I would like to know all your stories about minimum wage jobs

[VividQuoter]

Yes, your experiences, good, bad, success, failures.
Not really only do they pay for a sound lifestyle but the whole life around it,
are you sad when you have to leave one or are you lucky and have been in one company on mnw for more than 5 years let's say...

Why? Are you writing an article?

You first, OP

No recent experiences but I do think that companies/business owners that only pay minimum wage and therefore not a living wage are the scum of the earth

Why do you want to know this?
Strange request...

I now romanticise my NMW job as I only had one from 16-19 and they were care free days. Had enough money in my pocket to do things I wanted and get myself little treats. Met loads of friends and loved how it was very, clock in clock out go home. I did get a bit too sucked in to “progress” and would do stupid things like come in early to open the store well, which I think is an unfair expectation on NMW workers.

The job I have now, I realise, is only a few thousand more per year than the living wage rate. But it also comes with a flexibility that most MW do not, including full remote working.

May be I should have posted it in Talk , not sure
So glad to hear more stories

Well I’ve done minimum wage jobs all my life whilst working as a PAYE.

They’re generally jobs that’s are physically hard work, long hours, unsociable hours, working every bank hol, Christmas etc.

They expect you to work very hard for very little pay (care homes, shop work etc)

Minimum wage - minimum effort - I do no more or less than I have to . If my employer wants more then pay me more . I'm convinced that's why some employers pay a little more than minimum wage in the hope the employee goes above and beyond .

and to add to that, if you need state top ups to be able to live the company is not paying enough and should be penalised through additional tax.

I totally agree @wastingtimeonhere

Also, the owner/CEO/director of companies that pay minimum wage should be only allowed by law to pay themselves minimum wage too and see how they like it!

1999 - YTS earning £50 a week (ohhh and got so much bus fair back on travelling to workplace) local council.

2012 - 5 years as conference co ordinator in a hotel on a salary of £12,600 had responsibility of weddings to wake arrangements. I was in my early 30’s for reference on leaving.

2014 to 2018 pretty poor wages £16k at start of lockdown worked for people who built their business from nothing. Pay rises offered very quickly in all three as I’ll guess I proved myself in said roles.

Today yeah I’m on nearer 24k working for wider gov but does it make me happier? No. I want to walk off the nearest bridge being subjected to the lines I am - pretty glad I’ve seen different sectors.

Totally agree

1. Video shop (I am that old!) excellent (retail + watching videos)
2. Tesco okay but monotonous (pricing, shelf-stacking)
3. M+S well paid (counting cash dull, closing tills dull, working on tills fine, stripping merch dull)
4. Richards customers up themselves (stripping merch dull, tidying floor dull and some disgusting returns. Also stressful with shoplifters)
5. reception enjoyable
6. chambermaiding disgusting (vomit, shit and porn)
7. conferencing steward easy
8. cleaning bloody hard work and underpaid
9. tutoring okay but depends on kids
10. support staff in education - shouldn't be minimum wage but pro-rata means it ends up being (working mothers and retirees exploited)
11. babysitting easy-ish once kids in bed
12. creche easy-ish but monotonous/underpaid
13. postie excellent (scanning and steps in) only negative was when weather freezing
14. burger bar meh (drunk customers, shift work, treated like you were thick)
15. barmaid/glass collector easy

Best jobs - receptionist and postal worker and till operator only
Jobs I fancy - GP receptionist/taxi business operator
Jobs I think might be interesting but way too stressful - 999 operator

Why OP? Are you looking for ideas or journo cos I'm sure AI could write this for you!

I did lots of min wage stuff when I first seperated/divorced. Honestly they are quite often physically hard work. Housekeeper in a hotel, housekeeper in a care home type stuff. You can work school hours and I got a free lunch. I have clawed my way back to higher paid work. Now I work from home, paid travel, flexible hours. I think physical labour is undervalued tbh.

I worked as an invigilator in a school last year. Minimum wage. Boring, tiring on feet all day. Worst was no proper lunch break, not enough staff to cover so had to work through, for the team to get the work done.

Agency staff did get a proper break as if they were treated like us with no lunch break, , the agency would not send staff there.

I queried it and it was clear I had to go along with this as taking a break would be frowned upon.

Agency staff only had to do the basic part of the job too, the walking around the hall. They weren't involved in anything to do with checking scripts in the exam hall or for despatch. Yet they were paid more than the employed staff!

