I'm just leaving a contract for a FTJ and I'm nearly halving my salary....so yes, the money IS that good. But as a contractor you often put your career progression on hold, and I've done that for 2 years which is enough for me.

I've had 2 seperate contracts with 2 agencies now and both offered maternity pay for a number of months (6 I think, off the top of my head), and long term sick pay as I said before, is covered by an insurance which you pay out of your salary. They also cover military service, if that applies....in fact, both contracts I've had have had very good benefits attached.

Why not accept a contract that pays by the day? I agree, if they ignore overtime hours, then don't accept it, but if as my current one does, they use a 'flex-time' system which allows you to take overtime as holiday, then theres nothing wrong with being paid by the day.