Accepted a low paying job - should my work reflect this?

[bluerooms]

I recently took a low paying job, it pays £13.50 an hour.
I have been self employed but had a dip in client work & was under pressure by dh because we have a wedding to pay for.
This way it's stable income and any client work is a bonus.
Pre self employment days my hourly salary would've been around £20ph (£35 self employed)
Being honest, my heart isn't going to be in this job at all, and the pay doesn't help matters.
Btw I am aware that this is potentially selfish and Ive taken a job I don't want that someone else might've loved but needs must etc.
Anyway, I knew i'd get the job due to my experience vs what they were paying. So now my question is, do I work like i'm worth what i've been paid previously or do I work a bit more than the bare minimum to reflect the £1 more than min wage they are paying me? (From April 25 anyway) ??

Well you take the job you can get, that you need, that fits in with your lifestyle and you accept it on the pay offered. Therefore you work as hard at it as any other job surely? Good thing Care workers don't all think like that. Bare minimum wage and keeping people safe and alive.

People aren't always worth the pay they are getting, and the pay they get isn't always a reflection on the work they do. My dh is a very high earner. Today his day consists of one meeting and a very nice lunch which he will put on expenses.He isn't adding more value than I do as a social worker. Far from it. But he is getting paid 8 times as much. If people would only stop equating pay with status and thinking it a reflection on their personal value then we might actually get somewhere with levelling society up a bit. But they won't, of course.

I would do the work to the expected level, no more and no less.

They gave you a job you applied for in good faith. You put your best effort in.

I don't know op, I just thought I'd reply as I'm also self-employed and last January I had zero work on but applied to this AI company and got some work from them, which got me through until more freelance work showed up. it basically involves testing the AI system they're developing by asking it questions etc. It's paid a bit better than your job. It might be worth a try, not sure I should give their name but if you Google freelance AI work you should find it, there's a few threads on reddit about it as well. just if the job doesn't work out. It can be so hard working freelance

I'd always work as hard as I could in the hours I was paid for personally. I've done a huge variety of jobs from minimum wage to well paid.

I mean this very kindly but you come across as thinking you're too good for this job. If you're in it commit fully while you're there and please try not to let this attitude show to your new colleagues, it will breed resentment.

How hard you work isn't related to what you're paid.

However if you feel like you're overexperienced for the role, simply do your hours but don't go overboard beyond that.

I would do the job to the standards as listed in the job description. I guess as a freelancer you'd go above and beyond and if it's a job you are passionate about it would also be easy to get carried away.

However, I think that can be unhealthy and put you are risk of burn out. Maintain healthy boundaries between your job and your personal life and put the effort in during working hours and for the tasks assigned. Exceptions can be made in case of an emergency or if there is mutual flexibility. Basically, just do the job.

I would work proportional to what you are being paid. Do the job well. But if they are paying a fraction above minimum wage I wouldn’t give them £35/an hour standard work. Otherwise they start to expect it and will never increase your pay.

and I also think it’s ok to feel like this job isn’t your dream job. It’s a means to an end, hopefully while you get something you want more lined up.

Low paid describe a lot of hospital staff, social care, retail, childcare etc etc, so we are all fucked once no-one goes above and beyond. This is how ethos and culture starts with neglect and turns to abuse. It's shit for your colleagues to be working alongside you.

I was brought up to believe that if a jobs worth doing it's worth doing well.
Thinking you should slack off because you're not getting paid as much as you think you're worth for a job you applied for is disgusting.
I've worked low paid jobs waitressing and such and always did the best I could. I chose to apply for those roles. If you can't be arsed then apply for something else and do your colleagues and your employer a favour.
Entitlement is real these days.

As most PPs have said you do the job to the best of your ability and work the hours you are contracted to do. Be professional!

No they're not. I'm a deputy manager in a preschool setting on just over £12 an hour. Even my manager doesn't earn £13.50. We are dedicated to the children and do our best for them, even if that means staying late or preparing activities at home, unpaid. I'm sure there are lots of people like me aswell.

I wouldn’t insinuate you are too good for a shitty minimum wage job when that’s the job you are doing because your business isn’t doing well enough!

Exactly!

Not going above and beyond in a low paid job leads to neglect and abuse? Ridiculous. The fact people are underpaid and under appreciated for vital jobs is not the op’s problem - it is a poor state of affairs how these workers are treated and rewarded, not a template for how working life should be.

And when did simply doing the job expected, no more or less, as the poster quoted said = not performing, underperforming or neglect? Surely it’s not ‘above and beyond’ if anything less is unacceptable?

Op - I agree with a previous poster in saying underperforming is likely to get you down. I wouldn’t go there and I don’t think it’s fair on others, but I’d certainly not be busting a gut either.

You do the role you've been employed to do!

I'm self-employed and some contracts are less than what you are being paid per hour. I still do those to the best of my ability - and actually, I love them because they are easy to me, and it is easy to impress with the standard of work and productivity.

I'm constitutionally incapable of giving anything but my best to my work. I don't act outside of the roles I am being paid for (although I am very capable of doing so), but within the scope of the role, I work as hard as I can.

It might help to think of it as a percentage

It's currently £2.16 more than minimum wage. And 2.16 is almost 19% of 11.44. So by your logic you can work 18-19% harder than minimum?

Work the hours to your own usual standards, but don’t work more than your contracted hours and don’t take work home.

I'm.in a similar position, however I discovered the company has offered new, entry level staff more than they offered me (can't keep staff), even though, put nicely, they're not very good. I'm on the lowest they can legally pay me, but tried to tell me I got a huge % pay rise at end of probation, but they had no choice. They don't realise I know how to find the award online!

So, they get what they pay for. I do my tasks, but don't work myself to the bone. I don't offer my extra skills not essential to the job, which would benefit the company immensely. I arrive & leave & take breaks on the dot. I request flexible hours, like compressed hours to work a 4 day week over holidays. I have zero loyalty. I don't skive off, but if they want more, they can pay more. I'm in a position where the responsibility & accountability definitely warrant it.

As someone who's done nmw and higher paid roles I have to agree with this.

You work to the best of your ability. Very odd to gauge your standards by the wage your paid.

The role has been assessed at that pay grade, it is not a reflection on you personally. Fulfil the role, if you do it well, take on more responsibility or are perceived as having potential to do a higher level role you may progress.