
I get a call from the HR manager about 3 weeks later needing help with a specialty system they had and that the owner couldn't figure it out.
I told them I I'm was happy to help but as I was unemployed I'd be charging my consultant rate of $250/hr with a 2 hour minimum. We went back and forth with them offering something like $100 total but I was like nah and didn't budge.
Another week goes by and they finally agree to my rate since they were dead in the water. I walked in with a contact for them to sign. I then walked over to the server room, and spent about 5 minutes logging in, finding the issue, and fixing it for the time being (it was finicky software and bound to break again soon).
They were absolutely livid that it only took 5 minutes. They did not want to pay for the full 2 hours, but I reminded them of the contact they just signed and with the threat of being sued if they don't pay and then never receiving help from me when it inevitably breaks again.
They called one other time after that.
All that too say know your worth. Charge them what you want.
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u/mautobu Sysadmin 1d ago
Fuck it, minimim 4 hours.
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u/SystemHateministrate 1d ago
Fuck it. Minimum of 2080 hours plus PTO, insurance, 401k, and regular reviews for merit increases.
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u/RootCipherx0r 1d ago
Loved this "It's not just banging on the pipe, it's knowing what pipe to bang on"
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u/Tymanthius Chief Breaker of Fixed Things 1d ago
I'm burnt out. I want to get out and be done. I really don't want the contract work,
Then you set your rate to make you happy to do the work.
YOU didn't screw over your coworkers. Your company did. Don't take responsibility for things that aren't yours.
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u/jauntyk 11h ago
This
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u/Corgilicious 8h ago
Agreed. This is something I had to work through recently as I left a position of 20 years to go somewhere else.
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u/0verstim FFRDC 1d ago
The hourly rate is one thing but dont forget you also need to set stipulations. travel time, 30 minute minimum for instance so they dont reach out with every little question. And set an SLA for your response time or theyre going to think you still work for them and theyll yell at you when you dont answer an email within 90 minutes.
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u/jotobean 1d ago
You need to make it high enough that if they actually do want to contract with you it's worth it. As much as you don't want to work for them, making an absurd amount as a contractor is kinda nice. I did it with my former employer, helped that my golf league partner was the one cutting the checks in finance. He would make sure my check was top of the list to go out every payday.
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u/stacksmasher 1d ago
You would be shocked how much IT contract houses charge. $250-$400hr is not uncommon depending on location and responsibilities.
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u/Stonewalled9999 1d ago
I used bill a non profit I work with 125 an hour. They started not wanting to pay that so I told them the other clients I have are paying 145-225 an hour. They cut ties and found the local yokel charges 125/hour for helpdesk and 350/for engineer level. TBH I don't miss that client either.
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u/stacksmasher 1d ago
I used to get mad. Then I just started telling them "Call me when you need help" because eventually they will call.
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u/doubled112 Sr. Sysadmin 1d ago edited 1d ago
Early in my career, the MSP I was working at was paying me $13/hr and charging clients $100/hr or more. This made me realize that you could charge a lot, even for people who don't know a lot, really early on. It was a small MSP too.
Surprise, the guy managing your Exchange server is making literal pennies more than the guy flipping your burger at McDonald's down the street.
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u/fnordhole 11h ago
Twenty years ago, I was gettjng paid $80 an hour and being billed at $160 an hour for local workstation and LAN support for one client. It came in drips, so it wasn't a living. Sounded great at first, but the client was a hassle.
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u/urM0m69p3nis 1d ago
Yep, my planned rate for OP's case is $400/hour based on how much we are charging people for me now, lol.
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u/Mushroom5940 1d ago
If you don’t want to be contacted all the time, you’ll need to set a rate that forces the company to think before calling. Is 200/hour high? That depends on the company. I’ve worked with some that would never pay anyone 200/hour. I’ve also worked with one where blowing 50k to “try” a product was common.
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u/scottbca 18h ago
1 hour minimum. Then 30min increments after. Double time for after hours.
Charge enough that it makes you uncomfortable.
