Dont think much of this! The advert for her carer is in 'free-ads' , offering what I think is well below the minimum wage -- and you're supposed to be over 25.

No wonder our carers are undervalued. Its not an easy job , and it makes me mad when I see them taken advantage of and offered a pittance.

http://www.freeads.co.uk/uk/jobs/so...isability-in-supported/view#.VISd3jGsVKA

Minimum wage is £6.50 an hour they are offering £7 an hour.

thats a fair wage these days unfortunatley!!

Yes, £7 an hour is above the minimum wage but the hours are very difficult. Work from 745 till 2 then back for 5 and finish at 10, 11 and a quarter hours per day.Pretty much the whole day taken up for less than £80 and you need a car.Does this not take the worker above the maximum working hours although that is subject to so many nuances that it probably could be argued not.

Shocked !!! I thought Id read it was now £7.80 , but I dont know where Ive seen it. Im even more outraged now that carers get so little ! Fair pigs me off.

£7.80 is the Living wage they are pushing for. Seems a bit ironic they only pay so little for carers-- basically saying we don't really care about you--we just want to pay you as little as we can get away with.

The applicant has to be a car driver,and preferably over 25 yrs. Therefore, it would seem that the carer is also to be a chauffer.

What does it mean by full and part time hours, does that mean there are two positions over 7 days a week ?

Many a person does 12 hour shifts now, Salmon. I'll never know how it's been allowed to happen. Then, if someone is ill or on holiday, ones expected provide cover on the days your recovering ! The unions certainly turned their backs on that one. Just another way of organisations/companies being able to employ less people.

Exactly my feelings on it, fish. Its time they got it sorted out as I reckon that the way we're going (population ageing) we're going to need loads of them . Its a job that should have more respect AND more training ----

They do sod all anyway useless gets!

That is not a nice thing to say. I know lots that work very hard.

My other half is in that line of work,She works long and hard.

My wife is PSW, some mornings she'll give 10 showers to some people who are 15 stone. She works damn hard.

Not hard to make a cup of tea and a sandwich.

Next 15 minutes sit on their asses gabbing crap then ask to leave early and for you to sign their book.

For £160 per week id expect a bit more.

Whenever the mother in law asked for a shower or bed linen to be changed it was "not allowed sorry".

Then the idiots broke a £1500 smeg washing machine.

Needless to say they were told to do one, especially when the bill came through.

I'm talking about the ones who call to ill patients homes not the home carers (the mobile carers I'm on about).

Then make it clear who you're talking about before slagging them all off.

Ste. You are talking nonsense. Care work is one of the most challenging occupations ever. Carers often get abused by the very people they care for. They work long hours with unpaid breaks especially carers who visit clients homes.There are some who let the side down but that is the same as any profession.For example I have been ripped off by some mechanics but had fabulous experiences with others. I am a support worker and certainly do not sit on my backside drinking tea. I find your post very offensive.

Its not just popping in and making a nice cup of tea in a clean kitchen for a sweet little old lady smelling of lavender, they have to go to some right rank places and deal with some very 'stale' smelling clients who in themselves can be difficult, rude, and unappreciative, and as someone said, people can be a dead weight when you come to bath them , and after a few on the trot, its tough on the back . Mentally it can exhaust you dealing with a person with dementia symptoms too.

Yes they will have some easy visits , but an awful lot of tiring ones as well.Its also stressful for the caring ones, to have to leave people they havent helped as fully as theyd have liked to ,because of time restrictions.

Ive experienced first hand , some very bad lazy home carers , and some down right thoughtless ones too - but if the profession was valued and paid more , agencies wouldnt always be hunting for staff, more would apply, then successful applicants could be properly trained, then these useless ones wouldnt have to be taken on in the first place,and the whole standard would rise.

It's simple.
If you don't like your job then get another one
If you moan about your job you clearly don't like it so get another one.
If you go on strike for better pay you are clearly not happy in your job so get another one.
If you feel hard done by for working long hours and not feeling the satisfaction then get another job.
I am sick to the back teeth of listening to different professions going on strike all the time due to receiving ONLY a 1% pay rise or having to work long hours. If you don't like it then change professions.
Quite simple really.

