Wages we should be paid top rates

[Octopus]

Embarrassingly 20p a year.

If that's the case you need to find a new job ...... because the rise in the tax free allowance means you must be being paid less per year now than you were 10 years ago

 

[Leesparkykent]

I don’t agree that you can earn 10k a year more just subbing to companies. Only if your on price. Most subbies I know only take home 30 pound a week more than me and have to spend 50 pound a week on fuel, plus van costs. Better off cards in unless you have you own company.

More fool them

 

[Nigel]

The trouble is there is subbies and ‘subbies’.

Proper subbies win their own work and earn decent but take the risk.

‘Subbies’ actually are worse off than zero-hour contract PAYE and just supply labour to either an agency or direct to a proper subbie.

 

[Rpa07]

Not sure what is funny about my comment @Murdoch

In 1996 a loaf of bread was 55p. Today it is £1.06. That is a 100% rise.

In 1996 a litre of petrol was 53p. Today it is £1.20. That is a 110% rise.

Has an electricians rate gone up by this much?

Bananas in 1983 were 38p a pound and today 38p a pound - moral of the story, eat more bananas!

I'm off to view a house in half an hour. It is up for offers over £160k. It last sold in 1998 for £27k

The larger Victorian houses in the area have seen a rise in the same time frame from about £80k to £250-300k

Bananas.

See, bananas are a hot topic!

 

[APE37]

I sub from a company at the moment. And by the time you pay running costs for van, insurance, pay for courses, tools, test equipment and calibration, reference books and all that jazz I am thinking may as well go shelf filling at local shop. I'm based in Hertfordshire and not anywhere near on some of the figures being stated on here. And the fact i got a hernia on a job and lost money for being off I'll. Need to really start thinking about going back to cards or doing more of my own stuff. Or go shelf filling.

 

[telectrix]

back in 1970 my wages were £22/week. petrol 5/6d a gallon, bread and milk 11d each. beere was 1/9d a pint. was far better off then than today. even saving £5 a week.

 

[cliffed]

Yea when I started on was on 35 p a hour,take home pay about £9.Always had enough money to take the chicks out & a good booze up.

 

[DT1991]

Is they any forum members here who run a company and have given employees a pay rise due to hard work and loyalty?

The JIB attempts to address the OPs post by outlining rates of pay which change yearly.

But not many companies are JIB Registered.

 

[APE37]

The only rise I've got in recent years in a taller pair of step ladders. And I had to buy them.

 

[John Matrix]

I sub from a company at the moment. And by the time you pay running costs for van, insurance, pay for courses, tools, test equipment and calibration, reference books and all that jazz I am thinking may as well go shelf filling at local shop. I'm based in Hertfordshire and not anywhere near on some of the figures being stated on here. And the fact i got a hernia on a job and lost money for being off I'll. Need to really start thinking about going back to cards or doing more of my own stuff. Or go shelf filling.

This is why o will always be cards in. The reward isn’t there anymore for the risk. I would rather let someone else have the headaches.

 

[edexlab]

I always think Electricians are daft in my area maybe it's all over

Where I live there are a disproportionate number of Electricians/ companies for the population here which does keep prices down,
I did ok self employed for a few years then started seeing a new companies van every couple of days ,So I got out of the rat race
I've had customers say they've had 7/8 quotes! and I was too expensive sometimes undercut by 2/3rds of mine

people working for themselves quoting £20 an hour as an hourly wage in their pockets no overheads no business sense at all


I used to ask for the cheapest quote guys number and say I'll quote a job and get him to do the work!


Also lots of Plumbers here

Most firms I've worked for undercut ruthlessly to get jobs, lots of firms have closed, lots of new start ups to replace them.
All the Plumbers in similar situation put their prices up!

Hence they all seem to have nice houses and cars now!

 

[pirate]

Yes, DT1991, I ran a company with 2 others, and the 2008 crash hurt us very badly. Up til then we gave all employees a raise and a bonus every year. After then we didn't, but they took a voluntary pay cut of 10% to avoid any redundancies, and I and my fellow bosses often took no salary just so we could pay the staff and keep them in a job. We managed to revert to their usual pay after 2 years, during which time the bosses had been paid only every 2 months, and not at usual rates.
Did they thank us for keeping bread on their tables?
nope! They just moaned constantly!
Now I work only for me, no employees, no offices, nothing...I just do what I want, don't have to bother about NIC, tax, sick pay, holiday pay...
Moral: Keep it simple, keep it tight...and be creative with your accounting!