When leaving a firm that could not give you the growth or support I would charge them enough that they would have no profit margin on my work. That way you know they called you because they needed you and not because they have extra work.
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u/ThePerfectLine 8h ago
I would do 4 hour minimum per incident. Then they know it’s $800 every time they need to call you.
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u/ProfessionalEven296 Jack of All Trades 1d ago
Don’t give an FU price unless you’re prepared for them to say Yes.
$200/hr is low. I’d be around $250+, with a minimum contract of 4hrs. $1000 for you, even if it’s as simple as rebooting a server. Still a bargain for them, because the problem will be causing them more issues.
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u/FlandoCalrissian 21h ago
Go higher. $200 is an amazing rate as a W2 employee where they pay your taxes and benefits and you're getting paid 2080 hours annually.
In this case I'd guess you'll be lucky to get 10-20 hours total in a year
Are you going to form an LLC? Do you need liability insurance? Register with the state? Invoicing? Self employment taxes.
What a pain. Is all of that worth $2k-$4k in a year if you're lucky?
$400 minimum with each call chargeable for a minimum of 2 hours.
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u/overdosingOnPie1313 1d ago
Higher, mate. Remember that you're going to have to figure that shit out and deduct from your taxes. Plus, it'll be work ON TOP of your new employment. I understand not wanting to hurt your coworkers but you need to prioritise your well-being first and second, because that company obviously won't if they burned you out.
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u/kernelqzor 14h ago
this, plus make it a minimum block like 3–4 hours per call so they don’t ping you for a 10 minute “quick question” every other day. if they really need you, they’ll pay, and if they don’t, you get the clean break you clearly need.
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u/IMplodeMeGrr 1d ago
Do a Salary > Hourly conversion, then x2.5. Thats your base charge rate in a like-for-like contractor position. Enjoy.
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u/delightfulsorrow 1d ago
I'm burnt out. I want to get out and be done. I really don't want the contract work,
Then don't do it. Politely decline.
but I don't want to totally screw my coworkers either.
It's the company who screwed them by not building up redundancy. Don't make that your fault or your problem, you are already burned out.
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u/Achsin Database Admin 1d ago
I did $120 at my last place, but that was long enough ago that I’d probably bump it up to $200 now.
Well, they let me keep my wfh equipment and gave me a relatively new re-imaged machine in exchange for eight hours of time up front, with $120/hr after that. I mostly answered questions for those 8 hours, then nothing for ~6 months and then they gave me $480 to help with one big upgrade.
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u/skunk-beard 1d ago
Who gives a fuck what they think you are the price at what you’re trying to accomplish. If you don’t want to be called set the price higher if you want to be doing more set it lower. But def set a minimum and include phone calls in there with it. But 200 for consulting is a good rate. Make sure you get a contract in place too
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u/nospamkhanman 1d ago
If you really don't want the work, give them a "fuck you quote". This is common among tradespeople that do not actually want the job they're asked to bid for.
So take what you think is reasonable, times it by 4. So if you think $200 is reasonable (it's cheap TBH) then tell them $800/hr.
That will make it so they don't ever contact you.
If you want them to contact you only during a real emergency, just give them a double quote. So tell them 400-500 an hour.
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u/Archer007 20h ago
Just do full lawyer price for consultant fuck you rates. 2000/hr. If anyone ever bites you'll make bank
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u/unstopablex15 Sr. Network Engineer 20h ago
That's a very fair price, especially if it's a bigger company
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u/AerialSnack 1d ago edited 1d ago
What I usually do is charge 2x what I was making, with a minimum of one hour.
So if I was making $100k, I'd charge $100 rounding up an hour with a minimum $100 charge per task. So if they ask me to do something that takes ten minutes, it costs $100. If it takes 70 minutes, $200.
This should be a bit more expensive for them than it was to hire me, and I make good money off of it.
