Leave the NHS for more money but fewer benefits.

[Itsaplanejane]

I'm currently top band 7 so on 50k a year.
I have been offered a job in the charity sector on 70k a year

I have over 10 years service with the NHS so 33 days AL a year plus bank holidays. I don't work unsociable hours. My manager is incredibly supportive and I have a fantastic flexible working set up that means we have been able to reduce our childcare needs considerably as I can still pick up and drop off my little one from school. I do love my job but it does definitely get frustrating at times like any job in the private sector with all the politics and the chronic underfunding of the NHS to contend with.
My manager is lovely and supportive and so are the team I work with for the most part.
I can apply for a band 8a but I'm very reluctant too because the pay difference will be neglige for 5 years with how Agenda for Change works so all that extra responsibility for nothing.
I pay a fortune into my pension each month but the hope of course then that I will have a good pension when the time comes. DH is self employed and has a pension but will be peanuts compared to mine so this is important to me.

I had an interview for an equivalent job in the charity sector. They don't come up often at all and I sent in an application on a bit of a whim. I've been offered the job.
The job is based in London but I'd only need to be in the office 2 days a week, work from home the rest. The commute to the office would be 2 hours so I'd need to arrange getting my kid to and from school through other means. DH might be able to adjust his work so he can do this. They have said they're happy for me to do pick ups and drops off around work the days I work from home.
I would have 27 days annual leave plus bank holiday.
Sick pay is statutory rather than the 6 months full pay, 6 months half I currently have with the NHS.
I'd pay a lot less into my pension so my take home would be even higher but obviously my pension would not be as good so I'd need to ensure I set up a private pension as well.

I've also never not worked in the NHS and that worries me to be honest. The odds of redundancy are extremely slim in my current role but if it did happen I'd have a years salary pay out and could very easily get another job as my background is clinical nursing so getting another job would not be a problem. That is of course true if I took this job, if it doesn't work out I could easily return to the NHS but I'd have lost all the benefits of having over 10 years service and would need to start all over again.

Is it worth it for the extra money? It seems like so much money but once I pay for commuting costs, potentially some wrap around childcare, pension how much realistically will be left over. Plus I really do love my current job.

I'm really not sure. They've given me the weekend to decide. Please help!

Also a point to remember is work in the private sector can be much different to your present position. Things can change they may say only two days in the office but is this set in stone my daughter is supposed to work from home 4 days a week and one day in the office this rarely happens and she is very often travelling the county to different meetings and events.

@Fallenangelofthenorth
In fact the charity I had a poor experience with spent a lot of its money (money from donations) on NDAs when staff left due to bullying and harassment.

I'd stay out sounds like you have a jce set up and 250 quid a month ninety the stress of commuting for 250 quid a month extra.

I do an hours commute 2 days a week and that’s enough. I used to do 2.5hrs 1 day nearly weekly week to work in London when my role got changed and they opened a London office however I didn’t have to do a full day I.e be in at 8.30/9. I was on the train at 7 to get in around 9.30 to then run and get a tube to get in at 10. Sit in the office all day, until 5ish run for the tube get a train around 6 and then usually home around 9 as the train was always delayed. Hated it was always a panic at the end of the day to make sure I got the train. The day before your conscious of having to be up and the day after your tired as you didn’t get home till late and didn’t eat a proper tea. Would not recommend on a perm basis.

Do you have a projection for your current pension? it’s some sort of defined benefit scheme for NHS isn’t it, one of the last out there.

For context you would need a pot of around 500k to get an approx annual pension of 20k.

The other thing about charities is sometimes their funding gets cut or runs outs.

Looking at a far worse pension situation, plus the commuting and other issues I think for £250 per month there is no way I would take that job.

Does anyone have a good source for working out what I'd need to match my pension? I do struggle to understand that exactly, I just know it's considered one of the best you can get in the NHS, but not as good as it used to be. I got the £300 figure because I remember reading an article years ago about how much you'd need to save to replace the NHS pension and it was about £500 a month I think. The new job does have a pension scheme but not as good so I was thinking £300 a month would be enough to get similar overall but I'm not certain.

I did pretty much the same. Have you looked into whether you can continue your NHS pension( I think it’s called ‘directive status’ or something like that). I do - but ended up paying both parts (worth it to keep it going?)
you may be able to buy extra leave as well.
you’ll perhaps need insurance to cover bills if you are off sick? That might add a fair bit. Lots to consider.

Have you calculated your net pay based on salary sacrificing into the company pension? The reason I thought maybe you hadn't is you say about setting up a private pension but most companies will let you contribute more to the company pension. I pay in 30%, for example, but via salary sacrifice so I pay considerably less tax and NI.

@crew2022 my charity just turns a blind eye to all bad behaviour. Shouting and swearing at both service users and colleagues is common place, as is just deleting/ignoring emails, ignoring messages, and deleting any voicemails. Anyone recruited from a professional background tends to leave pretty quickly so you're just left with a bunch of lazy, incompetent misfits who would be unemployable outside the sector. I'm wondering if I'm also unemployable outside the sector as I've been job hunting now for 6 months and only had 2 offers, which I turned down as they weren't quite rìght either 😔

Commuter here!

