Being Lied To Or Am I Stupid?

TurnItAround

Really need clarity on this so I got offered a job that is £14 p/h on a 4on4off, 12hr shift schedule, they then told me to balance out the pay so one month you don't get more or less due to the nature of 4on4off that they have a fixed salary of £30,500.

Now here's where my issue starts because 30.5k ÷ 12 is £2,500 before tax and £2,000 after so I'm not sure where this £14 p/h is coming into play. The average shifts for this schedule is usually 16 but they told me it's 18-21 if it is 16 shifts then yeah it works out around 2.6k pre tax unless they were being disingenuous and say 18-21 because they expect you to do the overtime....

Which brings me to my second point, this job is at a government building and the people were very lovely however at the end when I was offered a job I told them I'll have to get back with a decision as I have another interview and out of courtesy would like to attend...at this point in a "joking" manner they told me to cancel that interview, told me one other guy was in the same situation as me and he cancelled etc etc to the point I found it a bit uncomfortable and unprofessional given their status.

Also turns out the second interview I loved the people got on with them super and the place of work seems very appealing and I'll only be losing out on £200 but my quality of life will be better imo, just want to know your thoughts on this.

Thank you again 

Marcon

TurnItAround said:

Really need clarity on this so I got offered a job that is £14 p/h on a 4on4off, 12hr shift schedule, they then told me to balance out the pay so one month you don't get more or less due to the nature of 4on4off that they have a fixed salary of £30,500.

Now here's where my issue starts because 30.5k ÷ 12 is £2,500 before tax and £2,000 after so I'm not sure where this £14 p/h is coming into play. The average shifts for this schedule is usually 16 but they told me it's 18-21 if it is 16 shifts then yeah it works out around 2.6k pre tax unless they were being disingenuous and say 18-21 because they expect you to do the overtime....

Which brings me to my second point, this job is at a government building and the people were very lovely however at the end when I was offered a job I told them I'll have to get back with a decision as I have another interview and out of courtesy would like to attend...at this point in a "joking" manner they told me to cancel that interview, told me one other guy was in the same situation as me and he cancelled etc etc to the point I found it a bit uncomfortable and unprofessional given their status.

Also turns out the second interview I loved the people got on with them super and the place of work seems very appealing and I'll only be losing out on £200 but my quality of life will be better imo, just want to know your thoughts on this.

Thank you again 

A straw poll based on responses from people who know nothing about you except the few paragraphs above (written in a way which actually answers your own question and asks for confirmation of what you've already concluded, if you re-read your post) isn't going to add anything of value.

Trust your own thoughts. You know yourself!

theoretica

4 on 4 off, 12 hour shifts makes a 12 hour shift on half the days of the year.

365/2 x 12 x £14 = £30660 - close to the £30500 they quote (£13.93 an hour would be closer!)

Grumpy_chap

TurnItAround said:

Really need clarity on this so I got offered a job that is £14 p/h on a 4on4off, 12hr shift schedule, they then told me to balance out the pay so one month you don't get more or less due to the nature of 4on4off that they have a fixed salary of £30,500.

Now here's where my issue starts because 30.5k ÷ 12 is £2,500 before tax and £2,000 after so I'm not sure where this £14 p/h is coming into play. The average shifts for this schedule is usually 16 but they told me it's 18-21 if it is 16 shifts then yeah it works out around 2.6k pre tax unless they were being disingenuous and say 18-21 because they expect you to do the overtime....

4 on 4 off, 12 hour shifts.  48 working hours per 4-days on.

365 days per year is 91.25 lots of 4 days per year. 
Of these, half are working and half are off. 
2,190 working hours per year.
£14 per hour = £30,660

The calculation of the annual salary at £30,500 seems about right - this is then divided by 12 to make equal monthly payments and it includes paid leave etc.

TurnItAround said:

Which brings me to my second point, this job is at a government building and the people were very lovely however at the end when I was offered a job I told them I'll have to get back with a decision as I have another interview and out of courtesy would like to attend...at this point in a "joking" manner they told me to cancel that interview, told me one other guy was in the same situation as me and he cancelled etc etc to the point I found it a bit uncomfortable and unprofessional given their status.

It sounds almost as though you were too honest at the end of the interview.
A prospective employer wants to know that you are really keen for their job (even if you are not, you need to appear super- super-keen). 
When the interview ends on a positive "thank you, we'd like to make you an offer" the answer they are looking for is "I am so pleased and excited and really look forward to your formal offer coming through." 
No need to mention another interview elsewhere unless they already knew, in which case a suitable answer is "I can now call up the other company and withdraw from their interview."

Once you are out of the office, you can then decide in your own time whether to follow the second interview or cancel.
That isn't even going back on what you said "I can ..." you never said "I will ..."

TurnItAround said:

Also turns out the second interview I loved the people got on with them super and the place of work seems very appealing and I'll only be losing out on £200 but my quality of life will be better imo, just want to know your thoughts on this.

In what way will your quality of life be better?
Is that improvement worth £200 per year?

Congratulations on securing the job offers and good luck making a fantastic success of whichever offer you accept and decide to go forward with.
Don't worry about the fact you'll be letting one company down - simply do the decline professionally and politely and all will be well.  It happens regularly.

TurnItAround

Thank you all for the fast responses and basically answering my question; I am stupid 😅

@Grumpy_chap Thanks for the numbers makes sense now. To touch on the other point, it's 200 less per month but the job itself is night shift only with 10hr shifts as opposed to days and nights 12hr shifts like the other one and one of the biggest factors for me is that this less paid one is me alone there which is something I love as opposed to working with a group of people

I understand I shouldn't have told them I think I'm too honest for my own good I just thought they'd appreciate it instead of me saying let me think about it then declining 

Savvy_Sue

I've never said "I won't say yes right now because I have another interview", but I have said "I'll have to think about your offer, would you give me over the weekend?" or whatever. 

Mind you, most recently I was asked during the interview "if we offer, will you accept?" and my failure to say "yes of course" cost me the job. Which I wasn't sorry about really, it was a bit of a punt when I was struggling with one manager. I was relieved when that manager gave notice, and glad I hadn't jumped ship earlier ...