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u/picardo85 1d ago
Here in the Netherlands its around like 3x. I am paid ~80k and if I bill full time that's around 300k to customer. (I'm a consultant at architect level)
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u/Centimane probably a system architect? 1d ago
I'm burnt out. I want to get out and be done. I really don't want the contract work
Then there is no amount. Just tell them no.
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u/uptimefordays DevOps 1d ago
Do not contract for less than 3x your desired pay. As a contractor you have to withhold your own taxes and provide your own benefits.
If you decide to go the contracting route, work with a lawyer on writing a good contract. Finding an accountant isn’t a bad idea either.
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u/GardenWeasel67 1d ago
Do you know what HR calculated your total compensation was? (not just salary)
If you are self-employed you have to consider you must tax yourself twice, and also cover for any pre-tax benefits you received while employed. Medical, retirement, etc (if you still need them)
Definitely don't come back at the same salary because you are basically working for half scale. HR will be thrilled, but you are screwing yourself.
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u/empT3 1d ago
About 10 years ago the standard consulting rate was ~200/hr for specialists (think vendor or market knowledge not generally hireable).
General contracting was around $80/HR but was typically reserved for steady work that still wasn't direct hire.
When I consulted, I'd charge out that $200/hr in 40/hr blocks to be used in 4hr blocks that expired within 3 months. SLA was either scheduled or best effort/first come, first served.
That means that you'd pay me $10k up front and if you call me with a stupid question that took me 2 seconds to answer you just burned 4hrs so make sure it's worth my time (to you, I don't care either way). It also means that if I've got another client that's on fire, I'll do my best and probably sub-contract a solution but you're not my only client. Finally, it meant that you can't keep that time banked for the next decade, I can't have old contracts eating my availability indefinitely and eating away at my capacity to gain new clients.
Why so expensive? Well if you can find someone cheaper who will do the same thing with the same quality... This isn't an employee situation anymore, you're engaging with a business that has its own overhead and will pay b2b prices. If that's too expensive long term, hire somebody and bring me in for a week to train them, that's your best value.
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u/ethnicman1971 1d ago
$200/hr for a contract is not much. we hired a contractor 15 years ago and the junior engineer was billed at $250/hr the senior engineer was $400. Again that was 15 years ago.
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u/thatstickyfeeling 1d ago
200/hr is low for tech consultants. My freelance rate is 350-400 depending on client.
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u/vermyx Jack of All Trades 23h ago
"I will support you at $200/hr for the first 3 months, then 300/hr for months 4-6, then 600/hr after month 6"
Give them an incentive to fill the role but at the same time value your time and sanity. I get where you are coming from but at the same if you don't set a firm boundary (or charge them something that keeps getting more expensive) they WILL just use you as a MSP type deal.
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u/TheTipsyTurkeys 22h ago
if you dont want to do the contract work, just don't. say no. its literally that easy
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u/MissiveFinding6111 8h ago
Give it a sunset period.
After 3 months it jumps to $400/hr.
After 6 months you block their number.
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u/llDemonll 1d ago
You need to form your own company and get insurance and such if you’re going to contract. You’re also then obligated to file all this additional stuff for taxes and your take-home from that contracting money will be much less than what you’re actually paid.
In addition to the high hourly (should be $250 at least) I’d be asking for the bucket of hours to be paid upfront, last for a specific time (like 4 weeks) and unused hours are non-refundable.
Screwing your coworkers isn’t your problem, don’t feel like you have to bail them out.
Unless you’re expecting a substantial amount of work from this it’s probably not worth the effort. Just cut ties.
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u/JustThen 1d ago
This needs to be higher up. You want to protect yourself from legal issues prior to doing contract work. You should contact a contract lawyer in your area if you are serious about this to get advice on how to protect yourself.
I would hate to be doing my coworkers a solid and have a vindictive company come after me and my assets for some BS thing that happened while contracting.
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u/BoltActionRifleman 22h ago
“if they need it, they can pay it”
If you don’t need it, make them pay. You’ve decided dealing with this place isn’t healthy, make the money they’re willing to pay you a “healthy” sum.