P.S someone will take this job, not because they are forced to but because it is work. I commend anyone for getting off their arses and doing a bit. No point in moaning because we have all got to do it.

YOU THE MAN!
Here here!

What a couple of good samaritans Ste and Adam are, it is blatently obvious they have never worked in industry in any capacity,the me me attitude I work till, I dont get this,I have to do that, I never get a pay rise, the politics of jealousy, you know the old adage dont critise me till you have walked in my shoes, there are good and bad in every industry but please dont label everyone the same.

He is the man ,i agree with this guy also.
Lucky to have a job with a steady income each month.
You should be proud of what you work hard for,Its being responsible for your own keep.
Its damm hard to make ends meat but thats life.Its better than being on the dole doing nothing.

So you think it's ok to exploit workers while the fat cats get richer ? How odd

I've worked since I was 15 years old only scrounging off the state for about a total of 2 years in all that time.

Don't call me jealous you have no idea.

My works always been full time too not part time just so I can get off early or keep scrounging.

The cheek.

Oh and for your information I worked in a nursing home for a while, it was shit, I got another job!

Well said Adam you are right ignore the negatives on here.

You either take what your paid or you move on. Damn I'd love for your bosses to see this thread.

I suspect AdamEvans is really Esther McVey. I don"t know why! just something.

I remember when all jobs were full time and more.Part time was after school and weekends..

No it is not OK to exploit the poor to make yourself richer.
However, if you owned a business, I'm sure you would do the same.

Anyone who says they haven't had a pay rise for years clearly is on more than the minimum wage as minimum wagers have had one every year since 1999 so already these people are not "struggling"

Don't moan about how BAD your job is because I am sure someone else would love to have it. If you feel you are worth more money than you are getting paid then go and find someone who is willing to pay you more. If you can't then you are clearly not worth what you thought.

I was sick and tired of being "exploited" on minimum wage that I went and got an apprenticeship. I am now on about half the "living wage" but I am still living.

In the last 8 years I had a 3 month stint of unemployment.
The reason why it is ONLY 3 months is because I realised after 3 months that I was not worth more than minimum wage so I took a job on minimum wage.

There are jobs out there. If you hold out for a better paid job because you think you are worth it then that's just silly.
Take what you can and stop moaning about how hard done by you are because I am sure someone would love to have your job so much that they would probably do a better job than you.

Nah! Definitely George Osborne. He is very happy to live in a society where the rich get richer on the backs of the poor getting poorer, working zero hour contracts or taking on several low wage jobs in order to avoid the food banks.

Good to know that our economy is thriving.

Ive only been on benefits for 2 weeks when i left school.I went about asking for work in local restaurants in town.My first job was washing dishes and washing floors. Am prepared to work hard to earn my keep.At the moment i work for myself and had no other choice.No ones going to pay my morgage,bills,council tax etc.
Thats life,Its hard but its the only way to keep a roof over my head.
And yes there is jobs out there.

Do I really need to give you a lesson in business ?

How it works is a company will buy something for price A and sell for price B
Price B must be higher than price A otherwise they will make a loss.

Same with employees.

Company will sell services for price B and therefore have to buy the services from an employee for price A. Again, price B must be higher than price A otherwise the company will make a loss

However what has been happening recently is that company A has been charging £20 for the service so has been paying the employee £10 to do it and making a profit along the way.

Company B comes along and sells the same service for £15. He can afford to do this because he pays the employee £7.50.

Company A starts to lose orders to the competition and doesn't like it so they lower their prices too therefore making less profit and has to reduce wages. The employee doesn't like this and goes on strike. Company A then has a backlog of orders but nobody to complete them and therefore goes bankrupt. This then forces the employee into redundancy.

All for a few pence the employee lost their job.


My last point too is have you never sold anything for a profit ? Mobile phone, clothes, car, house.
My guess is that in the housing boom in the mid 00's you may have done. Shame on you for making money !!

I am not what is wrong with the country. I make an honest living and I am willing to pay a fair price for something knowing that the person I am buying from is making money too.

