Negotiate PTO

How to ask about paid time off when salary will not move: days, accrual, and unused time. A script that keeps the salary target in view.

Currency Base salary Annual base, before bonus. Annual bonus Expected cash bonus for the year, not a percent. Equity, yearly value A yearly value you believe. Leave blank if you will not treat it as cash. Equity terms Your target The number you would accept, not a padded one. That target is Role Optional. Used so the script can name the job.

What you can say honestly I have a competing offer I can describe Competing offer, in your words Leave this blank if you do not have one. The script will not invent it. Scope you can defend Current total pay Optional. Spoken only if you check the box below. I will say this current-pay number. It is the real one. Market data you will cite

Channel Tone

The script updates on this page. These boxes are not uploaded.

Your script

Base $150,000. Annual bonus $15,000. Equity yearly value $20,000.

Priced total: $185,000.

Target total compensation: $195,000.

Target is $10,000 above the priced figure, about 5.4%.

Opener

I appreciate the offer and the time you have spent with me. I am excited about the software engineer role, and I want to be straightforward about pay.

Anchor and justification

I am targeting $195,000 in total compensation.

From what I can price today: $150,000 base, $15,000 bonus, $20,000 as the yearly equity value I am willing to count.

That priced total is $185,000. I am asking for $10,000 more, about 5.4%, which is my target and not a padded number.

The market check I can cite is that published ranges for this level in my city sit around $180,000 to $200,000 total. The scope I can defend is this. I own a production service and I am the person on call for it.

Name the target once. Do not raise it on the spot, and do not apologize for it.

If they say this is our best offer

I hear you, and I appreciate you saying it directly. If this base is the ceiling, I still want to see whether a signing bonus, the equity grant, or the level can move. If none of those can, I will decide on the package as it stands rather than ask the same question again.

Thank them before you ask what else can move. Then wait.

If they say the budget is fixed

Understood. A salary band is often fixed once the level is fixed. Signing bonuses and equity grants sometimes sit outside that annual budget. Is either of those actually open? If both are closed, what does a pay review look like in six months, and what would have to be true for the level to change?

Ask one question, then stop. A list of demands sounds like you did not hear them.

If they ask for your current salary

I would rather keep this on the pay for this role. A prior salary is a different job, and in some places an employer should not ask. The number I am using here is $195,000.

I am not going to invent a current salary, and I am not required to answer with one.

You can decline. If you answer, use the real number.

Non-salary asks

If salary cannot move the whole way, I will ask about other terms I actually want. I will start with the paid time off.

I would like to confirm paid time off: the number of days, whether they are accrued, and what happens to unused days.

Remote work matters to me. I would like the written policy: which days, which locations are allowed, and whether pay changes with location.

I can start on a date I can keep. If you need someone sooner, tell me the real date and I will say yes or no, rather than agree and then slip.

If base cannot reach the target, I would like to talk about a signing bonus that closes part of the first-year gap. I want the amount, and any payback terms, in writing.

On equity, I would like the grant size, the vesting schedule, the cliff, and what happens to vested shares if I leave. If these are options, I also want the last independent valuation and how long I have to exercise after I leave. I will not treat a percentage as cash.

I would like to know how refresh grants work here: whether they happen on a schedule, what they depend on, and whether this offer is only the initial grant.

Pick the two you care about. You do not have to read all six.

Closing

Thank you again. I am excited about the people I have met. I will stay easy to reach while you see what is possible, and I will not drag the decision out.

Email version

Subject: Compensation for the software engineer role

Hello,

I appreciate the offer and the time you have spent with me. I am excited about the software engineer role, and I want to be straightforward about pay.

I am targeting $195,000 in total compensation.

From what I can price today: $150,000 base, $15,000 bonus, $20,000 as the yearly equity value I am willing to count.

That priced total is $185,000. I am asking for $10,000 more, about 5.4%, which is my target and not a padded number.

I would like to confirm paid time off: the number of days, whether they are accrued, and what happens to unused days.

Thank you again. I am excited about the people I have met. I will stay easy to reach while you see what is possible, and I will not drag the decision out.

Thank you,

[Your name]

Paid time off is easy to leave fuzzy and annoying to discover in March. Ask for the number of days, whether they accrue, and what happens to unused days. This page puts that question first among the non-salary asks and keeps a grateful tone. It does not suggest you skip the salary target.

What to confirm

“Unlimited PTO” still needs a sentence about how much people actually take and whether you must get approval from a specific person. A fixed bank needs the accrual rate and the cap. If you are leaving a job where you would be paid out for unused days, that payout is part of your math. It is not the new employer’s debt. Do not ask them to reimburse it unless you are negotiating a signing bonus and you say so.

A few extra days rarely close a large salary gap. If the base is the problem, ask about base or a signing bonus first. Use PTO when the cash is acceptable and the time off is not. The script lists both so you can delete what you do not want.

Get the answer in the offer or the handbook excerpt they point you to. A recruiter’s memory of “I think it’s about three weeks” is how people show up to a different policy.

Questions

Is PTO worth negotiating?

Yes when the policy is unclear or the cash offer is already one you would accept. No as your only move against a large gap in base pay.

Updated 2026-10-08. Wording help, not legal advice.