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u/Opposite_Bag_7434 16h ago
Lots of interesting opinions here.
OP it’s got to be high enough that they won’t just run to you any time they need something but not so high that they say no way (unless this is what you want from them).
The timeframe will be important too. Some have suggested 30 min minimum, this is asking to be bothered a lot and not really worth the interruption. 1 hour is a pretty common minimum, 2 hours if you really only want the bigger stuff brought to you.
So I’ve been in this situation a couple of times. Both times the amount was 10x what they had been paying me. The first one was way distressed over this but ended up hiring me for another 10-20 hours. The second one called every once in a while for the first year or so, the last time was at about 20 months post exit.
I’ve also had something similar when a large international company badly needed my very unique experience. I was working my dream job and did not want to be bothered. So I told them I would do it for $750k for the year, minimum 1 year. The position was remote so they would cover travel, housing, ground transportation, etc. I wanted them to bugger off, they came back and said yes. I was able to take a leave from the new position, got the job done in about 4 months and then was back to my regularly scheduled job. The point is that you have to set the price where you know you can tolerate being pulled away from what you would otherwise be doing for that much. I thought I was causing enough pain to get them to go away; but discovered they were in so much pain without the guidance I was able to give that they would have paid whatever I asked for.
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u/Obvious-Water569 IT Manager 9h ago
You're not screwing your co-workers over by not coming back, the company is screwing them over.
If you don't want to do the work, don't do it.
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u/Valdaraak 1d ago
I'm gonna be honest with you. $2000/hr (I didn't add an extra zero) might be enough to get me to think about doing contract work for an ex-employer. I value my free time too much.
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u/iwinsallthethings 1d ago
If they are desperate, ask them to put you part time. Then set your hourly rate to 200/hr. This avoids you needing insurance and taxes. You can then just work and get paid with regular payroll.
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u/981flacht6 1d ago
You don't want to screw over your coworkers but you're burnt out ..don't ever look back.
Don't offer any rates or a contract. This isn't your problem to solve.
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u/ScriptoTheClown 1d ago
If they resell your labor, what do they get for it? Or, if they hire contractors at your level now, what are they willing to pay? That should give you a good guide for rates.
I left an MSP a few years back, and I charged them their hourly rate ($125) if they needed me to help them unscrew something. I got about 15 hours out of them over a couple of months until my replacement got up to speed. It let them pass on 100% of my rate to the customer and kept them from looking bad for not having answers.
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u/vppencilsharpening 1d ago
I wouldn't bring it up until they ask. There is a chance they will move on and be fine.
If they do reach out or have already reached out and you like your boss, talk it through with them.
Say hey, I'm burnt out and the company chose to accept the risk that I might leave one day. I'd rather not continue supporting the company, but if it will be catastrophic for the business, I need my rate to be $200/hour with a 1-hour minimum, 30-minute billing increments and no SLA guarantee. This will hopefully be enough for the business to be motivated to remediate the gap in coverage they allowed while also allowing me to benefit from the continued stress of a position I have left until replacements can be found.
If they suggest your old rate or a number close to your old rate, you have two options. 1: Hard No and decline as unable to make it mutually beneficial OR 2: Ask for unreasonable (to them) things like 100% of healthcare coverage for 30-days at a time, continued 401k match as a monthly bonus and accruing of hours that will be used to pay you while you go on vacation. I recommend the former because they won't get that the latter is an unreasonable ask on both sides.
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u/breagerey 1d ago
If you really don't want to do the contract work tell them that rather than trying to dissuade them with a high hourly.
Assume they do hire you to contract work at whatever high rate you've set.
They're going to be expecting a lot from you while you're doing something you don't want to do.
Recipe for somebody being unhappy.
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u/NirvanaFan01234 1d ago
Depends on if you actually want the work. Your coworkers should be understanding that you leaving isn't personal. If they do take it personal, that's on them. You can't fault the person leaving for the company not preparing.
