To think the wages of SOME charity shop managers are too low

[SorcererGaheris]

Prompted by THIS post from @Randomgeocache in the thread about charity shops closing.

Quoted:

The manager's position came up a couple of years ago at the Oxfam shop where I was a volunteer and the district manager encouraged me to apply. I didn't, for a lot of reasons. The salary was about 30p an hour more than minimum wage. I would have been the only paid member of staff in the store, the salary was 35 hours a week and the store was open 52 hours a week. For my just over minimum wage salary I would be responsible for everything - doing the banking, complying with health and safety legislation, getting out of bed at 3am if the alarm went off, training and recruiting volunteers, safeguarding, and that's before you even get to managing donations and hitting targets. It's a LOT. All the time working with a "staff" who don't have to turn up if they don;t want to, and can pick and choose the parts of the role they fancy doing and refuse to do the steaming/till/sorting if it's not their cup of tea.

Some charities probably pay the shop managers a higher wage - but in my experience of volunteering, the pay for managers at some shops is too low considering all the responsibilities and pressures that can come with the job.

I think 30p above minimum wage is a bit of an insult.

The general public believes that anyone working for a charitable organisation should be doing it out of the good of their hearts and therefore does not need paying fairly (or at least comparatively to the private sector).

It’s an incredibly challenging job imo. Can you imagine recruiting a department manager for John Lewis and telling them
stock will come in, but you won’t know what, how much or when it will arrive
you will need to present this potential mish mash of stock in a way that’s appealing to the customer
you have 15 staff to manage who only do certain roles on certain days
members of the public may accuse you of ‘stealing’ all the ‘best stock’
and we’re going to pay you 30p above minimum wage..

@OtterlyMad

Yeah, it's an attitude that I've seen expressed, but a misplaced one in my opinion. Anyone who's a paid employee should be given a decent wage that takes into account the skills and responsibilities of the job.

@ShanghaiDiva

I do think that managing is a charity shop is a lot more challenging than many people suspect. I get the impression that some people think it's a bit of a doddle.

Our current manager is under pressure to have the shop open for longer hours, meet sales targets...

Last time I saw a job advertised it was minimum wage. The assistant was being advertised at the same rate but fewer hours.

At the local R/S McColl (newsagent) the management get an extra 4p per hour but are salaried and expected to work overtime for free. Oddly enough it’s a tricky position to fill / retain staff for.

@CharlotteCChapel

It's a shame. Minimum wage, or just a little above, is not really appropriate renumeration for a role which can be stressful and has many responsibilities.

It can also potentially put off the most talented/qualified applicants, meaning that some shops may not get the best person for the job.

You're not wrong but the real world doesn't work like that. Employers pay the bare minimum they can get away with to return the best profit for shareholders. Employers wjo don't do this probably will go out of business.

Many jobs are 'just above min wage' now when they shouldn't be, due to min wage going up its all bunched around the bottom now.

I think that’s true for most retail managers. I worked as a retail manager earning 4x the staffs wage , 25 years ago. These days the manager eats 50p an hour more. It’s since the introduction of NMW .

Retail pays poorly. Charity jobs pay poorly.

Charity shop manager is the worst of all worlds.

I was going to say this. The level of responsibility and demands on my time from some of the minimim wage jobs I had in my early twenties were unbelievable. Teaching is less of a headache (and we all know that’s a job and a half). I think some people must have just fallen into easy well paid jobs early in life and not know any different. A lot of grafters are in low paid jobs.

Bullshit.
There are widespread objections to the few charity bosses who earn 6 figures, not to frontline charity workers earning a living wage.

About 10 years ago, but when I worked in charity retail I remember a shop manager role being advertised at 15k, and thd person who got it had a second source of income as that was the only way they could afford to take it.

Essentially they were paying for the privilege of working for us.

i disagree. The pressure on charities (particularly small and medium sized) to pay as little as possible is considerable.

And the ability for charities to pay staff an amount that reflects their skills and experience is diminishing with each and every year.

i’d be interested to see data which shows the proportion of charity workers that are female. I suspect the charity sector is a large contributor to pay inequality.

OP, I agree with you. Sadly, charities are struggling left right and centre both financially as well as through the increasing demand for their services.

charity shops are becoming even more costly to run. The income is declining and the model needs to be adjusted where possible. People are less able to volunteer than in past years (having to work longer or providing family childcare), rent and utilities going up, theft increasing, fast fashion being a major competitor etc.

I work in a head office role in a charity and I agree.

One of the real frustrations I have with the charity world is that although I'm paid below industry rate (I wouldn't be interested in taking a non-charity role), they have the option of giving me improved flexibility and working conditions to "make up" for the loss of salary I were to go for industry standards.

