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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be offering £8 p/h for part-time work in my small company

70 replies

AgathaPinchBottom · 26/07/2011 06:52

Hi folks, I run a small business (1 year old) and have a fairly new baby, and I am looking for part-time help at work. Someone recently wrote to me asking me for work and I replied saying I could offer them £8 an hour (to answer phone, take enquiries etc). They replied saying they wouldn't even consider it unless I doubled the figure. Can't really afford to pay someone this. AIBU to think £8 enough? (Also - it would start at £8 and go up to £10 in a few months as business improves). Opinions gratefully received.

OP posts:

HarrietJones · 26/07/2011 06:56

£8 is reasonable for that's sort of work. Tbh if the jobs that basic, min wage wouldn't seem out of the question

EttiKetti · 26/07/2011 06:58

I'd bite your hand off :o but bet you're nowhere near me!

pinkytheshrinky · 26/07/2011 06:59

You are perfectly reasonable - what a rude person!

schomberg · 26/07/2011 07:07

£16 ph? If that was full time it would work out to an annual salary of £33k. DN is a speciality registrar and makes about that, I know teachers who make less. So unless the position includes performing surgical procedures or shaping the minds of young children then I'd tell this person to FRO. Especially for being so rude about it.

Decorhate · 26/07/2011 07:10

My previous job (which involved a lot more than answering the phone) paid similar so yanbu.

However, I do recall that the office temps I worked with 20 years ago probably got that sort of hourly rate too - so might seem to some that wages haven't gone up much in 20 years!

If you are able to offer flexible hours/term time only, I bet you will get loads of highly qualified mums beating a path to your door!

Original poster

AgathaPinchBottom · 26/07/2011 07:12

Thanks everyone! Good to hear your thoughts. A back to work mum is exactly what I need. Any Londoners interested - let me know! Will try and get it up to £10 p/h...

OP posts:

confuseddotcodotuk · 26/07/2011 07:12

That's more than what those jobs get in my home town! Not one of those was above min. wage! £16 an hour is a joke.

Original poster

AgathaPinchBottom · 26/07/2011 07:13

Oh...am I allowed to put that? Am fairly new to Mumsnet - and don't know the rules...

OP posts:

AlpinePony · 26/07/2011 07:14

In london? I was earning more than that in '98 in croydon - never mind London.

x2boys · 26/07/2011 07:15

i,m on nearly 15pound an hour basic but i,m a registered nurse with 15 years experience my husband works in a warehouse and is and ison just over minimum wage people need to get realistic what your offering is reasonable for the work

EssentialFattyAcid · 26/07/2011 07:33

If the work is unskilled then minimum wage is your opening bet. Paying £33k to answer the phone, even in London, is clearly ludicrous!

catwalker · 26/07/2011 07:54

If you're in London then not so sure. I know a boy who's just finished his gcse's who has landed himself a summer office job in central London. Basically just filing and he's getting £10.50 an hour ....

Silverstar2 · 26/07/2011 08:01

£8 per hour sound good to me! That is what I was paid part time in my last admin job in estate agency - now I get more, still in admin, but a bigger company.

But I am in Oxfordshire, don't know about London prices.

Can you try and find out what similar jobs near you/in your field are paying? That would give you an idea the if you are right.

Good luck, and well done on your business!

roulade · 26/07/2011 08:02

As long as it is not in "the city" it is fine

kando · 26/07/2011 08:03

I think that's perfectly reasonable, even for London. Big companies can obviously afford to pay more, but a small, local business can't afford to pay the same as big businesses! I work for a local small business and get paid £8 for doing admin, so I think what you are offering is very reasonable. And if I were in London, I'd be jumping at the chance to work for you! Good luck with the search

kando · 26/07/2011 08:05

PS - I've worked there for over a year and not had a payrise, so I wouldn't necessarily offer a pay rise so quickly (but then I'm not a businesswoman so ...!)

iamjustlurking · 26/07/2011 08:09

I work in SE (Reading Area) and get just under £8 per hour for 20 hours admin. Been there nearly 2 years.

To be fair I was just grateful to be able to work school hours as the jobs are far and few between.

faaaaghinatub · 26/07/2011 09:13

33k a year to do admin?

I don't care if you're in London, for an unskilled basic admin role with an office environment and standard working hours that's taking the piss.

I know graduates in professional roles earning much less than that who work in London!

I wonder if this person was trying to ensure that by taking on the work the drop in benefits would make it worthwhile? Just an idea? We've seen through the calculations on MN here that people can literally end up on the same or less money by working over so many hours (with the associated costs of e.g. commuting, work clothes, lunches) rather than work the bare minimum hours (you didn't say what "part time" entailed in terms of hours per week).

Is that anything to do with it I wonder?

faaaaghinatub · 26/07/2011 09:14

Woops, missed out a "in which case I wouldn't blame them" from the end of that post, hit Post too soon.

squeakytoy · 26/07/2011 09:16

Well I am in London and would be happy to work for £8 an hour. :)

mum0ftw0 · 26/07/2011 09:16

I would take that job

Punkatheart · 26/07/2011 09:17

No - £8-10 is reasonable. Someone is trying it on, perhaps knowing it is urgent. You are are also a good employer to ask around and care that you are doing the right thing. Hope you fill it - it I was closer (in South East too) I would help you out!

lawnimp · 26/07/2011 09:21

£8 per hour in london ain't great to be honest, but i guess if people will work for that, then that will be the norm

activate · 26/07/2011 09:22

don't forget to add on NI and employer's tax which you'll have to pay as an employer

CaptainNancy · 26/07/2011 09:22

tbh I wouldn't even respond to someone so rude- would you really want them answering your company telephones?

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