People complaining about their 'bonus'

[extramoney]

Reading a thread about the NHS bonus and everyone unhappy that it's not as much as they expected because of deductions

Made me think that actually people are a bit entitled. we all get taxed on bonus, we should just be grateful we've had some extra.

IT'S NOT A BONUS

It's a one off pay supplement, paid too late for last year, isn't a permanent pay enhancement and applies to this year's tax bill

Got caught by that one. There’s a rule of thumb in our section that I never seem to get a payrise I don’t get screwed over by. The one where I took a promotion just as Hunt’s payrises came in and ended up being paid less than if I hadn’t taken it is still joked about.

I know you can make statistics say anything you want,but I genuinely don't know anyone in the private sector who has had a pay rise of anything near 7%. I work for a PLC (4000 employees) and we got 3%. my husband works for a tiny busi ess (4 employees) and he is on the same wage as 2018, literally, meaning his pay is exactly the same now as it was then. All my friends, family and (obviously) colleagues are in the same boat.
I always assume that that this fabled private sector land of milk and honey is skewed sonewhat by directors' bonuses or something.
From where I am standing, public sector scores higher on just about everything - pay, conditions, flexibility and nit forgetting the better pensions and early retirement that usually is on the table.

YAB ridiculous.

Come join us then and get better pay and conditions. We’ve loads of vacancies.

Try working for a university. You won’t have to worry about tax on a bonus because you’ll get sweet fuck all every year.

That is such a stupid, lazy and predictable response. I don't want to join you, it's not what I was trained to do.
why don't you come and join us if it's so hard where you are?

Any bonus I have ever had I assume it’s half of what they have said £1000 = £500 etc. it’s always slightly more than half but it’s a good way of setting expectations in my head

Yep. Easiest thing to do would be to join the NHS, surely? For the amazing perks.

So odd that more people resentful about this aren’t doing so.

Back pay also gets taxed. I have had that some years where it takes the unions a long time to agree a payrise so whilst it is applied , say from April, you don't get it until October. Hence back pay in one month and a bit of a hefty tax bill.

It is a thing. Annoying, but a thing.

It should be taxed but - it should be higher in the first place and there should be pay increases! NHS staff are undervalued - not entitled.
You can bet the newspaper headlines are waving about the gross figure, supporting the government and implying that's how much people are taking home and they should be grateful 🙄

@Tinkietot indeed - to not to do that would be like expecting the headline salary for your job to and in your bank account every month. People on £45k a year jobs don't actually get £45k a year so why would you get a £2000 bonus - quoted amount are always pre tax as people have different tax circumstances.

Really hope they don't given the staff shortages in the NHS!! Not a lazy or predictable response at all. I've worked in the private sector and I'd be the first to admit some jobs are more important and more critical than mine. With tougher conditions. NHS is one of those - and should be rewarded accordingly! You're right you're not trained - there's a huge amount of training needed for a lot of NHS jobs that means staff shortages and retention is more important than for us private sector people.
What is this my company is not treating me well so everyone should be kept down too mentality?

@Mammothwoollyjumper genuine question and I don’t mean any offence!

I was talking to my teacher friends and they were saying they don’t actually think they are badly paid but it’s the conditions and extra work etc that make it worse. They would accept a 2-4% payrise if they increased the school funding, could employ more teachers / TA and have budget to do extra things with the kids.

Is this similar in the NHS? If you could improve the working conditions, extra staff, extra budgets that would be not be more beneficial that payrises and bonuses etc? Otherwise you’re slightly better paid but the conditions are still bad? I mean obviously it would be great if we could have both better conditions and a pay rise but pigs might fly first!

This. This country spends the least per capita on health than any European country. The comparative figures for everything from the number of beds to staffing levels bring us in below anywhere in Europe.

I think you’ll find that’s EXACTLY what’s happening. Hence the massive amount of vacancies.

it is a lazy and predictable response because it is trotted out Every.Single.Time. public sector v private sector is discussed.
SOME jobs in the NHS are critical, not all. And yes, I did begrudge someone working in NHS admin jumping to the front of the queue during Covid.
As for the training, there's a huge amount of training needed for many jobs, not just NHS. And a nurse who has undergone all of the training you mention will be on substantially more than £28k.
Look, I am really not looking for a fight but I am always frustrated by the hero-worship that public sector (especially NHS and teachers) see to get and expect. it got worse during the pandemic
It's not a race to the bottom but it always amazes me that people are so accepting of the narrative trotted out time and time again about nurses' pay. I can only assume they have no idea what nurses are actually paid, or teachers for that matter.
the junior doctors I can get on board with - but for some reason, even though they are paid less than some nurses, the public sympathy just isn't there. Again, I assume that's because the hive mind is all nurses = £20k, all doctors = £100k

Bit of both. We could do with an additional band 2 to cope with the work load. We’re never going to get one. The workload goes up but the number of staff to manage it doesn’t so everyone is stressed trying to fit in more work than there is time for.

But we’re also losing them because they can find better paid work elsewhere and we can’t recruit. Or if we do recruit the staff aren’t great.

Really? The nurses, teachers and police offices I knew all 'got out' because their generous pensions allowed them to retire at 55. Meanwhile mugs like me will be working until I am 67 to pay for them to Potter about 12 years before private sector workers generally can.

I agree - I posted above, I've gone up 5% in just under four years...

Have you seen the number of healthcare professionals emigrating? They’re leaving in droves, particularly to Australia. Or does that not count as “getting out”?

It’s not a bonus is it.

It’s a cost of living one-off payment. It’s a way to avoid giving a decent pay-rise that can then be built on the following year - so the salary itself isn’t rising by the amount of the one-off payment.

I think the only reasonable conclusion of this thread is that we’re all being fucked up the arse by the government.

YaBU

The government knew people would get hammered for tax, which is why they did it this way. It's a bonus for them too.

I knew this would be the case too and I'm not expecting much extra at all. Story of being in the UK unfortunately. We shovel shit so a few can benefit from it.

If it had been paid at the time (instead of being back pay, as you have suggested) it would have been subject to NI, tax and superannuation (which you will get the benefit of when you retire) reductions anyway, which everyone has to pay.

However with regard to superannuation; NHS pensions are nowhere near as good as they used to be, when pensions were based on final salary. NHS staff now have to pay more in, for a ‘smaller pension’ under the ‘career average revalued earnings (CARE) model’. Band 5 nurses (which the majority of nurses are) now also have to pay a significantly higher percentage of their earnings (9.8%), under the ‘tiers scheme’, as do all Band 5 staff (radiographers, physios etc.), whereas the majority of ancillary staff (cleaners, support workers etc.) only pay 6.5%. I don’t feel this is justified, considering the amount of training and responsibility qualified nurses have, against the (sometimes minimal) training lower grade NHS staff have!