IMO the pay the charity job offers isn’t enough to ‘break even’ vs your current package, in particular with the 2 x 4 hour round trip 47 weeks a year and pension reduction. Would stay where you are or seek higher paid more local opportunities. Plus childcare costs or DH loss of income for parenting the DC.

A long commute like that is exhausting even 2 days a week, which is a major negative.

This will materially impact your quality of life. You'll hardly see your two DC these two days, you'll be tired from travel, the state of trains are such that you'll have to put up with delays.

I'd do it for a substantial benefit or if it was going to lead to more in future. Not for 250 a monty.

Also be aware that the organisation can up the days you travel in - my company has just mandated that people go in 3 days a week, used to be 2. Will your contract state only 2 days are required in London, if not I'd assume this is not guaranteed and you could be asked to go in more at any time.

Just to echo what other people say about experience of working for a charity. Look at their financial position (charity commission accounts) as closely as you are looking at your own finances. Is funding secure / how long is it secured for? Is it funded by short term grants which could end without being replaced? Or fundraising affected by COL crisis. What’s the culture like? Do people seem happy and engaged with charities aims? What are the reserves? What risk management do they do around financial sustainability. Echo also what people say about negative dynamics. That’s my experience and I’ve also worked in NHS. Is your role there specific? If senior and it’s a small charity you are likely to be pulled in all directions as although recruited for specific job, if small staff structure you get alot of miscellaneous duties that fit with no one else.

I pay around £500 into NHS pension scheme but employer pays more on top. I suspect you will need more than the additional £300 you have planned.

@Itsaplanejane i work in the charity sector in healthcare (really love my organisation) please feel free to DM.

One thing I would add - if you’re currently at a mid senior role in the NHS, how much unpaid overtime do you do?

Moving into a more senior role, will there be more of an expectation to work past your hours?

If so that additional money could very much be diluted for the number of hours you are working.

8 hours commuting per week is the equivalent of working an extra day each week - for which you’d get £250 per month?

Not worth it

Will you have to pay more for childcare during the holidays as you'll have less A/L to use?

I can’t answer your pension question, but bring something to consider about job security.

How stable are the charity’s finances? And how essential is the role to their running their operation? How is the role funded - have they won a government tender, and if so, how long does it have to run?

It is a lot more money but also a lot more costs, loss of holiday and prob loss of flexibility. I'm currently in the NHS (prev private sector) and a big difference is the pension. I'm at a higher grade than 7 but I pay in far less to the NHS scheme than I did in the private sector to generate same benefits. Ie for every year you are contributing to the NHS on your salary, you generate a pension of £905 annually. That takes a lot of contributions to a private scheme (x 20 the contribution).

Also charities are notorious for running on time limited funding so the job might not be as secure.

You have a lot to think about

£250 a month isn't worth it for the additional travel time, loss of job security & redundancy payments, extra wear n tear on your car, a far worse pension and sickness policy.

You also have career progression at the NHS, a 8b job could pay nr 70k.

If you look on ESR there's a total benefits tab that give you an idea of the full amount you'd need to get paid if you worked elsewhere from the last full tax year. It's worth a look

I'd stay put. That four hours on a train two days a week is going to get old very quickly, plus you've got the headache and cost of childcare to sort out on those days, the loss of job security, holidays, generous sick pay, etc. For an extra £250 a month it wouldn't be worth it for me - you'd be giving up too much.

What does your gut tell you OP?

Starting a new job should feel like the beginning of an exciting new adventure - it doesn't seem like that from what you describe.

Also seems like you must have great interview skills so if you don't take this opportunity then there may be more in the future.

OP I was in a similar position to you last year. I'm top 7, and was offered a 70k job in the private sector.
A friend of mine who works in HR advised the 70k would only just match my package of pension, sick pay, death in service, fleet car etc.
I've got a lot of goodwill in my role, I can wfh with sick children, flex off to go to school events, if I get bored I could side step or go for an 8A.
Lots of charities have annual funding, jobs are often under threat. Cultures can be toxic, a friend of mine worked for a DV charity and said that management mimicked the behaviours of abusers!
I imagine you're at least 15 years in to the pension by now?

My instinct is to stay put. My daughter is still very young, only in reception, we have a lot of years ahead of us of requiring flexibility and my current job already offers this.
The job does sound exciting to me but it's not all that different from what I am currently doing so I imagine for all the extra hassle, I would become frustrated with it once the novelty of a bit extra cash wears off and inevitably gets swallowed up.

I think I was just excited at seeing a non-NHS equivalent role that was actually paid at a decent level compared to other places where the equivalent is paid significantly less than I get. But actually I do not think this is the right time to be rocking the boat when I'm currently on a very sturdy boat.

I really appreciate everyone's view points. It's also pretty telling that it's a fairly resounding 'no' in whether this sounds worth it to other people too.

My situation is very different, so I've only come on to talk about the commute.
I took a big step up at work with one day in the office two hours each way. It's about doable but at the end of last year the requirement changed to two days in the office and I've had to make a formal application for flexible working. Are you sure that you are guaranteed just two days in the office?
Also, the two hours does take its toll if you're doing it every week.
I love my job and it's worth it because I've kept length of service etc but I wouldn't have considered that commute for a new role.