Only you can determine if you want to do the work or if $200 is reasonable. I did $250/hr at a previous job and got called back for a couple hours work. I've done $100 and never got called back. I told another place I wouldn't contract after. If I were to leave my current job, I'd probably do $300. I like them and wouldn't actually mind the work. Want to pay me good money for a few hours when I'm sitting at home drinking a beer? Sounds good to me.
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u/SchizoidRainbow 1d ago
Don't worry about your boss nor your coworkers. It's not their money, it's the shareholders money, and fuck those lazy bastards who don't want to work anymore. How are you 'screwing your coworkers'? No, you're not slaving for their boss anymore. Their boss will respond by trying to make them do your job for free, as you've likely done others jobs for free. This is not you screwing your coworkers, you're just standing there doing not one thing. It's the owners screwing you all. You're so swept up in the corporate haze that you feel guilty about asking them for the money they totally should have given you all along, and instead just pocketed.
Make it a $10,000 retainer for $500/hr services, 1 hr minimum, plus expenses and travel. This isn't even absurd, this is what most contractors would charge them, and then pay the minion they send in $30/hr.
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u/mdervin 1d ago
I think you need a better scope of "contract work." and what's the realistic chance of it happening.
If it's real work and you don't want to do it, just tell him you need to focus your energies at the new job for several months, but he can always reach out for quick non-time sensitive questions. If it can be answered in an email the next day, it's free. If it's a bit more complicated or time sensitive, it's $100 for the first hour $200 for each subsequent hour.
There was a girl in Accounting, who everything seemed normal, she eventually left the company, everybody thought it was on good terms. But she had her phone tied to one of our accounts with a foreign tax agency. We reached out to her asking to set up a ten-minute call to get the code, she wanted $1,000 for it. We were willing to pay $50~$100, not only did she get nothing, but she lost the CFO and her manager as future references.
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u/progenyofeniac Windows/M365 Admin 1d ago
I offered contract work at my last departure, the job was excited about the deal and offered $85/hr. I said I was looking for at least $135/hr. They said “no thanks” and never contracted with me.
So OP, if you’re fine with not doing any work for them, feel free to offer something high.
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u/BigBobFro 1d ago
Whatever your W2 rate is,.. triple it. And more if theyre being nasty about your leaving.
Double it if you really want to give them a discount.
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u/This_Bitch_Overhere I am a highly trained monkey! 1d ago
I would put a minimum number of hours in that as well...
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u/caffeine-junkie cappuccino for my bunghole 1d ago
Really depends on what you were making before. Also don't forget to factor in insurance costs and taxes; dont want it to bite you in the ass come tax time or if there is an outage you caused and they start coming looking for damages.
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u/derfmcdoogal 1d ago
When I left the company I worked at for decades I was one of maybe 3 people in the entire state that had deep enough knowledge of that ERP system in order to make customizations, reports, etc not to mention knowledge of their industry and needs.
My charge was $200/hr min 1hr.
I feasted on that bird for as long as they would have me. Then they got bought by a huge conglomerate that put in SAP and now they are all crying to me how much it SUCKS and they get zero support.
:shrug;
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u/Hebrewhammer8d8 1d ago
Not your problem anymore. You like your boss on personal level to shoot the shit. Once money is involve and you are burned out not a good mix to do contract work. You have to setup stipulations and enforce stipulations, because they will be habitual line stepper. Saw this happen few years ago, where the guy was burned out and decided to quit recharge. A disaster happen and they call him to help them get out of jam. He like the people there, and decided to help doing contract work charge 300/hrs. He got them out of jam, but they stiff him on the payment arguing this and that. It reminded him why he quit they are great sales people in getting good deals and they are using those tactics on him.
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u/DanishLurker 1d ago
300$ hour/4 hour minimum billed if it is not urgent, billed pr 4 hours, up front. 400$ hour/8 hours minimum if it is urgent, billed pr day, upfront. All work on site or remote depending on your preference. How to deduce if it's urgent? You can only book non urgent agreements say one week or two weeks in the future. Those are just suggestions.
