Page 12 | "Public sector - so no"

OhpoorMe · 2023-12-11T11:00:55+00:00

Anyone else get quite frustrated seeing this on threads about Christmas parties/ bonuses / staff perks etc The public sector isn't one homogenous organisation. I've only ever worked in PS organisations and have always had a paid for staff party, sometimes bonuses, sometimes perks etc. It's not a given that public sector = badly treated!

Jeffsmeffsmiff · 12/12/2023 20:48

Heyhoherewegoagain · Today 20:28

SALWARP2023 · Today 20:07

I think public sector should get treated the same as the private sector but this not only includes bonuses and meals etc, but also terms of employment such as only receiving statutory sick pay rather than the 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay. Plus eliminating the enhanced maternity pay the public sector enjoy. And employers only contributing 5% towards pensions rather than the 20 to 29% public sector workers enjoy. Just a thought to those poor public employees!
Yup, because the race to the bottom in eroding employee rights is always a great plan!"

I think it this PP was probably joking but it really does grate hearing public sector workers moaning about lack of bloody bonuses and Christmas parties when they have all those other amazing benefits the rest of don't have!

neverbeenskiing · 12/12/2023 21:11

SALWARP2023 · 12/12/2023 20:07

I think public sector should get treated the same as the private sector but this not only includes bonuses and meals etc, but also terms of employment such as only receivng statutory sick pay rather than the 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay. Plus eliminating the enhanced maternity pay the public sector enjoy. And employers only contributing 5% towards pensions rather than the 20 to 29% public sector workers enjoy. Just a thought to those poor public employees!

I know people in the private sector who also enjoy all those benefits.
Strange that we are finding it impossible to recruit staff even though there are apparently so many perks!

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 21:23

I know people in the private sector who also enjoy all those benefits

For the 15th time, direct benefit pensions are virtually unheard of in the private sector.

It's not about how much the employer contributes, it's an entirely different mechanism for administering pensions.

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 21:25

Strange that we are finding it impossible to recruit staff even though there are apparently so many perks!

As this thread amply demonstrates, many people don't even understand the value of their pension set up.

Presumably also some people don't care, because it's hard to worry too much about pension provision when you're young.

Jeffsmeffsmiff · 12/12/2023 21:27

Sorry @neverbeenskiing but I don't believe you. There are no private sector companies that pay anything like 20% into a pension. And I'd be very surprised if any would pay 6 months full pay followed by 6 months at half for sick leave either (although they might have some sort of income protection insurance plan which might cover in case of a cancer diagnosis or similar) I don't think working in the public sector is all perfect at all. But it absolutely has it's perks.

Jeffsmeffsmiff · 12/12/2023 21:30

Oh and pretty much everywhere is struggling to recruit.

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 21:32

There are no private sector companies that pay anything like 20% into a pension.

Not that it's even a comparible figure, because, as above, the mechanism is different. But you're right. I worked for a company that did 8% and that was considered immensely generous.

Perhaps if people did the calculation of how much they'd have to amass into a DC pension pot to get their DB payout, they'd start to understand.

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 21:33

And I'd be very surprised if any would pay 6 months full pay followed by 6 months at half for sick leave either (although they might have some sort of income protection insurance plan which might cover in case of a cancer diagnosis or similar

No small private company could fund anything like this. In my industry, most people take out insurance themselves. It's not paid for.

Ribenaberry12 · 12/12/2023 21:41

Was private sector for 5 years and got Christmas bonus, high end gift from line manager, all expenses meal and party, Christmas/ New Year shut down on full salary with no home working in that period.
20+ years private sector - a group of us go to the pub. 😂

trussedchicken · 12/12/2023 21:51

I would swap every single free Christmas party and every single annual bonus I've ever received in my private sector jobs, in exchange for a public sector pension, public sector annual leave allowance, public sector sick pay, death in service etc, etc. I am actively looking for public sector jobs solely for the pension. I have a few friends who are public sector and they genuinely don't seem to get how much better their pensions are.

TarkaDalOtter · 12/12/2023 22:04

trussedchicken · 12/12/2023 21:51

I would swap every single free Christmas party and every single annual bonus I've ever received in my private sector jobs, in exchange for a public sector pension, public sector annual leave allowance, public sector sick pay, death in service etc, etc. I am actively looking for public sector jobs solely for the pension. I have a few friends who are public sector and they genuinely don't seem to get how much better their pensions are.

I agree with you.

I have never expected a Christmas party. One night doesn’t make up for the other benefits.

My husband and I are in our fifties. He is private sector and I am NHS. Our pension situations could not be more different. We will be heading into old age on my pension; his is peanuts. I just hope I can keep going. I am feeling tired and old right now!

