Does most low paid work = Poor conditions?

InsideInsurance

falko89 wrote: »

Christmas bonus or works party
Annual pay rises
Sick pay
Better holidays than statutory

Last time as an employee:

1) Never a Xmas bonus. There was a company party for all employees paid for by the company. There was a departmental party for all staff (employees, contractors & temps) paid for by the company. There was a team part paid for by the manager

2) Pre credit crunch there was but post it was around 1%

3) Full pay for first week, then SSP and a PHI policy for long term

4) 30 days holiday + statutory

My current client is similar for their employees other than no company party and holiday is 25 days plus 1 day for every 2 years service up to a max of 30 days.

michaelvintner

Depends on the company. John Lewis Partnership pay the market rate for the local area and that is fairly low however the benefits are also good.

LiveOnce

falko89 wrote: »

Is it just part and parcel of it all? Or is it even possible to find out what a companies like before applying for a job?

Reading through various posts on here i'd like to know how people score a job with

Christmas bonus or works party
Annual pay rises
Sick pay
Better holidays than statutory

Even heating would be a welcomed perk at the moment. OK firms don't need to supply anything bar the minimum by law but by doing something it shows that you are looked after at least by the company rather than being treated as just a number, and surely its bound to help workplace moral? I know the atmosphere in my firm is horrible, and the number 1 topic of conversation among workers is how much they hate the place.

How do people score jobs with those benefits?

Simple, the people who get those jobs are people who have ability which provides value for the company that wants to employ them.

Or in other words, people who get those jobs have the skills which companies who can offer those benefits need.

The more skills, ability, and experience you have the higher the food chain you will go so to speak.

Go make yourself a valuable person as much as possible and you will be rewarded.

suki1964

I'm on nmw but I get sick pay, holiday pay, Christmas gift and a little cash pressie, and staff parties are twice a year at least

The staff are loyal and hard working. No one goes sick unless they are dying and we all put in the extra hours needed at our busy times and to cover holidays with out complaint

It's a small buisness. Our boss works hard to keep in business and we work hard in return.

MrsE_2

falko89 wrote: »

Christmas bonus or works party
Annual pay rises
Sick pay
Better holidays than statutory.

I wouldn't include a works Xmas party with a list important benefits.
Sick pay could be very important & the number of firms that have bad sick pay provision staggers me.
Annual pay rises will I guess depend on the economy & how the firm is doing.
Extra hols is a nice perk.
An Xmas bonus is a nice perk too.

The only one that I would really care about was the sick pay, could be very important if you got something serious. The pittance provided as SSS won't cover your bills!

falko89

MrsE wrote: »

I wouldn't include a works Xmas party with a list important benefits.
Sick pay could be very important & the number of firms that have bad sick pay provision staggers me.
Annual pay rises will I guess depend on the economy & how the firm is doing.
Extra hols is a nice perk.
An Xmas bonus is a nice perk too.

The only one that I would really care about was the sick pay, could be very important if you got something serious. The pittance provided as SSS won't cover your bills!

Xmas bonus and the rest OK not a major thing but it show something is though of you, it helps morale and with good morale employee's are more likely to stick around.

Their are some firm out their if by law didn't have to pay min wage or give SSS or statutory holidays wouldn't and you would have conditions as bad as China or India, some firms really don't give a !!!!.

Charityworker

I earn the minimum wage. £6.31 an hour. I get 15 days holiday plus the bank holidays. If I don't take them I don't get paid for them or carry them over to next year. If you want to go on holiday you are made to feel guilty and like your letting the charity down. I get no sick pay. I was off for 3 days with blood poisoning this year and had to go back to work before I was well because I couldn't afford to take any more time off. I had to get a taxi there and back as I was too ill to walk there or get the bus there. I have to do additional part time work elsewhere to subsidise the wages I get there and bring it up to a living wage. I get no bonuses, no party at Christmas, no gift from the boss, not even a card or a thank you. The office is about 60ft square with a cold stone floor and no heating. There are cliques within the organisation. people that are in the boses clique are allowed to take money from the organisation and i have to turn a blind ege or get threatened with the sack. Needless to say I'm looking for something else.

dawyldthing

TrickyWicky wrote: »

Never had a christmas party.

Annual pay rises were usually carp but in one job I had two in a year I felt proper guilty about that and kept my gob shut lol. Then just months later we got another :cool: Shame the job was so much hassle with such a rotten boss lol

Sick pay is only ever in the public services. You won't get it in the private sector unless you're in management. Get a council or civil service job and you'll get sick pay.

Never had a decent holiday allowance. 20 days seems to be the norm. The civil service are pretty good for that though, 25 days starting and then privilege days (oh and some depts offer 1/2 day off for xmas shopping too).

You'll never get all 4 in one job though.

I work for a private company and we get an extra day holiday every full year working for them and also got some sick pay. Its not a bad company to work for either most of the time so can't complain. But we won't be having a pay rise ever I really can't see it happening