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u/NEWREGARD 1d ago
Depends on the scope and how quickly they expect the fixes to come.
I provide 48 hour turnaround for most things- and they hate paying $100/hour.
Really, no matter how much you charge for the work they’ll likely never be happy they’re paying you at all.
Do as much as you can to prove your value, if you even need to. $200/hour isn’t crazy at all.
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u/YisitAlwaysDNS 1d ago
I usually, leave on good terms, tell my boss call me if you have a question happy to talk to you, anyone sorry you get the oh shit rate 1 hr min
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u/Natural-Nectarine-56 Sr. Sysadmin 1d ago
Depending on where you live, that’s the minimum I’d charge. You need contracts, min hours. What if something goes wrong?
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u/jeffrey_f 1d ago
$150/Hour, 4 hour minimum or $1K/day flat up to 9 hours. After 9 hours, you rate is $150/hr in 4 hour blocks after 9 hours. Your blocks are adjustable, maybe 2 or 3 hour blocks.
They are paying for your experience and familiarity with it all.
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u/cubicthe 1d ago
I would charge at least $500/hr. The reason being that your knowledge and context is superior to anyone else they would hire (who would charge hours to get up to speed) and functionally that's what they would be paying a lawyer to just swoop in about a problem that suddenly happened. When you pay that much for an attorney, you figure out that their time is worth it and you unblock them to make sure you get your money's worth and not give them inane questions or various chatter - you get your shit together and you absorb every word they say
Plus if they did not add role redundancy that high of a charge is making sure they know it costs them to do that, If they say "wow, that's too high" they are still in need of learning that lesson. Your boss might be on your side and respect the high number, and can't wait to tell his boss
Bill in 6-minute increments if you really want to see them adapt
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u/quazywabbit 1d ago
If you don't mind them calling you then $200 is fine. if you don't want to then set it to $500. At $500 they will try to do everything in there power to figure it out first.
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u/Jolape 1d ago
I'm going to tell you the same thing I told myself and my buddy when we quit last year. You aren't screwing your coworkers and teammates over.... The company is, and has been. The company/management is at fault for under staffing over longer periods of time. You didn't create the situation, and you need to look out for your health.
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u/thisadviceisworthles 1d ago
For a contract without defined minimums and deliverables, I would price at minimum 3x my expected W2 rate, with stipulations for travel, call minimums and on site minimums.
With an acceptable retainer and input on changes and manageability, I would be willing go lower.
There is a reason that, in spite of competition and low barriers to entry, MSPs charge so much.
(All of this is assuming I actually want the work, if I don't want the work then I will add a "don't call me unless its worth my while" premium.)
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u/SoftSad9896 1d ago
It depends on the market and the level of expertise. I charge a minimum of 2 hours excluding travel time. For me is for entertainment since I have a very large passive tax free income and large rent income. So usually are very long client relationships
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u/Gloomy-Dog-5242 1d ago
If your really up for the contracting gig, consider something like this. Figure out what your salary converted to hour is (i.e. $125k yearly, that is around $60 an hour), once you have your number figure out your multiple (lets say triple, so $60 * 3 = $180 hour). Now establish minimums for engagement. If on site: Portal to portal hours, rounded up, minimum 4 hours. If remote, minimum 2 hours, after hours, minimum 4 hours, weekends minimum 6 hours. You get the idea. If they want a discount have them prepay 40 hours blocks, then negotiate SLAs to when you can start a session. If they want you on call, cool 4 hours minimum regardless if they call or not. See lots of options here if you really want to work a deal out with them.
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u/MetalEnthusiast83 1d ago
If you're quitting because you're burnt out and don't ant to work there anymore, simply tell them you don't want to contract?
I've never offered to contract at a place after leaving and have sorta laughed when anyone asked me if I would
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u/SamakFi88 1d ago
I'd say $450 baseline. That's not insulting, that's where you should likely pin your starting point. Add that you don't really want to be doing it since you want a clean break; now it's $550. Stuff they should've handled over the past decade. Now it's $650. Above that might be insulting, but at least then it's worth your time.
