What are stipends?
Per diem rates, or stipends, are the allowance for any lodging, meals, and incidental expenses incurred as a result of working away from your tax home.
You must be available and willing to work to be eligible for the stipends. That means if you call out sick or volunteer to drop a shift, even if it’s due to your facility being overstaffed that day, you won’t receive a stipend for that missed shift.
However, if you are willing and able to work and your shift was canceled, you’re eligible for your stipend! Just get written confirmation that your shift was canceled.
What are GSA rates?
Trusted cannot advise on whether any clinician is eligible to receive stipends under IRS guidelines, and suggests that you consult with your tax advisor if you have any questions about your eligibility.
Because these payments are reimbursements for expenses, the per diem rates published by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) are based according to the zip code of the facility where you take an assignment. For example, the stipends for a position in New York City are expected to be higher than those in Ohio since the cost of living in those areas varies greatly.
At Trusted, we’ve standardized our pay pages and use an algorithm that accounts for the GSA stipend guidance in each zip code, along with several other variables. GSA rates for a zip code can fluctuate monthly (not always), we take the recommended GSA values and average them annually to determine the value that will not change depending on the month of your assignment. This allows us to give our clinicians the best pay package possible while remaining compliant.
Where can I find GSA per diem rates?
Active Per Diem Rates can be found on the official website of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) here.
Can stipends be negotiated?
Trusted’s pay packages cannot be negotiated. They are standardized to account for the unique variables of each position and facility and consistently utilize the recommended GSA per diem rates. This enables us to give our clinicians the best pay packages possible.
Why are stipends paid per shift?
Trusted has set up one standardized calculator that we use for every pay package for every clinician. We plug in the information we receive from the facility and our algorithm produces the pay package. That calculator maximizes how much we could pay you per shift, which in this case means paying stipends per shift rather than averaging it out across the week.
When do my stipends begin and end?
Stipends are paid the day your contract begins and end on the last day of your contract.
I was called off by my facility, will I still receive my stipend?
Yes! Your stipends are guaranteed so long as you're willing and able to work and are called off by the facility. Keep in mind, that if the facility has a cancellation or call-off policy, this may impact eligibility to receive your hourly rate.
I dropped a shift because my unit was overstaffed. Will I still receive my stipend?
If you’re available and willing to report to work for a shift within your contracted hours, you should never--and we repeat, never!--volunteer to drop your shift. If you volunteer to drop your shift and don’t meet your weekly contracted hours, then you won’t be eligible for stipends for that shift.
If I call out sick and use sick pay, will I still receive my stipend?
You must be "available and willing" to work each of your contracted shifts to be eligible for the stipend. If you call out sick or volunteer to drop a shift (even if it’s due to your facility being overstaffed that day), then you won’t receive a stipend for that missed shift.