Clothing allowance - new job

WolfSong2000

Thanks for the info guys . It's actually a new chain that's just opened in the UK...and when I said £50-£70, that's the very bottom end, cost wise...most items hover around the £100 mark, so whilst it's not *very* expensive, it's more than your average highstreet cost. As an example, a basic summer type, light dress they had - nothing fancy, was almost £150. It's in the sale now, but still over £60.

My issue is that I am only working 16 hours max, split between saturday and sunday, so once I have taken into account cost of petrol, etc, I will be left with very little money as I will only be on NMW.

I am taking this job to supplement some agency work I am doing monday-friday (in procurement, so totally different field)...I wouldn't normally, but agency work seems to be so badly paid now, I am left with little choice.

Dunroamin

WolfSong2000 wrote: »

Thanks for the info guys . It's actually a new chain that's just opened in the UK...and when I said £50-£70, that's the very bottom end, cost wise...most items hover around the £100 mark, so whilst it's not *very* expensive, it's more than your average highstreet cost. As an example, a basic summer type, light dress they had - nothing fancy, was almost £150. It's in the sale now, but still over £60.

My issue is that I am only working 16 hours max, split between saturday and sunday, so once I have taken into account cost of petrol, etc, I will be left with very little money as I will only be on NMW.

I am taking this job to supplement some agency work I am doing monday-friday (in procurement, so totally different field)...I wouldn't normally, but agency work seems to be so badly paid now, I am left with little choice.

If you're working so few hours, surely you won't need to have more than 1 or 2 outfits which you can buy out of your first week's wages? After that, your money will be yours to spend as you wish.

Tiddlywinks

You'd need to wear clothes to work even if the company didn't have a policy.

75% is a good discount on its own BUT they are also giving you an allowance - choose well and you can wear these clothes in your other work as well.

I think it's a good deal and I absolutely understand why a fashion outlet would want their staff to wear their clothes.

I don't understand why so many people seem to actively look for things to complain about... Just get on with it.

PasturesNew

I think people are being a bit mean here. Not everybody [a] knows that's how shops work has the money to pay out in the first place.

My clothes cost me £4-5 a piece, from charity shops... but I guess I'd have not got the job as they'd have spotted that my clothes are mismatched, ill fitting and about 5-10 years old at best.

Dunroamin

A one off £50/£60 outlay which will enable you to earn £100 per week long term, seems quite a good investment to me.

Podge52

How do you know it's long term ? They could be fired after Christmas.

Dunroamin

Podge52 wrote: »

How do you know it's long term ? They could be fired after Christmas.

Nobody starts a job (unless it's temporary) expecting to be fired a couple of months later. Why not look on the bright side for a change?

Prothet_of_Doom

Whereas over in the real world of manufacturing, we provide our staff with work wear for free.

WolfSong2000

I've worked in retail before, but not in clothes retail, hence why I was clarifying. I am not sure how short/long-term the job will be yet, I just know it's minimum wage, max 16 hours per week (rota for the next 2 months is 9 to 10 hours per week), so I wont be rolling in it, so to speak. I already possess smart clothes that I wear to my monday-friday, just no clothes from this store. I guess I was just surprised that if a store is making you wear their clothes, they wouldn't pay for it...perhaps with a clause which says if you stop working for them before x number of months have passed then you will have to pay for the clothes.

I was just seeking clarification...the staff at the store seem nice, clothes are nice (just expensive...well, to me. haha). Anyhow, I start saturday (only do 3 hours saturday, which barely covers petrol or train fare at min wage, but it's a job, so not complaining) so we'll see how things go