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u/TheAlmightyZach Sysadmin 1d ago
$200 / Hour has so many factors it’s hard to say without knowing where you live, the role, or the company.. when I left my former company, I contracted at 1.5X what my hourly equivalent of my salary would’ve been. It felt like a comfortable “call me if you need, but not all the time.” Kind of thing.
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u/ncc74656m IT SysAdManager Technician 1d ago
It really depends. As you said, you like them. If you thought this might be a one time short call about something that didn't get handed off and you wanna do them a favor, whatever, up to you. I answered one question from an old boss once, he said thanks and invited me over to a bbq (never went - way too far to travel).
If you really don't want them calling, let them know if it's a knowledge xfer thing, you can do it for X rate, but for ongoing support issues/extensive work, it's going to be a day rate of whatever you set that's more substantial. Even feel free to pull out the Janine Melnitz: "All I do know is that I've been working two weeks without a break and you promised me you'd hire more help." Let them know that they left you in the position to get burnt out and you really don't want to do this anymore.
When I leave a job and I don't want them contacting me but they've asked, I let them know my rate is hourly at some insultingly high rate, minimum two hours, any part of an hour is another full hour. If they need me that badly, I'm giddy to take their money at that rate.
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u/TexasVulvaAficionado 1d ago
If you are in the US, don't really want to do the work, but are open to it for a decent paycheck... I'd go $500/hr with a 2 hour minimum per day, payment due same day.
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u/AdequateSteve IT duct tape 1d ago
Add in a retainer! That way if they don't use any hours, you still get paid. If they DO use the hours, then they just take it out of your retainer fee before you start billing them. If they go over, then you bill them hourly.
This is what I did for my old job. They've been sending me 2500 bucks a month for the last 4 years. I do about 10 hours of work per year for them.
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u/Pristine_Curve 1d ago
The rate is probably fine. It should be high enough that you are happy when they call you. Obviously there are a ton of variables unstated, that only you know. If this is desktop support for a call center in Missouri, it's too high. If it's SRE work in California it's low.
For this scenario I charge daily rates rather than hourly. I don't want a bunch of 15min calls where they want to haggle over every minute of time. only to pay me $50. Or acting really cheap by giving me a list of questions in advance of the call "to be discussed during the call" Then the only want to pay for the 30min call and not the 5hrs of prep time and research to be able to provide good answers during the call.
If you want me to work for you, pay for the entire day. I'll schedule the time. I'll get a lot more accomplished in one full day than a week of touch-and-go calls, and invoicing/payment is much easier.
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u/lordjedi 1d ago
If you don't want to be contacted, the rate needs to be higher. At least double. $200 seems reasonable.
Your coworkers are going to be screwed either way. I'd tell them $1000 per hour, double on the weekends.
They won't call at those rates and you don't want the call anyway.
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u/Superb_Raccoon 23h ago
Double whatever your hourly pay was. You have to pay all the taxes, etc on what you earn... and at your highest withholding rate.
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u/1stPeter3-15 IT Manager 22h ago
Depending on the specific work, that’s about the rate i would pay for a mid-level contract engineer. Seattle area.
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u/DeliveryRemarkable 21h ago
You could also structure it as a small managed-service agreement instead of straight hourly. Something like $70/month per user/PC for basic “keep the lights on” support, $150/month per server/VM, plus a one-time onboarding/documentation fee. Then anything project-based or after-hours gets billed separately. Might be a cleaner way to keep helping them without basically staying on as an employee.
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u/BarracudaDefiant4702 21h ago
As a general rule 2x your hourly rate when full time. If you don't want to be contacted then 4x and if you want to be extra nice then 1.5x (or even free from a limited number of emails/dms). If you were in the $150k-$250k/year range then I think $200/hour is reasonable.
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u/DismalFact124 21h ago
Sorry, but did your boss actually know that he was your boss? Doesn’t seem so
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u/UrgentSiesta 20h ago
At least 2x your salary divided by 1900-ish.
