Misleading salary - pro rata

[bagpackbagpack]

Doesn't even remotely effect me, but as a contractor I see this all the time as I am jobs boards a lot sourcing my next line if work.

However AIBU to think job adverts for part time roles should just state the actual pay a person will get, not however much pro rata?

It's so misleading, and doesn't make it easy to compare salaries, as pro rata could meet anything! The whole recruitment market is so under regulated in my opinion (I was recently asked by a recruiter what my childcare arrangement was and if I plan on having anymore children, like it's any their business, I am applying for a job that I feel I am capable of, my childcare or child rearing status has no impact)

Probably about 3 AIBUs here!

Hopefully everyone can make sense of the above (and indeed this comment), despite my iPads attempt to discredit my use of the English language (go away auto type!)

What if the part time hours are to be decided when negotiating the job? Maybe that's not what you're getting at but if they show the full time salary then someone wanting to work 30 hours could work out what they're going to be paid and so could someone wanting work 22 hours.

Is this what you mean?

Pro-rata makes it much easier to compare jobs - ie £50k (pro-rata) on each of 2 jobs is easier to see they are the same than £20k (2 days a week) and £30k (3 days a week).

YABU part time roles are always shown as pro rata or per hour/day. It needs to be that in the headline as part time could mean a day a week or 4 days a week. £10k for 1 day = very good. £10k for 4 days = not good.

YANBU about being asked about childcare and certainly they can't ask about future children.

It's not misleading. YABU.

I also think it attracts more people to not stipulate how many part time hours they're looking for. Show the full time salary rather than the hours and it might attract more people?

I don't know if YAB or YANBU btw, I'm just pondering

But how would you compare salaries otherwise? One job might be 20 hours with overtime, another might be 25 standard every week. Trying to compare portions of salaries would be Impossible. Hours are often negotiable on interview as well. It's the standard for a reason.

Usually it will state number of hours in the ad, so just work out percentage hours from that

I don't think I'd want to employ anyone who could t work out what their salary would be when given a pro rata figure and the other essential information which is always provided on a job advert.

I'm in education, and the pro rata (term time only) generally state the 'actual pay' if I remember rightly.

YABU it shows you where you sit in the market - how do you know if your part time role is paid equivalent to a full timer.

i know how much i am worth as a full timer, and if i wanted to go part time, i would want to know i am being paid a fair wage

YABU. I always want to know the FTE salary. Then whether the job is 14 hours or 19 hours a week, if I know they are fairly paying me the pro-rata'd equivalent of the FTE salary that I think is appropriate for my level.

"pro rata could meet anything!"

What could it mean other than what it actually means?

It's not misleading. It's perfectly understandable.

What I don't like is when an advert doesn't state a salary, and just describes it as 'competitive'. I tend cynically to think that it probably isn't.

It means exactly what it says

YABU. Anyone mislead by this must be pretty stupid

"What I don't like is when an advert doesn't state a salary, and just describes it as 'competitive'. I tend cynically to think that it probably isn't."

Or £excellent/£attractive or similar. An ad is trying to attract candidates, therefore if the salary was indeed attractive they'd be clear about that, so I tend to agree with you.

pro rata could meet anything

I don't get this either. Take full time salary, divide by full time hours, multiply by actual hours worked. That's what pro rata means unless I've got it completely wrong? It's very easy to work out.

If it isn't saying what the full time hours are then it is misleading as you don't know if it's 20 hours from 35 or 37.5 or 40 or whatever. As long as enough info is given then then it doesn't matter which way the state it though.

so, they could say it's 15 hours over two days from a 37.5 hour week at £35k pro rata.

or they could say it's 15 hours to be worked over 2 days at £14k.

in first example, if they don't say the normal hours then you could think it's 15 hours from 35 at £35k fte which gives £15k salary or over 40 hours which would only be £13,125. That would be potentially misleading.

so depends on what info is given to decide if it's unfair.

What I don't like is when an advert doesn't state a salary, and just describes it as 'competitive'. I tend cynically to think that it probably isn't

If a job has a high salary and it is stated in the job advert you get a lot more men than women applying. If a job has a high salary and the advert doesn't specify what it is you are far more likely to get women applying. That was what I was told once by a recruiter.

I can see, with so many people being under employed, that it makes it difficult to see if it's a wage you could live on. But I think it's probably the best way of showing what the role is considered to be worth.

The thing is an admin role could pay between £15 and 20k where I live, full time. Why complicate things and say "Part time admin pro rata £20k pro rata"

What is part time? Is it 10 hours? 20 hours? Minimum wage?

Why not just say "10 hours per week job, X amount if money"

pro rata could mean anything! Like I said in my op.

Yanbu

When I've been job hunting I find this SUCH a pita! Imo ALL job ads should show

How many hours in a standard week in the role
Pay per hour
Whether they pay sick pay
Overtime pay per hour

Because:

If it says pro-rata and doesn't say how many hours that's based on how the hell you meant to calculate the actual pay? Even if the ad says full time there's nothing in uk law to say what full time hours are! It's 'generally accepted' as being more than 35 up to 48 hours per week - that's quite a variation over a year!

Eg £30k pa for 35hr weeks = £16.48ph

£30k pa for 48hr weeks = £12.02ph

How many hours you work can massively affect tax credits, income tax, national insurance, childcare arrangements, benefits, does it fit in with another job/study

If all ads display pay per hour as standard that means there's an easy basic comparison for everyone to see. Makes scanning of job ads and calculating future potential income much easier, also bloody useful for online calculators eg mortgage, loans, tax credits, tax, benefits as they could standardise for this too.

Sick pay - basic info - most of us need time off sick at some point, potential employees need to know if they'll still be on full pay or on ssp as not everyone can afford to risk just Ssp.

Overtime pay per hour - if it's a job that expects employees to work overtime again this is basic info future employees need to know. Sadly it's still the case that salaried employees (especially in retail) often work considerable amounts of overtime unpaid.

I know what you mean OP.

Say there are two jobs you are comparing: they both say 20 hours pro rata and one is 25k whereas the other is 26k, the one for 26k looks better.

Except in the adverts they don't tell you that full-time hours for the first one = 35 hours a week, and the other = 40 hours.

Stating the actual hourly rate would make it much more straightforward to compare them.

pro rata could mean anything! Like I said in my op.

No, it doesn't. How do you not understand this?