I have no respect for a manager who can't treat the lowest paid staff properly. Yes, they can't change the rate of pay but at least arrange a rota so everybody gets a proper break. We only ever saw her to do the announcements for the start of exams and she never pitched in to help when it was manic and we were short staffed.

Awful. I see the school this year advertising for staff and I thought yep, more staff have voted either their feet and aren't going back.

Yep. It’s these businesses that taxes are supplementing, yet people claiming UC top ups get the blame. They’re either not truly viable or they’re raking in extra profits at MW workers and tax payers expense.

My experience is having to work double hard because the company deliberately understaff to further cut costs. Also never knowing what day off I had until a week before. Coworkers miffed if you’re off sick, because everyone else has to cover you and they’re already overworked. All that fun stuff.

Worked at Aldi. You get a twenty min break for a ten hour shift but you don’t have to clock out for it . It is very very hard graft. Lots of lifting, constantly putting out stock.

I worked in hospitality in my teens/early twenties I-

Got kicked in the leg by a manager in his 30's who thought I was cheeking him . He also kicked me out of the car (staff taxi) for singing at 3am in middle of nowhere.

Had a different manager punch me in the stomach when I accidentally nipped her when reaching for something in a very crowded bar

Got screamed at and threatened by a housekeeper for asking a cleaner to do something in a slightly different order

Probably loads of other stuff I can't remember

Living Wage and NMW are the same, aren't they?

Well I'm a Civil Servant on a few pence an hour higher than the Living Wage and it suits me fine.

Flexible hours, hybrid working. Office warm in winter, air conditioned in summer. Regular paid breaks. Can build up flexi time. Paid time off for medical appointments.

Work is interesting but not too taxing. Do training and knowledge updates in work time.

However, I'm a few years off retirement with a paid for house but if I were younger I couldn't live comfortably on the wage.

@JaneBirkinstock no, they're not the same.

Living wage is approximately 30k. Minimum wage is significantly lower than that

No, I am just a woman who was home staying for a long long time and suddenly finding so many jobs taking you on NMW and the industries vary. Trying to find a fit for me. Brilliant advice and extensive list, amazing, thank you ....😊

I know 3 industries well from nmw to the promotors ranks. In all 3, do it for 2 years (max) be a reasonable employee and you'll probably get a managerial role which will pay fairly decently.

By reasonable I mean turn up, have average sickness record, don't be late, don't bring issues to work (within reason). These requirements can eliminate a massive % of your competition for better paid jobs.

Minimum wage is only for those under 21 now I think, 21+ you are entitled to the living wage.(just been checking this as I have a DC who is 20 and doing a NMW job).

My best one was waiting on tables in Pizza Hut, it doesn't sound great but we had a good team and a lot of laughs. On your feet all day and awkward split shifts but free pizza. Just no garlic bread so you didn't breathe it on the customers.

I had minimum wage jobs from age of 17 through to 24.

First: boutique that sold specialty fabric to interior designers as well as items like bags and clothing made from the fabric. I was at a real crossroads during this time as I didn't get in to the uni I wanted so was figuring out next steps, but filled my days. Lived at home.

Second: working at Bloomingdale's! Now I liked this job. It was part time and I earned just enough to buy a few fun clothes and stuff. I was now at uni but living at home.

Third: movie theatre. Just for one summer, before I transferred to another uni. Fun - only one screen played the same movie all summer. Lived at home so no expenses.

Fourth: au pair in France (I did my last two years of uni there). Not a great experience and they didn't pay me what they owed me, cut my time short leaving me homeless.

Fourth: retail again. Graduate now and looking for my first 'proper job', but needed to earn. Only just enough to live on if very frugal and only had myself to support. I did get that professional job in the end fortunately! Entry wage was probably not that much more than minimum but we were unionised back then with good benefits and annual reviews plus I moved up quickly.

I put everything in to these jobs. I was young and had energy and it was all new to me. I also knew these were temporary jobs until the next stage of my life. It would be different if I was working shop floor retail now and if it was my career I'd be looking how to move up the ladder as fast as possible.

The living wage is a couple of pound more, minimum wage in London £11.44. Living wage is £13.15.

Why it is less if you are younger is a mystery, blatant age discrimination. If you are doing a job, everybody should get the same wage.