What to check before you accept a travel therapy offer
Before you accept a travel therapy offer, get it in writing and check that the written terms match what you were told, from the facility and dates to the hours and the pay split. Then confirm that your license and onboarding can be finished by the start date, and find out exactly what saying yes commits you to.
Does the written offer match what you were told?
The questions come before the offer; this list is for the moment it arrives. If you have not asked them yet, start with the recruiter site’s questions to ask before you sign and its questions to ask your recruiter. With the offer in front of you, check each line against your notes:
- The facility by name and address, the setting, and the unit or clinic.
- The start date, the end date and the schedule: days, shift times and any weekend or on-call rotation.
- The minimum weekly hours the contract commits to, as distinct from the hours it expects you to work.
- The full pay package, line by line: the taxable hourly rate, each stipend, the overtime rate and holiday pay.
- Anything you negotiated, such as time off you asked for. If it was agreed on the phone, it belongs in the offer.
What happens if plans change after you accept?
- Cancellation: the notice the facility must give, the notice you must give, and any penalty, written for both sides.
- A moved start date: what happens to the contract, and to your housing, if credentialing or the facility delays it.
- Cut hours: whether you are paid when the facility cancels a shift for low census, and whether you can be floated to another unit or building.
- Missed shifts: how a sick day is handled and whether there is a penalty. See paid sick leave on a travel contract.
- Extensions: an extension is a new agreement, so nothing in this offer promises one or fixes its rate.
The contract checker lists the terms worth having in writing and tests the ones you enter.
Can your license and onboarding be finished by the start date?
- Your license or compact privilege for the assignment state: is it in hand, and if not, when will it be? Plan around the date it is issued, not the date you applied.
- If you are relying on a PT Compact privilege, confirm the facility accepts it for this job. The PT Compact Commission says: “Compact privilege seekers should speak with employers to confirm requirements before relying on a compact privilege for paid services.” (Commission help article)
- A new license: ask what it will cost you and whether the offer includes license reimbursement, and when it is paid.
- Credentialing: the list of items the facility needs, such as a background check, a drug screen, health records and certifications, who pays for each, and when it is all due.
- Conditions: an offer can depend on credentialing clearing, so ask what would undo it.
If you want an offer that sets out each of these terms in writing, ask a ProTherapy recruiter: Find my next contract.
Does the money work for you?
- Stipends depend on your tax home. IRS publication on travel expenses says your tax home is generally “your regular place of business or post of duty, regardless of where you maintain your family home.” If you are not sure you have one away from this assignment, ask a tax professional before you accept, because the answer changes what the offer is worth to you.
- Travel to the assignment: whether it is reimbursed, how much, when it is paid and what receipts are needed.
- Health insurance: when coverage starts, what it costs you, and what happens to it between contracts.
- First pay: when it arrives, so you can cover the deposit, the first rent and the drive before it does.
- Housing: whether you are taking a stipend or agency housing, and if housing is provided, exactly what it is.
What does saying yes commit you to?
- Ask what happens after you say yes: whether the agency then confirms you with the facility, when you will receive the contract to sign, and whether anything binds you before you sign it.
- Ask how long you have to answer, and ask for time to read if you need it.
- Tell any other recruiters who have your profile, so nobody submits you to the same facility, and withdraw from openings you would no longer take.
- Read the contract you are sent against the offer, line by line, before you sign it. A term that changed between offer and contract is a question, not a formality.
- Keep the signed contract, and the messages that led to it, where you can find them during the assignment.
When should you slow down or say no?
- A term you were promised is missing from the writing, and the answer is “don’t worry about it.”
- Key terms are still to be decided: the facility, the schedule, the hours or the pay split.
- You are pushed to accept before you have seen the offer in writing.
- The start date depends on a license you do not have yet, with no plan for what happens if it is late.
Turning down an offer that does not hold up is a normal part of the process, and it costs less than leaving a contract that was never what you agreed to.
Frequently asked questions
What happens after I say yes to a travel therapy offer?
It depends on the agency, so ask before you answer: what your yes sets in motion, such as confirming you with the facility and starting credentialing, and when you will get the contract to sign. Read that contract against the offer before you sign it.
Should I accept an offer before my license is issued?
You can, but plan around the date the license or privilege is issued, not the date you applied, and ask what happens to the offer and the start date if it is late.
How is this different from the questions to ask a recruiter?
Those questions come earlier, while you are comparing recruiters and openings. This checklist is for the moment an offer arrives: checking that the writing matches the answers you were given and that you can start on the date it names.
Sources
- IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses, read October 25, 2026
- PT Compact Commission, What else should I consider before purchasing a compact privilege?, read October 25, 2026