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bugslet

Andy_L wrote: »

He should go and work for bugslet's firm instead of his current employer.

Oi, what have I ever done to you?:p


I don't think the OP would ever experience delirious happiness no matter what the pay rise;)

takman

I work in the private sector and i wouldn't be very happy with a 1% pay rise at all!. Our yearly pay rise has always been around 3% as long as i have worked here (although it was more the first year i started and slightly less the worst year of recession for our industry).

We also get a final salary pension although a few years ago when most companies were stopping them they reviewed it and decided to close it for new employees, but the benefits remained the same for existing employees.
We also get a range of benefits including health and dental insurance.

So public sector doesn't automatically mean it's good and private sector doesn't automatically mean it's bad.

But Muscle750 from the posts on this thread it seems to me your getting close to 60 years old? and have started to realise you’re in a dead end job with pretty poor pay (60 hours a week for £32k - no thanks!). You haven’t planned for your future and are not realising your pension is going to be pretty poor.

One of my friends worked here a few years ago and was on less than what your earning and wasn’t interested in progressing in his career. But he had planned financially for his future and although he was never a particularly high earner at the age of 55 he retired with no mortgage and a very healthy amount of money invested. There was nothing stopping you from doing the same.

leslieknope

if a pension is so important to you, why don't/didn/t you work for a company that has a very generous pension scheme?

my dad works for sky and has a great pension scheme and i used to work for a pensions company - who paid in triple what i did. the benefits were very good but i had no joy doing what i did, so i moved into the local government where the benefits are non-existent - the pension is okay yes but we do not get bonuses, the private medical insurance, healthy holiday allowance, etc that i got working for a private firm. but for me the day to day work is currently outweighing the potential benefits. this may change in the future and i may go back to the private sector. there is nothing stopping you from doing the same!

i can't believe he's still going on about a 1% payrise for the public sector (most of whom are low paid anyway) yet no outrage for the extensive expenses and payrises for mps? half of whom barely attend commons?

Red-Squirrel_2

milliemonster wrote: »

I've worked in both, as a nurse in the public sector and in industry (not as a nurse) private sector was easier, less stressful, better pay, good pension, better perks, same leave and benefits, although I also had better benefits in the private sector, I was recognised for my qualifications and had lots of options for progression and training, NHS? I can't retire til I'm 68 (I'm 44 now), I don't have the option of taking a break at work as it's too busy, 12 hour days on your feet where you're frowned upon if you even sit down take their toll, my back is wrecked now at 44 so much that a consultant neurologist told me I should give up nursing now, how am I supposed to continue doing this for another 24 years? I have no employment perks in the nhs, I have worked almost every christmas since I qualified, and do not have the opportunity to do anything regular in an evening as we have to cover a 24/7 service

private sector was a doddle, working in the NHS is about as stressful as it gets and the pay and 'perks' don't make up for it at all.

I left the NHS last year to work as a specialist nurse in the private sector (still caring for NHS patients, not paying ones, which eases my conscience somewhat.).

I make a bit more money, not loads, the pension and benefits aren't as good, but working for the NHS, with so few staff every single shift that I genuinely worried for my patients' safety and for my own registration, where I could count on one hand the number of times in a year I got a proper break in a 14 hour plus shift, and where the hard work and sacrifices of myself and my colleagues were completely taken advantage of, was actually making me ill. I had to take sick leave for the first time in years due to severe migraines that I'm sure were due to stress.

Now, I work my contracted hours, I get paid overtime if I do more (voluntarily), I have a sensible workload that means my patients get the level of care they deserve and I go home each day knowing I've done a good job and feeling appreciated and valued by my bosses.

I know that things aren't always rosy in the private sector, but I think some people have absolutely no idea just how bad things have got for those people slogging their guts out to provide our public services.

theoretica

What I would be interested to see is a method of assigning financial values to all the various non-salary benefits which can accompany a job. Pension, sickpay above SMP, company car, health benefits, canteen, holiday above the minimum, flexiworking, death in service, transferable training... Of course some would be really hard as different people will value flexible working or working from home differently, but a lot could have a number put to them and it might make talking about different jobs and employers easier.

Andy_L

Muscle750 wrote: »

"Deserve" do me a favour we had a FS scheme yet had no say in it stopping what did we do to deserve that put upon us..............nothing and you lot throw your toys out the pram and threaten strikes when they suddenly woke up to what a complete pi55 take the public sector pension system is

but those strikes, or threat thereoff, didn't stop the pensions being changed for the worse.

FBaby

I think it is very unfair that I have to pay a much bigger mortgage for the same house than my cousin who lives 300 miles North of me. After all, it's the same house, we use it the same way. It's not fair at all because she gets to go on better holidays than us. Last time I moan, she reminded me that she'd suggested I moved up North with her and it was my choice I didn't. I think she just thinks she is better than I and doesn't deserve her house. She should have a much smaller one for the same money.

hyubh

takman wrote: »

We also get a final salary pension although a few years ago when most companies were stopping them they reviewed it and decided to close it for new employees, but the benefits remained the same for existing employees.

Well, exactly, whereas in the public sector, final salary schemes have been replaced with CARE ones having more generous accrual rates.

leslieknope wrote: »

my dad works for sky and has a great pension scheme

https://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/issues/june-2014/the-benefits-offered-by-sky/

• Trust-based defined contribution scheme.
• Double-matched employer contributions to a maximum of 8%.

So, pretty good by contemporary private sector standards, but rubbish compared to contemporary public sector standards.

leslieknope wrote: »

i used to work for a pensions company - who paid in triple what i did. the benefits were very good but i had no joy doing what i did, so i moved into the local government where the benefits are non-existent - the pension is okay yes

Much better than the Sky one you trumpet in fact. The idea the LGPS is merely 'okay' is absurd.

Public sector workers! Please stop trolling Mr Muscle - it's clearly bad for his health.

leslieknope

i'm not denying the pension i had before was good, it was fantastic. and the pension i have right now is good also - but so are most pensions should you choose to pay into them wisely and stay with a company for a long time. but day to day LG workers are still fairly low paid for the work they do - which was mr muscle's original point, that they don't deserve a pay rise. i don't think i do a particularly important job so i accepted my 1% without much ado but there are a lot of extremely valuable services in the public sector that deserve better recognition and he is hung up on the fact that he is 'paying' for our wages. well we pay for our own wages too! and i would gladly give people like nurses a big payrise if i could decide how my taxes are spent. but that's why i'm not an mp i suppose.

hyubh

leslieknope wrote: »

the pension i have right now is good also - but so are most pensions should you choose to pay into them wisely and stay with a company for a long time.

That is simply not true - the LGPS and a 'pretty good' modern private sector DC scheme are not comparable at all, let alone the LGPS and a statutory minimum auto-enrolement scheme. Private and third sector employers in the LGPS can be paying employer rates north of 30%, which gives an indication of what membership is worth.

Another aspect of DB scheme membership (in particular, but not only modern public sector DB scheme membership) are the additional benefits that come with it (life cover etc.) that in a DC world would be a separate benefit, assuming they exist in the first place.