"Public sector - so no"

[OhpoorMe]

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!

PS I would never expect it to be paid for either but it is striking that it's the lower/ middle management that pay out for staff gifts etc;
Senior management rarely if ever!
I'm not moaning pay is fair and I will get a good pension ( that I've paid into).

I work public sector, we have a Christmas party which we pay for a ticket to attend.

The senior management team sometimes club together to get us all a cheap bottle of wine or a selection box though!

The pension has also been watered down over the years.

Even so, defined benefit still infinitely better than defined contribution.

Local authority, never had a paid work's do or a bonus.

But I wouldn't swap my job security, pension, flexi time and bloody decent management team for all the paid-for parties and 10% bonuses in the world. I've done my job in the private sector and it was hell on earth, so no thank you!

I work in public sector. Before the latest saving schemes we used to have Christmas parties. We paid £15-20 and the employer paid for the rest. And as a Christmas bonus we got Christmas porridge for lunch. But both have ended due to cost.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are still places with Christmas do's. But I'm quite surprised about annual bonuses. Those are not the norm even in private sector.

I work in the public sector and we've always had a Christmas party, or vouchers when we weren't allowed to party. I get my team a bottle of wine too.

This. I worked in the public sector for 30 years and those things were never on offer. Quite rightly.

Boris?

Debatable. A quick Google of that question provides a lot of mixed answers.

The main point of this thread is that public sector jobs are not all the same, but it has to be said that there's even less uniformity across the private sector. Comments like "Private sector pay rises are higher than inflation" are bizarre. Private sector pay at the most simplistic level comes down to individual company performance. That is obviously going to vary massively company to company and at a time where the economy is not doing well that's a reflection that many businesses are not doing so well. I'm in the private sector and can't remember when I last had an inflation matching increase. I can remember my pay being frozen as a result of the difficulties of the pandemic, however.

Enough of this awful, reductive and depressing "us and them" we seem to cling onto in this country.

Well technically universities aren't public sector, and possibly OP isn't either (arms-length organisation?). Though both have same ethos and aims as public sector.

That said SIL works for DHSC and has had small performance bonuses so they do happen.

I've been in public sector for all but 2 years of my working life, and never had a paid for party or a bonus. We only get overtime in theory where I am, too - you get time off in lieu but can't take it, for the same reason you accrued it - not enough staff and too much to be done. You can only get it paid in lieu in exceptional circs which I've never known anyone be successful in arguing exist.

We don't even get mat leave cover where I am - that and paid overtime would be first on my priority list quite frankly. There's no justification for using public funds for Xmas parties but I think there is for paying staff for all the hours of work they've actually done.

(I stay for the pension and because I feel like I'm doing something beneficial.)

Which part of the public sector do you work for that has a budget for staff parties? Which agency or department do you fall under? i.e. DWP, MOD, HMPPS, DFE, MOJ... Or is it Cabinet Office where apparently booze is available on tap?

I've been in the police, a DWP agency and an MOJ agency. No budgets for Xmas buffets here - would be an inappropriate use of public money.

My DM used to work for Surrey CC in a small SEN unit. Every year they would go on a 3-day 'training jolly' to The Grand in Brighton. When I questioned the 'validity' of this, DM said that her boss said it would help them "bond".

This was 20 years ago.

Debatable. A quick Google of that question provides a lot of mixed answers.

Universities are private institutions but most of them receive the majority of their income from publicly funded tuition fees and research grants. While they could, in theory, adopt their own approach to things like this, they will all be acutely aware of the likely negative publicity arising from spending students' tuition fees on staff parties.

For most purposes, universities are treated as public sector. The complication is pensions: staff in pre-1992 institutions are part of a private pension scheme (University Supperanuation Scheme, USS), while those in post-1992s are part of the public-sector Teachers Pension Sceme (TPS).

Everywhere has been centrally funded by government so this is public sector isn't it?

No. Capita and G4S for example have bucketloads of staff funded from central government funds, but they're private sector companies.

Teacher.

Never had a paid for Christmas do - we paid our own way.

(Nearly everyone also bought classroom stuff and stuff for the kids.)

I'd swap a crappy christmas party for the public sector annual leave and pension plans any day of the week

This!

I think you need to clarify it was not me labelling ‘all private sector’ but my response to the News doing this.
Perhaps a central issue here is media tending to over simplify issues for a purpose e.g. it’s not all private sector but some hugely paid people squewing the stats etc

It does irritate me because there are benefits of public sector, namely the pension but also flexible working (for most roles outside of education and health), generous parental leave policies, progression internally, performance pay-related pay rises. A colleague doing the same job as you will only be paid more if they are on a higher pay point in the pay band.

I’ve worked in the public, private and charity sectors before anyone starts. There are pros and cons to each sector. Charity sector usually has flexibility, clear pay scales so you are paid the same as colleagues and the feeling of working for a cause. However, you aren’t getting a bonus, your pay rise is non-existent and your pension is rubbish. Private sector has bonuses, staff parties and team building, Christmas presents. It might have pay rises, it might not. It might have pay decreases (which would never happen in the public sector) and I’m not talking pay cut in relation to inflation which all sectors have experienced but an actual pay cut - at the start of the pandemic DH had a 20% pay cut. It’s a lot easier to be fired for lack of performance in the private sector and pension is worse, even with a “good” private employer it’s not going to be the same as public sector.

Then why don't you? The NHS are always recruiting a wide range of roles.

I don’t think a workplace not paying for a Christmas party constitutes bad treatment? Seems a bit extreme.

Public sector have good pensions. Best benefit there is. My husband is public sector and has a DB pension accruing and we’ve discussed a lot about him staying public sector for the pension.

15 years education. Never heard of a paid for public sector party. Your job doesn't sound public sector op.

I keep an eye on the job board buy haven't seen much in my particular area of work, trust me I'm working on it! I am determined to get a role before I turn 40 to build up my pension