If you want to work for minimum wage then great, at least you are not a scrounger, if you think you are worth more then hold out for that special job to come along but you may be holding out quite a while at the moment. Grab what you can. There is work out there. If you can't find work then make work. At least then you are your own boss and you can charge what you think you are worth. If you are worth what you are charging then you will sell what you have. If you are not then you will not.

Quite simple really !!

And the economy is only this good because of people taking on 2 or 3 jobs because that's what is available.
Imagine if they didn't and went on strike like a lot of the other professions

Thanks for the lesson, George.
Good luck at the next election.

Before the days of all the tax credits, if one job wasn't enough, we applied for another. Didn't think twice about it. Someitmes we had three jobs as I did for a while, and juggled accordingly. No choice, either do it or starve. So we did it. Three children and three jobs. Never claimed a day of benefits and we were proud not to have done. There used to be a stigma attached to people claiming . Too many want something for not a lot these days and once the family tax credit came to pass it just made everyone think they could do less and get more. Abmismal attitude.
Having said that , the minimum wage is not adequate to live on now but which bloody government introduced it, and subsequently were responsible for the majority of wages dropping instead of rising in a competetive market ?
The most annoying thing I have heard in the last 24 hours is some bright spark saying that ' foodbanks' are an entitlement. No the damn well aren't ! The people who are on a pension in many cases are providing for those foodbanks from of the goodness of their hearts. The people who get less in pension than the people claiming benefits, and the innocent souls who many of which will be spending their christmas on their own. No longer do I intend to give to foodbanks, my money will go to africa, where they expect nothing and are greatful for every crust of bread.

How long is it since 'zero hour contracts' were introduced ? We were doing them going back to 1990's .. It was called 'temping'then. Temporary work through agencies. What's the difference now ? Market research, ....registered with six companies to make sure we got enough hours in a week. It wasn't a problem for anyone.

Here, here granny !!!

I heard something on the TV that disturbed me too about foodbanks.
It was about the amount of people who use them because their benefits are taking too long to be processes.
So, for example, if the benefits take 6 weeks to be processed they have used the foodbanks for this amount of time.
But what the news reporters forgot to ask was that once employment was found did any of these "scroungers" give anything back to the foodbank that helped them. I mean, if it takes 6 weeks delay to get your "dole" then they will still be paying you 6 weeks into employment so therefore you will be getting double paid.

I wonder how many people gave back.
Probably none

So,from what I have gathered from your replies, so far, you are in favour of zero hour contracts and people having not enough money to feed themselves. How very compassionate.

[/quote]
So, for example, if the benefits take 6 weeks to be processed they have used the foodbanks for this amount of time.

No, they get 3 days worth of staple food:rice, tins of spam and tins of peaches, for example, for a maximum of 3 times per year. 9 days food for the 42 days that it takes to process claims.

I mean, if it takes 6 weeks delay to get your "dole" then they will still be paying you 6 weeks into employment so therefore you will be getting double paid.

They have to 'sign off' as soon as they are employed

I wonder how many people gave back.

[b]Who knows?[/b]
Probably none

[b]Evidence??[/b][/quote]

[quote=RUDEBOX][/quote]
So, for example, if the benefits take 6 weeks to be processed they have used the foodbanks for this amount of time.

No, they get 3 days worth of staple food:rice, tins of spam and tins of peaches, for example, for a maximum of 3 times per year. 9 days food for the 42 days that it takes to process claims.

So, the Foodbank is not the 'bottomless pit' of oh so tasty food. Christmas and Easter Seasonal Workers, say at Cadburys. They may work part time for 6 weeks ( takes 6 weeks for the CTX and WTC to come through). Then, they are back on the dole- no money for 6 weeks. Then employed again, for another 6-8 weeks.....and so it goes on.....

Read it again Buzzybee and talking about compassion, how much percentage do you give from your earnings each week/month to charity. How much do you put into the community and how much do you think everyone else should contribute to their community
by denying themselves the food that they also need ?

Exactly!