 

[Zerax]

In 23 years my total wage raise relates to 20 pence a year,is that sarcastically good,I don’t think so.

What's that as a percentage ? If you started on £1 it's not bad !

 

[John Matrix]

The trade is ----ed. Any spark has these options available. Work your arse off trying to set up on your own, maybe running your health into the ground as a result. Depending on what type of person you are you have to be tough and durable. It is stressful and will kill you if you let it. I do mean literally kill you. Some people are just not cut out for it and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But you have to be honest with yourself. If you stress easy don’t do it. If you have a family to support then that is a good and a bad thing depending on if it works out. there’s no way I can put the hours in required to be a proper dad and work 7 days a week, trying to run a business and be the level of Dad that I want to be. Correct me if I’m wrong but I just can’t see how you can do both. Kids are kids for a short time and you never get that time back. Don’t waste it being stuck at work 7 days a week. They will hate you for it. Next option you have is self employed which is also tough. Subbying to companies from what I know doesn’t offer much more than being direct by the time you take out fuel and van expenses etc, unless you work away all week. Price work is the way to go for subbying. But that is also hard. Do what is best for you and your family. But realise that Sparkying is not the glamorous Cat walk everyone thinks it is. Come to terms with that and make the best of it or get out of it. There’s no shame in being Cards In despite what people say. Subbying does not mean your poo smells of rosemary. At the end of it we all end up the same way. The only respect that matters is self respect. Just make sure that you can live with whatever decision you make.

 

[Zerax]

...My kids haven't got a chance ......... unless the misses and I get run over....

It's certainly harder to get on the property ladder now than 25 years ago... but nowhere near as hard as the media like to make it out to be.

There was a thing on the radio about it a few months back... youngsters calling in to say how they had done it... it was amusing because the show obviously wanted to make the point about how difficult it was... but many callers said they'd just had to save up really hard and work long hours to do it. That's exactly how it was when I first bought... having 2 jobs, not going out, not going on holidays etc. etc...

 

[Octopus]

It's certainly harder to get on the property ladder now than 25 years ago... but nowhere near as hard as the media like to make it out to be.

Not sure I agree with that. As usual location matters and here (in Surrey) a 1 bed flat would be around £200K, so this has a huge impact on people wanting to buy as they need £30K to £40K deposit ........ so even if they cut out holidays, cars, nights out, new trainers and phones, they still have a lot of saving to do ....

When I joined the housing market, my studio flat cost about 4 x salary, the same flat now would be around £250K according to rightmove ...... and I don't see many people earning £60K plus in their early twenties

 

[Baddegg]

Know of a few people and family down here that bought in they 20’s and are now selling up and moving up north.......basically semi retirement in they late 40’s, and that purely on how much they’ve made on a house not heard from one that’s regretted it either, the prices down here are insane at the moment, I paid £80000 for a run down place in 2010 and sold it in 2016 for over £300000, I’ve no idea how people afford em but they do.....agree with @Murdoch its certainty not on 4 times they salary anymore.....

 

[ferg]

Not sure I agree with that. As usual location matters and here (in Surrey) a 1 bed flat would be around £200K, so this has a huge impact on people wanting to buy as they need £30K to £40K deposit ........ so even if they cut out holidays, cars, nights out, new trainers and phones, they still have a lot of saving to do ....

When I joined the housing market, my studio flat cost about 4 x salary, the same flat now would be around £250K according to rightmove ...... and I don't see many people earning £60K plus in their early twenties

It's kind of mostly been the case that to get a foot on the property ladder compromises have to be made on location, certainly from my experience.

I'm lucky in that I've always lived in areas with reasonable property prices.

The downside of that of course is that I would not be able to move to Surrey without a mortgage. Fortunately I have absolutely no intention of moving to Surrey.

 

[Baddegg]

It's kind of mostly been the case that to get a foot on the property ladder compromises have to be made on location, certainly from my experience.

I'm lucky in that I've always lived in areas with reasonable property prices.

The downside of that of course is that I would not be able to move to Surrey without a mortgage. Fortunately I have absolutely no intention of moving to Surrey.

Don’t blame ya ferg, it’s bloody stunning up where you are!

 

[Octopus]

The downside of that of course is that I would not be able to move to Surrey without a mortgage. Fortunately I have absolutely no intention of moving to Surrey.

Friends of ours relocated to just outside Inverness - and they know its a 1 way ticket ............ that said parts of Scotland are truly stunning, but whether I would want to live their is another subject!