To be unhappy about how my new job works

[allworknolife]

Name changed in case it's outing. I've recently started a new job as a trainee estate agent. My base salary is a £11k paycut from my old job, but was assured with commision would be a lot higher. I've done admin for years and was bored of it so took the job despite my concerns... but I'm pretty unhappy with a few things

1. Advertised as 5 day a week job, but it's 6 days every other week as you have to work two Saturdays a month

2. Only 20 days holiday, despite having to work 26 Saturdays a year for no extra money apparently its 'factored into your basic'

3. £12k base salary.. for working 5 days 9.00-17:30 and 6 days at 9:00-17:30 Saturday 9:00-16:00.. just seems crazy long hours for such a low base

It's upsetting because I really wanted to break away from admin, and parts of the job I love. However I am immensely micromanaged and with all these crappy aspects I'm tempted to run for the hills.

Part of my job is listing new Properties and marketing, which I love and am really enjoying.. but the sales side of things is so targeted and they expect you to work overtime for no extra base wage just to sell more than others. I want to be good at my job and to sell.. but this job feels like I'm living to work not working to live.

I'm sad and don't want to fail but I'm just exhausted and feel like they do not reward their staff enough for the hours we put it.

@ThroughThickAndThin01 I really don't mind weekend working! But feel time should be given back in week to compensate? In my old admin job I worked every weekend (at my request) DP works every weekend so we had 2 days off together in the week and it was fab. Now I get a weekend off every other week, and just a Sunday off every other week, meaning 0 days with DP... he's trying to rota himself 2 Sunday's off a month so we can get some time together, but it's not easy.

Indigo514
I actually burst out laughing at the half an hour lunch
Actually??

Please look for something else op, sales isn't for everyone and working for a shitty company who maximise their profits at the expense of their workforce shouldn't be for anyone.

Cut your losses now OP.
I worked in a job where I was expected to work every hour under the sun (for no extra pay), and I was paid a decent wage to start with (yours sound terribly low imo)- I certainly wouldn't have done it for any less. I quit after less than a year as it was taking over my life and I didn't have any time to myself anymore.
It seemed like such a great opportunity to start with, new career etc but I knew I wasn't going to stick it out long term so I just cut my losses and got out of there before I made myself more miserable.

Find a company where they set everything out in writing, are up front and honest, give you what you are entitled to, and don't take the piss!

Does anyone take a day off in the week on their Saturday turn?

I suspect that others basic may be higher than mine.. it's a small company in one specific area in England not UK wide ran by a very rich couple and I just feel they are laughing all the way to the bank. There are about 50 employees and all I can think is someone would surely feel the same as me, maybe I'm being duped into a much lower basic? Or maybe everyone else just put up and shut up. I just don't like the feeling of sacrificing my life to line a rich mans pocket for no reward. But at same time a lot of higher up people in this company are doing very well for themselves and sing nothing but praises for the business and how it works.

As it’s commission based, a lot probably are doing well for themselves.

I think you should look at something else OP. This is a quite common setup for estate agents. A friend of mine tried it for a few months but found a similar situation to yours and stopped. It just didn't work for her. If you don't have a contract and you are already working that is concerning, they sound like an awful company. I don't think working for a big name would be anyway better. If you are a work to live sort of person then this is unlikely to make you happy.

I'd be really surprised if anyone else did have a higher basic than yours - in fact, what often happens is when you're an established seller you swap a lower basic for higher commission as it ends up making you more money. More risk, more reward.

You knew the basic salary so I’m not sure how you were duped.
However, that is pretty low so if you don’t think it’s worth it just look for something else

Another voice saying that perhaps sales is not for you. The people I know who love, and do well in, sales, would never do the calculations you are considering. They are entirely focussed on the commission they are going to earn.

What matters is that you find an area that suits you. If you are good at admin (not everyone is) then as a PP mentioned, maybe look at property management. Project management may also work for you, starting in a junior PMO role you could fine a role where you are trained in Project Management.

Good luck.

It sounds as though this job is not for you and you would be happier going back to admin with your set working days and holidays.
I worked new home sales for years and made a lot of money along with my sales team collegues but we where expected to work later hours if clients called into the sales room,if they arrived near closing times you just couldn't turf them out because you where going home and had to stand the time of their visit if you wanted to make the commission on top of your basic,we worked all Bank Holidays as that was the time partners came to view the only time some people had off together,I have opened up a development at 7.30 in the morning for a client to view as they where both working and needed a final viewing,but I knew they where going to buy and didn't object it took me over my target and added a double bonus,it just depends how much you love the job and I did,(loved the £s more)

That sounds dreadful OP but sadly very typical of sales type roles.