CrazyCatLover · 12/12/2023 22:05

trussedchicken · 12/12/2023 21:51

I would swap every single free Christmas party and every single annual bonus I've ever received in my private sector jobs, in exchange for a public sector pension, public sector annual leave allowance, public sector sick pay, death in service etc, etc. I am actively looking for public sector jobs solely for the pension. I have a few friends who are public sector and they genuinely don't seem to get how much better their pensions are.

But only if you were on the older pension scheme that paid out a lump sum at the end??
I have seen many colleagues retire at 55 and tbh it's slightly depressing my public serive pension is now based on state pension age with no lump sum. The golden days have been and gone....

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 22:07

The golden days have been and gone

If you have a direct benefit pension, that is still an excellent deal, compared to anything else out there.

Guess what? Saving for retirement is very expensive.

CrazyCatLover · 12/12/2023 22:11

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 22:07

The golden days have been and gone

If you have a direct benefit pension, that is still an excellent deal, compared to anything else out there.

Guess what? Saving for retirement is very expensive.

It's all about career averge now. Not final salary. It was too generous which is why it has been watered down.

CrazyCatLover · 12/12/2023 22:14

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 22:07

The golden days have been and gone

If you have a direct benefit pension, that is still an excellent deal, compared to anything else out there.

Guess what? Saving for retirement is very expensive.

Oh and guess what.... living today is expensive. High mortgage rates. High childcare costs. Paying higher tax because tax thresholds haven't been updated. I have a totally different life compared to my parents and probably won't see a pension.

trussedchicken · 12/12/2023 22:15

CrazyCatLover · 12/12/2023 22:05

But only if you were on the older pension scheme that paid out a lump sum at the end??
I have seen many colleagues retire at 55 and tbh it's slightly depressing my public serive pension is now based on state pension age with no lump sum. The golden days have been and gone....

Show quote history

It's because it's a defined benefit pension. They probably aren't as good as they once were, but any form of defined benefit pension would still be far superior to my defined contribution pension. And I've been paying as much as I possibly can into it for years. The mechanisms of defined benefit pensions are very different and they are still a massive perk.

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 22:16

It's all about career averge now. Not final salary. It was too generous which is why it has been watered down.

I know!!!

It's still immensely generous compared to a direct contribution scheme.

Say you have a career average salary of 25K. How much do you think you'd have to amass in a DC pension pot to get that kind of payout?

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 22:18

Oh and guess what.... living today is expensive. High mortgage rates. High childcare costs. Paying higher tax because tax thresholds haven't been updated.

Well of course it is! For everyone

VanGoghsDog · 12/12/2023 22:43

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 22:16

It's all about career averge now. Not final salary. It was too generous which is why it has been watered down.

I know!!!

It's still immensely generous compared to a direct contribution scheme.

Say you have a career average salary of 25K. How much do you think you'd have to amass in a DC pension pot to get that kind of payout?

About £800k.

And it's defined contribution and defined benefit. Not "direct".

ginoohginoginelli · 12/12/2023 22:47

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 22:16

It's all about career averge now. Not final salary. It was too generous which is why it has been watered down.

I know!!!

It's still immensely generous compared to a direct contribution scheme.

Say you have a career average salary of 25K. How much do you think you'd have to amass in a DC pension pot to get that kind of payout?

I'm not sure what you think that £25000 translates to in the NHS pension scheme. Certainly not a £25000 PA pension!!! And there's no lump sum any more either.
The NHS pension scheme is nowhere near as generous now as you seem to think it is

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 22:49

Certainly not a £25000 PA pension

The poster mentioned career average.

So what's a realistic nhs career average and we can take it from there.

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 22:53

About £800k

Interesting. I had it a bit lower.

Anyway, if your employer has been contributing the 3%, taking the average based on 25k, your employer contributions over 40 years would be 30k, leaving quite a significant amount to be made up by the individual.

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 22:55

If you can calculate, from your current scheme, how much you'll be entitled to a year - you can reverse engineer that into how much of a pot you'd need to save to get there on DC.

Jeffsmeffsmiff · 12/12/2023 22:58

Omg this is actually freaking me out. I'd need to save £800k into a DC pension to get an equivalent £25k a year and people are moaning about that not being that great? Are they mad? How could anyone possibly save anywhere near that much? So really (if that is the average payout - I don't know if it is) then public sector pay is actually worth about £20,000 more than the stated salaries. I mean that's quite a lot more valuable than Christmas parties!!

TheKeatingFive · 12/12/2023 23:01

Omg this is actually freaking me out. I'd need to save £800k into a DC pension to get an equivalent £25k a year and people are moaning about that not being that great? Are they mad? How could anyone possibly save anywhere near that much?

Well interest and investment will help you, a bit, hopefully.

The truth is virtually no one saves anything like this amount. I think I read somewhere the average pension pot was about 100,000k or so, which will give you about 4k a year