How much does my salary worth in the public sector compare to the private sector?

TELLIT01

Rogfed wrote: »

I am not saying the private sector are currently paying more.

My question is if I were to trying to find another job with same job title, same hours, same distant, how much should I go for without the benefit of working for the public sector.

That makes more sense but is still unanswerable. It depends entirely on what the terms and conditions of the potential new employer are. There is on 'one size fits all' solution.

Masomnia

So what you mean is 'What is my benefits package worth?'

Not sure there's a hard and fast answer to that. For example a lot of people would be very happy with a good sick pay policy, but I think for me I would rather have a higher salary. Similarly with the annual leave, yours is generous, but again you may think it's worth being paid more but have less time off.

Pension wise it may be easier to value as you can compare your package with jobs you are looking at. My last employer matched up to 7% of contributions, plus a bit extra, and it worked out at (in theory!) providing a similar income to a career average DB Scheme. If you went to a job that didn't have as generous a scheme you would need to increase your contributions to make up the gap, so factor that in.

Ultimately you need to look at all these issues as a whole as there's no way you can put a definite figure on it.

TBagpuss

I think you would need to do a boit of research about directly comparable jobs.

For instance, if you are doing (say) secretatial work, lookfor ads for secretaries in your area and talkto the agencies about pay etc.

You may find that things such as size of the organsation makes a big difference - larger companies may have more generous packages in some areas.

You also need to conside the value to you personally.

Sick months paid sick leave sounds increadibly generous to me. Not allcompanies offer sick pay (other than SSP) at all.
The first job I had we got 3 week full pay and 3 weeks half pay, another company where i interviewed but didn't take the job the entitlement was 5 days.

But only you can decide what value that has to you.

Pensions - if the pension is a workplace pension then the amount your employer has to contribute will be between 1-3% of your salary.. To get the smae sort of benefits as being in the LGPS you'd need to budget to contribute a good deal more from your own pocket as well. Of course, there are some employers who pay more than the minimum.

Flexitime - I thin kthis is likely to be very dependent indeed on the type of work you do, he size of the company and their culture.

I think that really, you would need to look at actual jobs you are interested in and work from there.

hyubh

Rogfed wrote: »

My question is if I were to trying to find another job with same job title, same hours, same distant, how much should I go for without the benefit of working for the public sector.

I'd say 22K. That said, as already suggested, terms and conditions, working cultures etc. aren't going to be identical across local government employers, let alone across private sector employers. You also should consider career progression - you don't say your age, but if you're young and at the bottom of the org chart, the key thing is build up the skills and practical experience that will make you much more valuable in the labour market later on.

MataNui

As someone else pointed out at the lower pay grades the actual rates of pay are about the same (in some areas of the country private would actually pay less) so if you left your public sector job i wouldnt expect to be getting a higher paid one in the private sector.

Also your LGPS is worth its weight in gold. You would be fortunate if you found somewhere to match the holidays and have sod all chance of finding anywhere to match the sick pay. To put it bluntly public sector employees at your level have no idea how lucky you are.

Things do change a lot in the middle pay bands though. Senior or management roles can pay much, much better in the private sector. The hardest thing to adjust to would be the culture. You can get away with coasting in the public sector, you would be out of the door within days if you carried that over to a private sector employer.

*~Zephyr~*

According to this report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies, public sector pay is about 4.5% higher than private sector.

http://www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/publications/comms/r97.pdf

So you £17,500 public sector pay equates to about £16,712 in the private sector. And this is about right for low level administration in a small to medium sized company.

Those SME's will probably only give you the legal minimum holidays (5.6 weeks which can include BH) and will likely only pay SSP during periods off sick. You will get a pension scheme, but quality varies greatly (if they use the Government's NEST scheme, it's less than useless) and contributions will probably be the minimum required (currently 1%). Death in service is rare unless you're working for a bigger company and flexi-time is even more rare, unless you are already working part-time.

If you want more benefits, you need bigger companies. But Administrative processes in the private sector are way more streamlined and employ considerably less people than the public sector does. You'll find plenty of roles available in call centres, but they will only pay minimum wage (just under £14,000 for a 37 hr week). They generally have better benefits though. Take Admiral for instance - they pay only marginally above minimum wage but their pension scheme is excellent, they have share options, holiday purchase, free gyms and high street discounts. They pay sick pay, but if you're off more than three times in a year you will be on a disciplinary.

All told, you will be expected to work harder and longer for your money in the private sector. If you are salaried, you probably won't get paid overtime but turning up on the dot of 9 and rushing out the door at exactly 5 will be frowned upon and annoy most of your colleagues.

In a nutshell, if you are relatively happy in your job, stay there. Public sector work is a cushy life compared to private sector.

lincroft1710

MataNui wrote: »

You can get away with coasting in the public sector, you would be out of the door within days if you carried that over to a private sector employer.

At best "coasting" in the public sector would lead to lack of promotion or salary increase, at worst lack of a job.

Neither central nor local government have much use for those who don't pull their weight. Certainly even more than 10 years ago I knew of several people in central govt who were given their marching orders.

Gavin83

The culture of the public sector is as varied as that of the private sector. I'm sure there are departments that allow you to coast and similarly there are departments that will work you to the point you are so stressed you'll completely change as a person. Despite what some on here will say I wouldn't necessarily expect an easier life in the public sector, it'll depend entirely on the company. I also wouldn't expect a job for life either.

In terms of salary it is my experience that at the lower end of the pay scale the salary will often be the same, if not better than the private sector. The more you get paid in the public sector the better off you'd be moving across. To give you an idea I'm in the middle bands in terms of salary. If I moved to the private sector I would be paid roughly 30-40% more. On your salary you are probably better off where you are.

Best way to find out, get on google or speak to a local recruitment agency.

elsien

Do private sector jobs offer flexitime in the same way that public sector do?
Not something I've seen a lot of, particularly at the lower levels.
Is that flexibility important to you?

RichardD1970

MataNui wrote: »

Also your LGPS is worth its weight in gold. You would be fortunate if you found somewhere to match the holidays and have sod all chance of finding anywhere to match the sick pay. To put it bluntly public sector employees at your level have no idea how lucky you are.

:eek:

I didn't realise how lucky I am.

I'm an unskilled factory worker (earning almost double the OP) and we have:-

a company pension with employer contribution 8%, employee's contribution min 4%. Which includes a "death in service" benefit of 3.5 x basic annual salary.

up to 2 years full sick pay.

33 days holiday with 1 extra after 5 years going up to 5 extra in total.