Public Sector Workers

patchwork_cat

mizzbiz wrote: »

. Managers on £40k getting double time on Sundays and coming in to clean the filing cabinet or tea cupboard out. Having 14 people in a department that had enough work only for four people full time. It's anyone's guess how that time was spent - probably on Facebook. In another department, hand written, manual records meant four people at full pelt doing a job that one person could manage part time.

Well I don't know where you worked, but locally anyone above scale 6 (£24k) is not entitled to claim overtime pay let alone double pay or on £40K. You will get time in lieu if you are lucky and that is the way it has been for at least 15 years.

£40K is virtually director grade! I question if you actually worked in local govt at all?

dmg24

paulwellerfan wrote: »

i work in the public sector and our department needs to make savings of 1.5 million over the next few years.
the poor kids will suffer. no more free holidays, no more free lap tops, no more 'just loosing their bus passes and getting the money for a new one,' no more insentive bonuses for just going to college. those poor kids.....

hope the staff dont loose their jobs though... now that would be a real shame.

Surely that would put them on a par with the 'kids' whose parents work hard and still cannot afford a holiday or laptops?

mizzbiz

patchwork_cat wrote: »

Well I don't know where you worked, but locally anyone above scale 6 (£24k) is not entitled to claim overtime pay let alone double pay or on £40K. You will get time in lieu if you are lucky and that is the way it has been for at least 15 years.

£40K is virtually director grade! I question if you actually worked in local govt at all?

?? Of course I did. Why would I make it up. And yes, they certainly did get overtime pay. And no they weren't anywhere near director level.

eamon

If mizzbiz is correct then her claim smacks of fraud & corruption. I work in social housing and am covered by NJC rules. If I do extra hours above my contracted 37 then I am expected to make use of flexitime. The only exception is work that can't be done during the time covered by flexi rules and it has to be an exceptional reason.
Leaving all that aside our workplace is rife with rumours and yet another restructure is in the pipeline. I suspect that contracting out certain services will be on the agenda again. I had hoped that this particular horse was already flogged to death but I suspect not.

mizzbiz

eamon wrote: »

If mizzbiz is correct then her claim smacks of fraud & corruption. I work in social housing and am covered by NJC rules. If I do extra hours above my contracted 37 then I am expected to make use of flexitime. The only exception is work that can't be done during the time covered by flexi rules and it has to be an exceptional reason.
.

It technically was an exceptional reason (can't obviously go into detail) but the project did not need quite as much work time as was worked, if you know what I mean. It wasn't an every day thing. Rather than fraud and corruption, I think it was a case of taking advantage of what was on offer! Although it amounts to the same thing.

Also I was nowhere near that grade and would also have to work it as flexi, except when it was expected that we came in on a weekend for these projects.

RuthnJasper

yellowlawn wrote: »

I thought I would start this thread and give people who work in or for the public sector a chance to air there thoughts/feelings on public sector cutbacks there situations and how you are coping.

Me and my other half work in the public sector and to say the atmosphere and general feeling at the moment is stressful and diabolical would be an understatement.

There is enough of us out there and I hope this becomes a popular thread.

Hi Yellowlawn,

Thank you for starting a thread for this. I daresay that there will be people who (rightly, in certain cases) will say that some (not all) public sector services have had it comparatively easy until the crash.

I work for a county council. Pay freeze for three years. The county has now (in my section) been "divided" for a particular statutory service into three. As follows:

North: 25% of county - one full-time, plus one part-time assistant.

South: 25% of county - one full-time, plus one part-time assistant.
Centre: 50% of county - Me. No assistant.

At the end of the day, though, I consider myself fortunate to have a secure job, where I am respected and popular with my colleagues.

I used to have a high-profile job in a famous and ancient institution - where I was made so miserable (ACTUAL quote: "We cannot promote you because you are... um... well... a woman!") that it made me ill almost to the point of suicide. Only Jasper-dog saved me.

A job is a job. Sh*tty or otherwise, I've learned the hard way that it's not worth being miserable over.

Public or private sector. All you can do - and all anyone can ask from you - is that you do your best. Keep smiling. xx

SarEl

patchwork_cat wrote: »

Well I don't know where you worked, but locally anyone above scale 6 (£24k) is not entitled to claim overtime pay let alone double pay or on £40K. You will get time in lieu if you are lucky and that is the way it has been for at least 15 years.

£40K is virtually director grade! I question if you actually worked in local govt at all?

And of course you are quite correct - it is a national condition! SO scales and above get time off in lieu until they reach JNC or equivalent, when they get neither and overtime is not reimbursed in any way because it doesn't exist.

I find it fruitless have a war between sectors - people in the private sector have been fed media guff about how great the public sector is, and swallowed it. True, until recently there have been few compulsory redundancies. That is because staff turnover in the public sector is very high - higher than in the priavte sector - and so posts have been left empty for years with existing staff sucking up the work. No sector has had it easy. That's the fact.

Oh, except one. Have a look at MP's terms and conditions. Now I could really go for their "redundancy package".

paulwellerfan

dmg- one would hope.
but alas kids in care are entitled to so much more.

jamiecg

Hi there everybody, I have just gained a position working in the public sector for HMRC, I just hope my department is more reliable than some of the places you have mentioned, Any body work for HMRC already on here?

ppolly

The Public Sector 'sigh'.
I've worked for the public and private sectors and been self-employed.
There is such an odd mix in the public sector - terrible management, but also a few really dedicated ones. Nothing to aim for, no reward for doing a good job, except being given more work because they can rely on you to get it done. Money wasted on really odd things and peculiar projects. But petty meannesses too like having to pay for Christmas dinner and coffee and tea. Some staff who are there just for the easy ride -it is incredibly easy to get away with doing very little with no one seeming to care at all - and others who are completely dedicated and run ragged trying to keep a good service going on a shoestring.
I wouldn't ever work in it again.

The private sector was a dream to work in, the managers actually cared about their staff doing a good job and ensured that they did so, there was training and even free tea and coffee!

My husband still does work in the public sector and has had a pay cut this year. We just keep telling ourselves he is lucky to have a job. Which he is.