To think this job spec is asking the world for very little money?

[naughtybutniceandaspice]

I can't quite believe it.

NHS, I know. But even still. I'm shocked. £20-23k to do all of this?

What do you think?

AIBU?

I have been working in private sector and would get paid over £30k (outside of London), for that.

In London, PAs/EAs can earn 30-50k +. I was earning nearly 40k a couple of years ago.

Working in the civil service (outside London) I was on 25k as an EA.

It’s not “basic admin” at all but assistants are always undervalued and looked down on.

You are very poorly paid HopeHoppity. Isn't that close to minimum wage? My first job out of university in 1998 was £16k.

Admin managers in the NHS can be Band 6, at least they do in the Trust where I work. That's a very senior role though and involves managing a number of admin teams, supervision, appraisals etc

For that role in that area, I would expect the salary to be between 30 - 32k. 20 - 23k is a pretty poor salary for the skills needed.

It's not that far from London, where similar roles will be 35k +

I know people who take jobs like that after being SW's, they are on a similar pay, but have a lot less to do.

My DD is a residential MH Manager.
She has to run the residential house, including Staff Rotas/issues. Recruit/interview/sort out Bank Staff/ML etc.

Work within her budget. Try to come up with new initiatives etc. Sort days out/lesuire etc.

Sort the Medicine delivery/administration, go to MAPPA meetings/Poluce/SW's.

Oversee the residents Care/meal pkans/money management etc.

And be hands on in the house. Be on call 24/7.

All on around 21k.

You'd be surprised what Care Assistants and Support Assistants have to do for about 50p above Min Wage. I know good care staff who have become cleaners because of the workload.

Neverunderfed, perhaps not on paper, but often what the person brings to the role etc isnt common, unfortunately they aren't valued.

At one time when degree level education wasn't the norm, we justified the wage discrepancies, but I don't think it's a valid argument these day, for a lot of roles

Surgery and Doctors, is very different. But outside of Senior Health Care, there isn't a real skills shortage to justify the pay gap.

I'm a nurse and I'm paid £23k so I think it's VERY reasonable.

Probably little to no promotion prospects with that role just an ever increasing workload when other staff leave. I don't think it's a great offering at all and I work in the NHS in a clinical role!

In Australia as a PA I could earn $60-$70k, possibly more if I worked for a University or senior management. It's a hard role to get and they don't hire anyone with just basic admin skills.

Nurses' pay is far too low though Fruit. They deserve far more, as does the successful applicant for the PA role.

The race to the bottom is on it seems, I cannot wait to leave this shit hole. Talk about the turkeys voting for Christmas

5fivestar - completely agree!

Salaries are about supply and demand. Can you get 20 people applying for a job? Wages will be lower than a job where you might get 2 applicants who might not fit the spec. Similarly if someone could do the job with minimal training and experience wages will be lower as they are easily replaceable.
There are a lot of IT jobs for good salaries, not because it's a more responsible or stressful job, but because there aren't enough people with the experience available so companies have to pay more to get them.

Agree with you 100% OP. I'm a nanny and I'm on 28k, I have a BSc but let's be honest, you don't need formal qualifications for nannying. I would leave my job for that

I mean I wouldn't* leave my job for that

Have to agree with PP that it doesn't sound totally unreasonable for an admin position.

Emergency Care Assistants (pt facing, drive ambulances on blue lights etc) are Band 3 where I am, and EMDs (call handlers) and dispatchers are band 4. The EMDs have only just been rebanded after fighting for it for over a year.

If they make a mistake people can die

I don’t think that the government and companies can complain about the failing high street and businesses. Maybe if employee wages had increased with inflation, council tax, petrol, water and electric weren’t all so expensive, there would be more money to spend on goods and services!

I agree, dh's PA (manages the directors and senior managers for the operations team) earns closer to 40k

Apart from more senior managers, a lot of posts in the public sector are very poorly paid. There have been no or tiny pay increases for years. So wages have not kept pace.

For that role in that area, I would expect the salary to be between 30 - 32k.
No way. That would mean being paid the same or more than many qualified professionals in the NHS and lower down managers.

abacucat - in the private sector, I think you’ll find that PAs can earn more than an NHS healthcare professional! In the public sector I was earning more as an EA than I earned as an NHS band 5 staff nurse.

@Travisandthemonkey - that very much depends on the tasks expected from you, your levels of responsibility and the level of expertise in the business you are in.
Being a CEO's right hand is different from being someone who needs to juggle diaries of people in a department but that's it. I got to know several PAs who knew the people they reported to almost better than they did themselves and they were absolutely invaluable. The job description above looks relatively simple in terms of responsibility so I can't see why it should be paid too much.

I believe you sadly. So many low paid roles in the public sector.

Funny that as an NHS nurse with a degree I earned 23k (27k in London) and nearly 40k in the City...with far less stress!

I feel that discussion has highlighted that we're actually quite blessed in the UK by having salary (bands) typically advertised with the role. At least you know what if what you do is similar (in responsibility) to what is advertised but the wage that much lower, it is probably not providing as much responsibility/stimulus as you might think.

From conversations (on line) with lots of folk in the US it seems that salary is never indicated, so you can waste a lot of time applying for and doing interviews at companies where it turns out quickly enough that the pay offered isn't in line with the job spec at all.

I think the private sector in the UK is a bit half-and-half as to advertising with figures attached (going by recruitment boards).

In my own situation, I have a job title that is worth about 15k less in the private sector. That's because the role is called a manager role everywhere else. With the result that I get solicited on LinkedIn for junior roles in the private sector, but am hardly ever able to apply for manager roles as I'm clearly not a manager.

It isn't basic admin. And anyway I think "just admin" is feckin hard! I couldn't do it-I find things like diary management and minute taking really difficult.
Salaries are disgustingly low in this country. Just because too many women
people work for 16 k doesn't mean it's OK.
I know plenty of "project managers" and "producers" on 5/6 times that wage and their jobs are not half as difficult and important as they would have you believe. (in part because of the admin support they get!)