The benefit scrounger
Dolite
... bucket
Scav

This is exactly what is a benefit scrounger, the moaning /... that refuse to work for what they are offered!

A job is a job, you work for your money, you don't scav it, beg for it or steal it.

There are people on benefis and there are SCROUNGERS!

The people on benefits are the ones activley seeking work genuinly, the SCROUGERS are the ones who chat bubbles like "Wouldn't get out of bed for that", "can't be assed, not enough pay" "blah blah, i'm just a scrouger but don't want to admit it"!

Piss me reet off those mugs, getting sick of it now, FUMIN!

Plenty of people out there that would desperatly do the work others whine and winge about.

Don't get me started on the baby factories .

There has been a lot of misinformation put foreward on this thread, the minimum wage hasnt risen every year, agency work and temping are not one and the same as zero hours contracts, and the simple market forces economic and business plan as mentioned by Adam must have been taught to him at school, I have done my 50 years, made redundant in the 80's and scrounged, bummed, scaved,doled or what other unsavoury name you wish to call it for four months at that time, and I am not ashamed to say I am glad that safety net was there whilst I looked for another job, and yes I also worked part time as well, suffice to say I have contributed to the system that gave me that support when I needed it, most people work to live, liking your job doesnt come into it, unless you are very fortunate to do something you like, so Ste and Adam remember when you are attacking the unfortunates that need help and assistance, you could be in the same postion, I am not talking about the unemployed that dont wish to work, just the unfortunate that need help.

But you weren't a scav, it wasn't your fault you were in that place, you were actively seeking work, I'm on about the real bums who won't work.

I'm not attacking the unfortunate people.

I also don't agree with the work placement the benefit place expect people to do, that's slave labour.

There is a dark side to the world of work Casper.

Well said casper,So true, a man talking from "experience" it goes a long way!!

Jeez this has gone way off topic,Some people just love to rant.

Ste thank you for the clarification, but your post seem a bit muddled at times you appear to be including those on the minimum wage and trades unions etc, trade unions are essential when we have a government that seems intent on reintroducing mass poverty, everyone has a choice, contrary to what Adam says there are bad employers that abuse their workers and ignore paying the minimum wage, I have always found if people are treated right and fairly then they will go the extra mile and that benefits everybody,simply put if on the other hand you are treated badly then that affects the way you perform, high labour turnover, poor shoddy work, no loyalty,the textile workers in India paid buttons and working in unsafe conditions have been helped by people refusing to buy products supplied by these companys, is that right or wrong? will they lose their jobs or will they lose their lives when the building collapses or is burnt to the ground as has happened, its a hard call isnt it.

It's a pathetic state of affairs that we are even discussing food banks and zero hour jobs in this day and age. This country's economy, we're told, is the envy of Europe but I look around me and see that our standard of living generally has plummeted. People are shopping at the 'cheapo' shops to try to make ends meet. There are cut backs everywhere, councils, NHS, police etc and the level of child poverty is at an all time high. Not everyone on benefits is a scrounger, far from it. Many live hand to mouth and clothe themselves and their families from charity shops. A very long way from Mr Osborne and his Eaton ilk fat cats.

Right on Nick,the constant attacks on the unfortunate really get me down, the propaganda issued by the Tories has really worked well, whilst a number of them of all parties, thieve and lie and pervert the course of justice they have the audacity to point the finger at others, I can understand those that steal to feed their families ( though I dont condone it )but what I dont understand are those that steal to feed their already full bank accounts.

Nickleg
So far I doubt we are worse than most of the European countries, with regard to food aid and poverty etc .
Food banks have probably now been seen as a necessesity in this country and that makes me very angry. Mainly because it is the state taking off the rest of the good natured population (even if it is a voluntary act set up by the Trussel Trust). In such a short time it has become the acceptable norm, and what was supposed to be an interim help has now become expected. Therefore in their own wisdom, the Trussel Trust has caused more problems than cures.
The government are undoubtadly seeing this as a benefit, and strangely there has been little or no response since the Archbishop of Canterbury's voiced his message the other day.
Whilst this goes on the government have no reason to intervene for the needy of society.