I'm not attached to the cause personally, but it has to be a decent one. The same usually isn't true of frontline (service and shop/centre staff). They're usually passionately attached to the cause, and I find those passions are so often exploited.

They absolutely need someone of my calibre to do the compliance stuff, but many charities have a class issue in my experience and actively undervalue their most passionate and committed staff.

You have to pay enough to attract the necessary talent/knowledge/experience. If 6 figures is the going rate for a competent CEO then that’s what charities need to offer - there aren’t many people who will gladly accept £££ less than what they’re worth! But many don’t appreciate that a charity will lose more money through mismanagement than through paying their staff competitive salaries…

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel

But the six-figure salaries of the bosses (which are still rather less than they would earn in the private sector) are reasonable, based upon the responsibilities of their OWN roles.

While there is perhaps more acceptance/tolerance towards managerial staff at the lower end, there are definitely some people who either believe that charity shop managers should be unpaid or their wages should be minimal.

I agree - I've definitely been asked why people should pay anything for even the lowest paid full-time roles.

But there's still the class issue - people demand more for certain types of roles, much as typically male-dominated professions have higher pay, so do roles that are typically held by particular classes, rather than a reflection of the effort and skill needed.

I agree - I've definitely been asked why people should pay anything for even the lowest paid full-time roles.

I find it puzzling how some people can't comprehend that if charities don't pay people for full-time roles, they won't get anybody to do the job. Nobody is going to want to work 35-36 hours a week for zero compensation, even if they had the time for that, which most people don't.

Many volunteers just work three or four hour shifts; some do more, but certainly nothing approaching full-time hours. I do two days a week, and that's probably more than most shop volunteers do.

All of this is absolutely true.

I’m a charity shop manager. I moved to charity retail after my whole life in big retail. I had many years as a visual merchandiser and also personal shopping experience. I was made redundant and charity retail popped up . I earn 45p an hour over minimum wage . For that not only is there the above mentioned lack of any kind of stock control there’s also the fact that you will spend your whole day dealing with other peoples rubbish. For every beautiful bag of six perfectly washed and ironed items that you’ll definitely sell there’s four bin bags of things that should have just gone to the tip . All for me to sort and prepare for selling . We recycle 60% of what comes through the door as it’s just not saleable. Then there’s the house clearance stuff that again should go to the tip . Not to mention whole suitcases of books that are dumped outside overnight in the rain . Every item that comes in is my job to lift and sort/ dispose of . All my volunteers are 75+ and unable to do more than work the till . Having said all of that it’s a fun job and there isn’t a moment of boredom. My old ladies are a wonderful bunch and my charity is a small local one . I’m fit and healthy and hard work never hurt anyone. It’s challenging in so many more ways than I can describe and yes the pay is pitiful but variety is the spice of life and at least I’m working which not all of my ex colleagues are .

@Vicliz24

I think you deserve a higher wage, personally - thanks for the good work you do!

At our particular shop, we have issues with the recycling company who collected our unsold stock no turning up for several weeks in a row (they're supposed to come every week.)

Since we have to cull weekly to make room for fresh stock, the piles of stock to be taken for recycling gets larger and larger to the point where myself and the rest of the Sunday team refuse to go in on Sundays because we feel it's unsafe. When this happens, that means the shop is closed on a Sunday because the managers have that day off.

Our manager keeps having to explain these closures to the area manager, and she feels under pressure to keep the shop open as much as possible. So it's not a stress-free job.

It was a whole ago I was asked to apply for that position so I thought i'd see if things had changed. This job is being advertised currently fairly close to where I live.

This is one of the large Barnardos out of town stores, they have a retail bit at the front of the unit, donations processing at the back and they also take in things like furniture.

Salary is £24,583 for 35 hours a week. I make that £13.50 per hour which is a bit more than minimum wage. I don't know if in that particular store you would be supported by paid deputies or other staff, but again you are contracted for 35 hours and the store is open 9.30 - 5.30 monday-saturday and 10-4 on a Sunday (54 hours).

Or, you could take a job currently advertised in my local Waitrose as a team manager. Slightly longer hours at 37.5 a week, but the salary is advertised at £30,500 to £42,500. Working at Waitrose you're part of a manager team, with others for support, you get staff discount, and all the other benefits associated with working for a big brand.

No brainer, isn't it?

@RandomGeocache

https://jobs.oxfam.org.uk/jobs/vacancy/shop-manager-whitworth-park-trd5374/23991/description/

Here's a vacancy for an Oxfam shop manager in Manchester.

The salary is 25,693 per annum for 37.5 hours per week.

That comes to about 13.17 per hour. So only around one pound more than minimum wage.

@SorcererGaheris thank you . I’m sure from your post that you completely understand the crazy and yet fun of the job.