A Quandry

Tidy_Up_Tash

Hi MSE-ers.

Long time since I posted on the forums, but I really need a bit of advice...

I've been with the same employer, Tesco, for 20 years. The benefits are excellent, especially the shares. I have worked my way up to Duty Manager, I'm not comfortable with going up any further, but I'm on a failry reasonable wage.

However, I'm really not happy with my job or postion anymore.

I was diagnosed with depression around 10 years ago, and more and more recently work hasn't been helping. Since the birth of my 2 boys I feel that I'm missing out a lot. I work odd shifts and a lot of weekends. This means that see very little of them. I really feel that it's time to get out and make a change.

Fortunately I have just made my final payment to the CCCS, so I can afford to take a pay cut. It's money we've not had for 5 years. Although it would be nice to have it now, we wouldn't miss it if we didn't. My OH works part time, so we are also lucky to be living in a 2 wage household. We are not on benefits. We receive next to no tax credits.

So, the advice I really want is... would I be committing financial suicide if I was to quit my job in favour of full time education? I was very reluctant to attend school when I should have. I know that I can achieve a lot more than I am. But I'm really apprehensive of taking the plunge.

I have done some digging on here, and else where, but I'm not really 100% sure of what finances I would be eligible for, especially if I chose to leave employment rather than being made redundant. Would it be safer for me just to step down from my role into lower paid one with more regular hours, even though the job is driving me to the edge?

Sorry for the ramble, and sorry if the information I need is staring me in the face! But any opinions and advice would be a great help.

Thanks!

MrsManda

Tidy_Up_Tash wrote: »

So, the advice I really want is... would I be committing financial suicide if I was to quit my job in favour of full time education? I was very reluctant to attend school when I should have. I know that I can achieve a lot more than I am. But I'm really apprehensive of taking the plunge.

If you are going to study a degree and have never studied at that level before you will get the full student package (tuition fee loan, maintanence loan and maintanence grant depending on your household income). Plus you will get Parents Learning Allowance, your husband will be able to claim the single person's discount on your council tax (presuming no other adult lives in the house) and you may be eligible for some income based benefits though that depends on your husband's income.
For how much student loan/grant you may get you can fill in the online calculator HERE though that doesn't include PLA or other benefits. For more information on these you can go HERE
If you've not studied for awhile you may need to do an access course but that depends on the entry requirements of the course you want to study.
The Open University is also an option as you could work around your work should you want to just cut down your hours.

jobbingmusician

You might also like to consider approaching Tesco to see if they fancy sponsoring you for some education. Some employers like it if their employees want to learn new stuff (and after all, if they say no you are no worse off).

Congratulations on having completed your CCCS payments! - and the very best for your future education and career.

Owain_Moneysaver

You are entitled to ask your employer to make 'reasonable adjustments' for a disability, and also there may be 'family friendly' policies, which could help organise your shifts into something more manageable.

An alternative is to find another job - there should be opportunities for experienced retail managers in other sectors - most department stores don't have the same extended hours that supermarkets have.

paulwf

I really enjoyed working part time in a supermarket as I could switch off for a while but working full time drove me stir crazy with boredom. One option you have now you can reduce your income is to go part time. One extra day off a week or finishing at 2pm instead of 6pm can make all the difference.

Oldernotwiser

What sort of study do you have in mind and what qualifications do you already have? Are you planning on working towards a particular career?

teabelly

There are a lot of unemployed graduates around. Unless you go into an area where there is a strong demand for graduates and get a good degree you may find you are no higher up the ladder than you are now. A more sensible solution might be to go part time at work and study via the open university. This way you have money coming in, a foot in a company and you get the qualifications you want too.

If you want more time with the family how about seeing if you can find a way of getting a job in a local school? Would be a change of scene and more family friendly hours.

jobbingmusician

By total conincidence, I received an email today which contained a link to the following. I hope this may be useful!

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans]RIGHT TO REQUEST
TIME OFF FOR TRAINING

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans] Updated 15/2/10. This information updates s.31.8.2 in The Russell-Cooke Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook (VSLH3). [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Sans] From 6 April 2010, employees in organisations with 250 or more employees have a statutory right to request time off for training that would benefit them and the employer. The right will be extended to all employees from 6 April 2011.

This new right, called time to train (not to be confused with a different scheme called train to gain), will be similar to the right to request flexible working. The time off does not have to be paid if the training is "off the job" (as opposed to on the job training), and employers are not obliged to contribute to the cost of the training. The right applies only to employees with more than 26 weeks� continuous service with the employer at the time of making the request.

Guidance for employers was issued on 13 January 2010 and is at www.businesslink.gov.uk/timetotrain.
Guidance for employees is at www.direct.gov.uk/timetotrain. [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]