Other things to add to the list are:Originally posted by Sugarphreak
I've done both, and one thing I can say is there is it has to be calculated out. Too many people approximate this shit without real numbers to back it up.
If the staff position has very few benefits (no RSP matching, only 3 weeks vacay, you have to pay a little bit per month for your own insurance... etc) when you consider the stat holidays and sick time, the difference is about 15$ per hour in end value (assuming you are taking advantage of the tax benfits contractors get by taking dividends)
List of things to consider:
11 Hours of Stat holiday
Vacation Pay
Sick Days
RSP Matching
Stock Options (maybe)
Value of CPP & EI (to you - your employer pays double yours)
Employee Life Insurance
Employee Long/Short Term Disability
No severance pay (or 2 weeks notice)
Cost of WCB (300$/yr)
Cost of company renewal (50$ per year)
Cost of liability insurance (~300$ per year)
Cost of own insurance programs (mine is ~1500$ and it is very light)
Taking dividends or wage? (significant tax differences here)
Write-offs?
Best thing to do is sit down with a spreadsheet and work it out. I will say this, the RSP matching is one of the more important things to consider.
One thing to note is that generally the contact rate relieves the company of EI, CPP and WCB payments so this generally means your end value is better as a contractor. Of course if you are going through a 3rd party like Design Group or something that cuts into this... personally I only contract direct for that reason.
Training and development
Career progression
Career Opportunities i.e. overseas work (ex-pats)
You really have to assess and analyze on what these are of value to YOU. Everyone here will have a different opinion and valuation on all of these points.
As a career progression/aspiration example, look at the VPs or Senior VPs of your organization (not sure how mature your organization is) and how many of them have been an employee for an extensive time before getting those positions i.e. 10+ years ?
It all depends on the individual and what matters to them.