BT wants staff to take 1 year holiday on 25% pay!

Andrew64

After BA, now BT!

BT offers thousands of workers 'holiday of lifetime' on quarter pay
BT has offered tens of thousands of its employees the chance to go on long-term holiday in return for taking a drastic pay cut.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/telecoms/5735891/BT-offers-thousands-of-workers-holiday-of-lifetime-on-quarter-pay.html

"BT has proposed that employees take up to a year off, in return for taking a 75 per cent pay cut. To encourage as many workers to take up of the offer, the company will pay their reduced salary as an upfront cash payment."

tomstickland

An internal memo detailing the proposals states that staff can take "summer sabbatical" of between one and 12 months for an "easement payment" of 25 per cent of their basic salary for the time they take off. They receive that reduced salary as an upfront payment.

Looks like a pretty good deal to me.

PasturesNew

I should get a job with them, just so I can take a year off.

custardy

some of thats actually quite good
unfortunate it takes a recession for them to offer it though :rolleyes2

eg

Parents are also being offered the opportunity to work only in school term times, so they can spend the summer holidays with their children.

im assuming there would be no contractual clause to stop the employees working elsewhere in their 'off' time?

Fella

The trouble is, who can afford a 75% pay cut these days? Only a very few people I would have thought.

If I were offered that deal I'd also want cast-iron guarantees that my job would still exist a year later - & practically, there is no way on earth BT can guarantee that (re-orgs are an epidemic in BT & tons of jobs change beyond recognition/disappear far more regularly than once a year).

So a year on 25% money followed by a return to work where at best you will struggle (I know people who've been off (sick) for a year & it took them months to get back up to speed so much had changed). Or maybe when you return you'll be looking for a new role because your old one will have gone or changed into something effectively different.

I'll be surprised if they get much take-up at all on this but we'll see.

custardy

Fella wrote: »

The trouble is, who can afford a 75% pay cut these days? Only a very few people I would have thought.

If I were offered that deal I'd also want cast-iron guarantees that my job would still exist a year later - & practically, there is no way on earth BT can guarantee that (re-orgs are an epidemic in BT & tons of jobs change beyond recognition/disappear far more regularly than once a year).

So a year on 25% money followed by a return to work where at best you will struggle (I know people who've been off (sick) for a year & it took them months to get back up to speed so much had changed). Or maybe when you return you'll be looking for a new role because your old one will have gone or changed into something effectively different.

I'll be surprised if they get much take-up at all on this but we'll see.

agreed but for example if like me (i cant but anyway) you want to go back to university it could give you a year to try with a sort o safety net
same for people looking ot leave/change anyway

PasturesNew

I wonder what the eligibility to benefits would be in various scenarios. e.g. take the 25% pay, start your own business, claim Working Tax Credits etc as a top up.

Many people are already running or starting their own sideline businesses, successfully, and wish they had such a time to Go for Gold so to speak and try it out full-time. It's that toss up: Do I get a job and earn £20-30k potentially within 2 years for the next 15 years ... or do I really commit to my own thing and make the same money working from home.

I am always torn between getting a proper job - and actually committing myself to earning my own living full-time. This would be a great way for some to just give it a whirl. I know one year ago my online activities were bringing me in an annualised £20k, then I think I got scared and stepped away from it though. Back in the zone today - cracking on with generating my own thing big time this time.

If I were in work permanently I'd be referred to as one of the 529ers - people who work their own business from 5 to 9 each evening. As it is I manage to stretch that 4 hours' work out to 20 hours/day when I am not working

Homes under the Hammer gets in the way of full productivity ....

Thrugelmir

PasturesNew wrote: »

I wonder what the eligibility to benefits would be in various scenarios. e.g. take the 25% pay, start your own business, claim Working Tax Credits etc as a top up.

Many people are already running or starting their own sideline businesses, successfully, and wish they had such a time to Go for Gold so to speak and try it out full-time. It's that toss up: Do I get a job and earn £20-30k potentially within 2 years for the next 15 years ... or do I really commit to my own thing and make the same money working from home.

I am always torn between getting a proper job - and actually committing myself to earning my own living full-time. This would be a great way for some to just give it a whirl. I know one year ago my online activities were bringing me in an annualised £20k, then I think I got scared and stepped away from it though. Back in the zone today - cracking on with generating my own thing big time this time.

If I were in work permanently I'd be referred to as one of the 529ers - people who work their own business from 5 to 9 each evening. As it is I manage to stretch that 4 hours' work out to 20 hours/day when I am not working

Homes under the Hammer gets in the way of full productivity ....

Due to the economic situation. I fell into working part time for 2 companies working in total between 16 - 32 hours per week. With the spare time I am developing my own business. Something I couldn't have done otherwise. It's extremely satisfying. Will never make me rich but will something I can keep going for many years to supplement my income.

The best thing is that my business is also my hobby. So what could be better. :j


HUTH is extremely interesting. As gives an insight into the mentality of people buying property. Recent episodes are really interesting. Particularly the developers that rely on bank funding ( or now lack of) and the obvious fact that people have no idea of how to cope when a market downs turn. They have no plan B.

It illustrates that property developers were making money from the market rising. Not the value (cost) of the improvements\modernisation to the property they were doing up. The presenters are getting on my nerves as they seem to go on about yields being good! Which frankly their not.

Rochdale_Pioneers

Sometimes you have to jump on the opportunity as it comes to you. My wife quit her full time management job to spend more time with our son, and started up as a sole trader. Which then became two separate mini businesses. Then along came a part time work from home call centre job which very quickly because a 30 hours a week work from home call centre management job.

That alone - with reduced childcare costs vs full time - pulls in more cash than her old job, then the other two have decent potential and allow us to claim tax back on various things. None of it would have happened had she not taken the opportunity to jump out the door of her old company.

A year off at 25% pay? Yes, I think a lot of people will see great opportunity in that.

PasturesNew

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Due to the economic situation. I fell into working part time for 2 companies working in total between 16 - 32 hours per week. With the spare time I am developing my own business. Something I couldn't have done otherwise. It's extremely satisfying. Will never make me rich but will something I can keep going for many years to supplement my income.

The best thing is that my business is also my hobby. So what could be better. :j

That's brilliant. However, two part-time jobs gives you the flexibility to drop one of them when your own thing takes off. However, working two part-time jobs takes more effort/time than doing one, with keeping your eye on the clock and travelling between them etc). And mentally switching between roles.

I am finding working full-time I am out of the house 11-12 hours/day and then I come in and need to mentally switch off from the job/commute. Then it's time to think about cooking and then eating and then clearing away ... then it's time for bed again ... well, MSE anyway.

I'm nosey though: what are you doing for yourself? I'm just starting something up and I might need some pioneers I can tap up. Feel free to PM me ... my idea's just at the ideas stage. Although this weekend I shouldn't be here, I should be sourcing the correct hosting and programmes and doing an installation. Investing about £1000 over the next 2 weeks in this idea. The idea is if I've spent money I will be a bit more focussed

PasturesNew

BT might have a bigger takeup if they offered people the option of their job, but 4 days/week instead of 5. More people could afford to go for that.