Casper, my reply to buzzybee was in response to her question of why people should have to take on several low paid jobs to avoid foodbanks ! We did just that as mothers, as explained, but no one has explained to me what the difference is between temp work , when you only get paid for hours you work and zero hour .contracts.
I think we are all relating to our own experiences and the 80,s were bad , hence we as a family moved 300 miles away for work, and thus ending in a breakdown in our marriage. Many bad experiences then, but we got on with it all a never expected charity, because it wasn' t there. Neither were any family members there to give support or help.

Hello granny you talk alot of sense,So you can stay lol those food banks are offering some free advice to the people that use them on how to manage there debts I wonder if these payday loans have anything to answer for!! they dont half get my back up borrow a thousand pounds for Christmas pay back TWO next Christmas .. they should be stopped at all cost .. I would sooner go without myself but for the younger generation its to much of a temptation.

I suppose opinions will vary depending on individual circumstances. I, personally have never been out of work or claimed any sort of benefits. I have paid my mortgage, contributed to a private pension and managed to save a few bob. I am not on the bread line but I am not wealthy, neither am I blind. I look around and I see some people really struggling. Decent people who deserve better. The minimum wage has now become the norm for employers to pay, try living on it with a family to feed and clothe. This was never the intention. Part time work paying buttons is also the norm with the 'if you don't like it, leave. We'll get someone else' attitude from employers. There is no point in comparing yesteryears to today. we are naturally expected to make progress. I just do not see it anywhere.

Hello granny, not having a go, I too think you make many true and sensible comments, just pointing out that zero hours and agency work are different.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/UK_National_Minimum_Wage.svg

As far as I am aware that is a pay rise

Yes they are very different things.

A temporary job has definite hours for a specific period of time.

A zero hour contract means your employer can give you any amount of hours one week then none for the next 2 weeks making it impossible to budget for living expenses.

My lads just got temporary work (xmas post Royal Mail Chester) and was told the hours would be 10pm till 6am . First night they were sent home at 2am next few nights it was midnight till 6am. Just seems that the employers can screw you whatever type of contract your on.

Zubee:When we did temporary work in 1980's/1990's, we would register with an agency or numerous agencies with our CV (didn't have those then, just told them what experience we had) .
They would phone us on any day at any time and ask if we could take a job on. That could be for a day, a week, 2 weeks, or any amount of time. We were paid for the hours we worked only. Once we finished that job, we would call around the agencies we were registered with and let them know we were available again. Then the next jobs would come in. If we couldn't do them, that was fine but we were never without work even 'tho we may have worked in 3 or 4 different places in one week.
It didn't take long for each agency to realise who they could rely upon and who was prepared to take the work.
So, from that angle, maybe it has changed , but we never were given a definite amount of hours, only for when the companies needed us.
That sounds very much like the system of zero hours now, but if you're attached to only one employer then it obviously won't work.
Maybe the agencies have changed their policies too

Zero hours contracts make it impossible to live and budget.

A friend of mine who has 2 children was really pleased to be offered a job with Sports Direct, however it was a zero hour contract. She kept DWP informed and they (without her knowledge) 'signed her off'. She phoned Sports Direct every day for 6 weeks asking when she would be given hours only to be told they would be in touch.

All told she had zero income for over 9 weeks and was threatened with eviction.

The upshot is that the official 'unemployment' figure was reduced by 1 person who was consequently left in a horrendous situation.

Zero hours contracts can only be an option if you're still living at home with parents or your income isn't really a necessity to your household.

I think they should be abolished.

It actually sounds another fix created by the companies to override any legal aspects of employment.

Who takes people to cover holiday cover and sickness cover for admin positions or telephonist for example? The nursing and teaching have their 'banks', there must be some agencies doing that for other needs that arise in the workplaces .
I've been looking but can't find anything. ..but I did find this if anyone is interested. Catering

http://www.caterer.com/JobSeeking/Assistant-ManagerMill_Wirral_l11875_t1.html

Another angle of Care-work, from a Care- worker. http://touchstoneblog.org.uk/2014/1...e-care-worker-but-i-hate-the-insecurity/