To wonder if some roles/salaries are worth it

[Aceofbase00]

I've seen an ad for a Unit Manager in a care home I've done some work in, £37.5k a year. I'd love that kind of salary, then I calculated the hourly rate for 60 hours a week, which is what some unit managers there seem to be doing. There's one who practically lives there, I don't think he had a day off over Christmas and New Year. Works out as approx £12 an hour..
As an agency care assistant I can earn £11.73 for working weekends and yesterday I earned £23.00 an hour for working new year's day.
Obviously not all unit managers will do as many hours/on that salary.
It's the same for teachers though, a NQT starting on 28k, averaging a 55 hour week (not uncommon) will be earning an actual rate of 9.79 an hour.
Obviously being non-salaried I am losing out on sick pay and so on though, and they will get other benefits that we don't get.
However it did just make me wonder whether it's all worth it.

I know what you mean, some jobs are just so underpaid for the level of responsibility they have and it's just not right.

I believe junior doctors only get paid around £29k when they first start which is crazy for the level of responsibility and the fact that its literally a life and death job.

It is worth it because more control is actually less stressful. Plus over time you get more skilled and things take less time, so you can make more of a difference. Admin if you are good at it is far easier than the front line work.

I think a lot of people who work in these mid-range pay roles, with lots of responsibility, would have similarly low hourly rates if they worked out why they are paid per hour for the hours they actually work (rather than what hrs are intheir contract).

I left social work for this reason. Was earning around £35k but the hourly rate for the hours I actually worked (always worked way over contracted hours) was terrible.

I think it’s probably more common in the social care/education type sectors.

It is shocking how low paid some important roles are. I guess we’d lured in by the attractive looking salary and not everyone looks at the hours/requirements closely to realise it’s not as good as it seems.

For others it’s about passion for their chosen career, but that passion is eventually eroded by all the red tape and paperwork.

My partner works in hospitality on an hourly rate, if he works full time hours he has a higher take home pay than the assistant manager who's salaried.

That’s massively common in hospitality. As management, all the way up until area manager, my sister was paid less per hour over all than her full time hourly paid staff.

It’s definitely something you need to look at and weigh up the options.

The job I have now, took over a year of back and forth with my employer. They decided they wanted me. I wasn’t going to join unless it was worth it. Over the year they offered 3 roles. I turned down the first 2. When they came back with a third, I told them what I needed.

The first 2 offered a decent pay rise, but I would have needed more childcare, so was leaving me with not much extra. The lack of flexibility in those roles wasn’t worth it for me either.

I would always tell people to look at the salary. But not in isolation. You need to look at hours, travel, expectations, responsibilities etc.

Yes it's true. I worked as a play worker in children's centres earning £9.80 a hour but it was 37 hour week no stress. I decided to go for assistant social worker role. 28k so 10k a year more but I was working a 60 week as it was the only way to keep on top of paperwork/meetings. I worked out I was earning about £8.90 a hour, which is less than minimum wage. I'd have been better off at McDonald's.

Yeah you're absolutely right lots of pros and cons to weigh up... And wow that's really not on is it :(

I would have thought the pensions and possibly other benefits are better for the salaried positions.

I wouldn't have much less money from the local Tesco after tax, fares, professional fees and exams, preparation time at home etc.
However having done that in my student days the repetition and the powerlessness of being supervised/managers who were full of their own importance would drive me crazy.

There’s a middle ground where it can feel it’s not worth it.

lower paid can be usually hourly, so people can work overtime etc

you get a first supervisor or manager role and it’s a salary, but more responsibility, so you find you’re actually earning less and working just as hard.

then your career builds. It’s that middle bit that’s the problem.

I do think it's important to look at hourly pay, not just annual pay when comparing jobs. Though should be average hours over a year, especially for things like teaching where they definitely don't do 55 hours a week for 48 weeks of the year.

The minimum wage has pushed up pay of unskilled jobs to very close to some graduate/skilled/management level jobs, especially in the public sector where non- minimum wage jobs wages have fallen in real terms over the last 12 years.

YANBU

You need to think long-term, not just for the next 6 months. Opportunities to earn more come from taking on more responsibilities, developing your career could lead to more job satisfaction and overall happiness.

This was similar when I worked in social care. I felt the equivalent hourly rate did not justify how difficult, stressful and emotionally draining the job is.

However having done that job had meant that I went into childrens service run by a charity, and worked up to management there. Good level of challenge and enjoyment, only slightly less money and much better home/life balance. The soxial work experience has been invaluable though!

If you work in a care home, you have to be really good with your boundaries. I never worked over my contracted hours unless I was able to take TOIL or get paid for the hours themselves. Lots of people working in care seem to thrive on the 'hero' complex but you have to be strong not to get sucked into it yourself. If you go for the job, see how you feel about the manager and their views on boundaries around work. If they clearly have none themselves, steer clear. If they are good about self-care, then it's worth a try!

When you look at salaries jobs they need to have the possibility of progression. Will they enable you to step into a better role after a couple of years (not a couple of decades)? Will they pay for extra training to boost your career?

Basically build your career with an idea of the end game.

Often the need for money now stops us being able to make a better choice.