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u/slayermcb Director of Technology, Sys Admin, Etc, Etc... 18h ago
Oof... I dont like how low that number is. Does that work if you're grossly underpaid but you're still working there for amazing benefits?
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u/UrgentSiesta 17h ago
$150 is a very safe number.
$200+ would be if you had super specialized knowledge of financial or Econ systems, etc.
Just my 2 cts.
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u/slayermcb Director of Technology, Sys Admin, Etc, Etc... 11h ago
Your 2 cents is welcomed. I appreciate every penny.
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u/Geminii27 18h ago
A reasonable rate is 5% above what it would cost them to get the same result (to the same quality) from an MSP or other professional service provider.
Y'know, given your first-hand experience with the relevant infrastructure and internal processes, and all.
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u/Naive_Competition861 17h ago
$200/hour is totally reasonable. It's high enough that they'll think twice before calling you for every little thing, but not so crazy that it feels like a middle finger.
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u/extreme4all 11h ago
Depends really on where in the world you live, and even region.
Don't forget that if you offer contracting work alot of legal contracting, tax stuf needs to be in order...
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u/Substantial_Tough289 9h ago
I you're done with the company $200/hr should be high enough for them to say thanks but no thanks and if they agree you make some cash on the side. Make sure that they know that you'll charge at least 1hr per call regardless of how short the call is.
But if you're really done with them just don't do anything and go your merry way.
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u/phillymjs 4h ago
Divide your current salary at that place by 2000 to get the effective FTE hourly rate and double or triple it for your consultant rate.
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u/Zxerion 1m ago
I’ve typically said minimum four hours, but that’s because the work I did was very specific and if I was called in it generally takes at least an hour to bring someone up to speed, since they obviously didn’t listen the first time when I was leaving.
I do sell them a block, however, so if we use two hours, then they have two hours left. This also has to be used in hour blocks.
I’ve gotten a couple call backs, but not a lot. I generally want zero, but also same boat that don’t want to be an ass to the team that I like.
I currently charge $250 / hour.
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u/C0mput3rMan 1d ago
I think that is reasonable. You get to decide the rate and they get to decide if your time is worth the price depending on the issues they are having. If they try to negotiate, just tell them this is the price for my services and if they are not comfortable paying that then they will need to source the work elsewhere. You hold all the cards in this.
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u/sixblazingshotguns 1d ago
Too high. I'd tell you to pound sand at that price.
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u/Lost_Balloon_ 1d ago
So you've never hired an IT consultant. Got it.
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u/sixblazingshotguns 1d ago edited 1d ago
I've had lots of people hire me (an IT consultant). I don't gouge them.
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u/Lost_Balloon_ 1d ago
Then you're undercharging.
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u/sixblazingshotguns 1d ago
No, I'm not gouging the customer. Huge difference. The buffoons telling him to charge $200-400 an hour here are part of the problem in the industry. That is, unless they are promoting the use of an "FU" unserious price.
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u/society_victim 1d ago
If a problem is important enough to call a someone after they left, it’s clearly worth 200 or more per hour.
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u/Lost_Balloon_ 1d ago
Business isn't charity. There are going rates in the industry and expertise is worth it. My standard rate is $225/hr for freelance and I adjust as needed.
Not sure what you consult on, but sounds like you're shorting yourself.
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u/sixblazingshotguns 1d ago
What are you doing that you are charging $225 for?
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u/Lost_Balloon_ 1d ago
A range of things, but includes hands-on things, compliance, and vCIO services.
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u/TinderSubThrowAway 18h ago
I was an ERP technical system consultant and my rate was $250/hr and that was over 10 years ago.
I did have a flat rate for install, $5k and that was usually 1.5-2.5 days depending on the feature set they had. That was just install, not configuration and setup.2
u/society_victim 1d ago
So win win?
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u/MrChampionship 1d ago
"I really don't want the contract work."
Price it from that standpoint and tell your boss. You're not screwing anyone over by valuing your own time and sanity.