Would you turn down this job?

[bbwingg]

Min wage
40 hours per week
Over 2 hours travelling (there and back )
In office working during pandemic (call centre ) no option to work from home
What would you do ?

Depends if you are in desperate financial need for a job

Travelling an hour to work and an hour back isn't unreasonable and it's common where I live, lots of people travel into the city to work but live outside because it's cheaper.

I wouldn't take it if it was shift work which call centres usually are. I wouldn't want to work evenings or weekends because I have two small children (I have worked these in the past when I was single and had no commitments).

I'm sure they are following all current social distancing rules otherwise they wouldn't be allowed to open.

Do you want the job?

That’s an awful lot of travelling for a minimum wage job (where I live, anyway) so I suppose it depends on how much you need the money and how likely you are to find something similar nearer to home.

Is the job something that you at least actually want to do?

Impossible to say in the abstract. What are you doing now, what is your financial/family position and are there alternatives?

Unemployed at the moment
Waiting to hear back from 2 interviews a bit more local and more money

I would accept it while continuing to job hunt for something more suited. Unless you can comfortably afford not to work for the foreseeable, as you could be out of employment for a while given the current circumstances.

If I was unemployed and needed the money then yes, I'd accept it while continuing to look for a better job.

The only negative is when I applied I thought the latest finish was 9pm but it's 11pm and I would be getting 2 trains

Financially is it worth it? If you are travelling by train that's gonna be a big chunk out of your wages especially at minimum wage

I would be around £180 better off than I am now.
The travelling is 1 train 20 mins
2nd train 30 mins
Then a short bus journey

For £180 I probably wouldn’t.

As YouCantBeSad said, the reason I would have to think hard about this is the relationship between train ticket costs and the min. wage. I worked out that I can work with a £10-11 hourly rate if there is a train commute included in the mix (for me currently around £22-25 daily not counting tube), to reliably meet monthly living costs (not a lot of wiggle room). If it is possible to negotiate hours when you can get a train just after peak times, this can also change things positively, which is also something I can occasionally do.

As someone who commutes quite a long way, I would want to be more than 180 better off each month probably, because commuting incurs lots of hidden expenses. Missing the last train and needing to get a taxi, having to pack lunch/dinner and running out of time one day, so needing to buy lunch/dinner out because you had to leave so early to be able to run to the store. Do you have children? If so, obviously irregular hours require additional childcare expenses.

But there is no reason you can't say yes, for now, and wait to see if a better offer comes along. When do you expect to hear back from other local jobs?

Would turning it down affect any UC payments you rely on?

I'd be tempted to accept but then keep looking for something better

No it wouldn't effect any payments

Accept then see if you can get something better. I prefer to be working though.

No, the cost of the commute by train would be most of your wages

How much would the travel cost? Would it be worth it?

Depends how much I needed the money.

One single hour long train journey I would do, but not two and a bus journey - if anything went wrong you'd risk being late to work or missing the last one home, possibly frequently given how often public transport is late.

Recipe for masses of stress and worry

My travel costs are going to be around £160 month including trains and bus

Depends how much you need the money. On here, £180 would be food shopping for the month for some and a haircut for others.
I’d take it and continue looking unless you have lots of short contracts in your cv.
I suspect jobs are going to be harder and harder to secure so I’d take it.

It depends. When you say 'call centre' is there an opportunity to make commission, bonuses etc?

I suppose it depends if you can afford the luxury of refusing, but no, I wouldn't take it if there was a choice. I think an hour each way is reasonable for some jobs, but not for minimum wage.

Is the £180 after everything including commuting?