I imagine if you say anything as well you will suddenly find yourself 'no longer needed'

Your holiday entitlement isn't right either. You should be getting more than 20 days as the minimum entitlement is 5.6 weeks so you should get at least 28 days off.

That's not right. Standard holiday days are 4 or 5 weeks. I get 24 days (HQ of large bank).

I don't know anyone who gets more that 5 weeks other than teachers.

I have no advice really, but wanted to add my sympathy to this thread with the work situation.

I had a stable, full time job but had been there several years and despite trying to progress had been held back and I was getting fed up and bored. So I went to a new job, that was more money, promised 5 days a week full time, entry level management etc. However within three days it became clear the job had been badly mis-sold to me, they had no plans on how to cover my absences/weekend rotas/holidays etc without me basically working 7 days a week, 8 hrs a day. They were horribly inflexible, had no real management skills of their own and so I called time and ended up leaving.

You're not alone in being misled about a new job.

Leave. There's no future in high street estate agents anyway.

Your holiday entitlement isn't right either. You should be getting more than 20 days as the minimum entitlement is 5.6 weeks so you should get at least 28 days off.

^That's not right. Standard holiday days are 4 or 5 weeks. I get 24 days (HQ of large bank).

I don't know anyone who gets more that 5 weeks other than teachers^

It is right, UK minimum by law is 28 days including bank holidays. Plenty of people who are not teachers get more than that. I am entitled to 33 days + BHs.

You really need to stop blaming them and take responsibility for your own actions & decisions.

It’s a Real Estate Agents...since when has a Real Estate Agent EVER said they do it for life/work balance the job gives them?

Working every other Saturday is pretty standard, you assumed a day off in the week, but that’s not the norm & you didn’t ask.

You knew what the pay/holiday/sick leave was before starting.

Etc etc

Now you need to decide what you want to do.

Stay & accept the conditions
Stay & argue about the conditions
Leave & go back to admin
Leave & look for something entirely different

You’re not cut out for sales, so I’d rule that out.

Get out. Sounds like book publishing, but better.

They're screwing you - but once you've gone, report them to HMRC on the min wage line. HMRC really do want to know so they can fix it. You don't have to do anything except tell them - they do the rest and send you a cheque.

Employers who get done for not paying NMW are a) surprisingly few and far between b) cave in pretty quickly, because it's a criminal offence with a massive fine - it's not a big deal for you, and you get paid properly.

What’s the commission structure: is it achievable to increase your salary to pass the NMW point and beyond.

Being ready for work by 9 is reasonable, but the clock-watching at 8.30 and the lunch thing says a lot about the people you’re working for. I am a well-organised person that believes you’re at work to work, being treated as though I wasn’t would fuck me right off.

Sounds misleading. I would leave and go back to admin. Life’s too short !

OP, you're in the right and your employers aren't. Slightly surprised at all the posters who are saying you're being pathetic and jobsworth - they're condoning exploitation and crime, which sounds dramatic but in your case is nothing but fact.

Well done on branching out into the unknown, very gutsy. You might have be just a tiny little bit more brave - try something else new and lovely. It's better out there, really.

BTW I've always worked in the arts where employment law doesn't exist, and even there this wouldn't be a good job.

So many bloody people are so used to having to work excessive hours for free that they think it's the norm!!! Rather than being so harsh to someone who just wants to be treated how they are legally entitled to be treated doesn't make me 'not cut out for the job' it's people like that who put up with these awful conditions that allow it to become the norm!!

Thank you to all the lovely people who are being understanding - I am more than happy to work my hours and work bloody hard but I will not work for free or for less than legal!!

I'd report the breach of min wage now, OP. The Low Pay Unit are very discreet when they do an investigation, they do spot checks and can identify breaches from RTI uploads. They never say that a staff member has made a report.

With a bit of luck, you'll get the pleasure of seeing the management shit themselves when the pay inspectors turn up!

I also wonder if they're breaching the Working Hours directive. I have a notion that unless you've signed the opt-out, the maximum is 42 hours a week.

I was an estate agent back in the early 1980s, they treated people like crap then and they don't seem to have got any better.

Lots of companies make it a condition of employment for the employee to sign the working time directive waiver. When I worked for an estate agency they made me sign it or would have withdrawn their job offer.