Teachers earning over €500 in polling centres......

Johnny Utah

What do ye think of teachers and other public service workers being employed as polling officers for the general election?

This is unskilled work and it pays over €500 for a day's work. Invariably, however, you need to have connections to get the job.

Surely, these jobs should be advertised and the unemployed should be given first preference.

What do you think?

arybvtcw0eolkf

Johnny Utah wrote: »

What do ye think of teachers and other public service workers being employed as polling officers for the general election?

This is unskilled work and it pays over €500 for a day's work. Invariably, however, you need to have connections to get the job.

Surely, these jobs should be advertised and the unemployed should be given first preference.

What do you think?

Fair play to them if they can get it, grab it.

Dog eat dog out there my friend.

chin_grin

I think I'm going to label this as reactionary bullsh!t until I see a source. And then still label it as Daily Mail-reader reactionary bullsh!t.

RichieC

Begrudger.

Since the schools are closed, do the teachers get a paid day off? Surely the same teachers cannot then work and get paid in the polling station?

Johnny Utah

RoverJames wrote: »

Since the schools are closed, do the teachers get a paid day off? Surely the same teachers cannot then work and get paid in the polling station?

Yeah, the teachers get a day off too!

arybvtcw0eolkf

RichieC wrote: »

Begrudger.

+1.. I was thinking the same.

I'm off today, but came off a couple of weeks of nights (my body clock is expected to readjust today!!).. And I'll tell ya, if someone offered me €500 for a days work I wouldn't be give a toss about the unemployed - I'd take someone's arm off for it.

I think you need to get over it

rainbowtrout

Johnny Utah wrote: »

What do ye think of teachers and other public service workers being employed as polling officers for the general election?

This is unskilled work and it pays over €500 for a day's work. Invariably, however, you need to have connections to get the job.

Surely, these jobs should be advertised and the unemployed should be given first preference.

What do you think?

None of the people that work in my local polling station are teachers. They are the same people who have worked at the polling station for years.

Johnny Utah wrote: »

Yeah, the teachers get a day off too!

It's midterm break this week. All teachers are off.

NothingMan

Ellis White Marmot wrote: »

+1.. I was thinking the same.

I'm off today, but came off a couple of weeks of nights (my body clock is expected to readjust today!!).. And I'll tell ya, if someone offered me €500 for a days work I wouldn't be give a toss about the unemployed - I'd take someone's arm off for it.

I don't think he was begrudging people snapping up a €500 a day job just shocked that the government are paying waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over the odds for an unskilled job. You could offer €200 for the same job and still have people snapping arms off.

biko

From After Hours.

Dionysus

Johnny Utah wrote: »

What do ye think of teachers and other public service workers being employed as polling officers for the general election?

This is unskilled work and it pays over €500 for a day's work. Invariably, however, you need to have connections to get the job.

Surely, these jobs should be advertised and the unemployed should be given first preference.

What do you think?

I'd like to see a source for this. I applied for a polling position and this is the reply I received:

"Thank you for your mail. Please find attached application form for position of poll clerk. We are currently giving priority to unemployed persons where we can. We require a body of experienced people for the positions of presiding officers. We have received a large number of applications.

Please complete the form and return to us and we will place you on a reserve list and we will contact you if a position arises."

NothingMan

NothingMan wrote: »

just shocked that the government are paying waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over the odds for an unskilled job.

What?..dont be silly..the one thing were good at in this country is paying way over the odds for stuff..

biko

In an earlier thread it was mentioned that they start at 0630 and finish at 2230 which is 16 hours work.

Dublin_Gunner

WTF?? €500 a day to to SFA??

It should be voluntary TBH. The positions would still be filled.

Bloody joke.

I wonder how many people are employed at the polling stations around the country?

I have a fairly decent job - I most certainly don't get paid €500 per day though.

Dymo

These positions rarely come up because people tend to hold on to them.You might not need a qualification but it is a lot of responsibility, if any mistakes are made your knocked off the list straight away.

Its a 17- 18 hour day depending when the ballot box is collected and you can't leave the booth at anytime.It does pay well but it's not that often maybe once a year the last one was in 2009.

ISAW

Dionysus wrote: »

I'd like to see a source for this. I applied for a polling position and this is the reply I received:

"Thank you for your mail. Please find attached application form for position of poll clerk. We are currently giving priority to unemployed persons where we can. We require a body of experienced people for the positions of presiding officers. We have received a large number of applications.

Please complete the form and return to us and we will place you on a reserve list and we will contact you if a position arises."

There are a number of jobs so let me outline them

REturning officer - a senior civil servant in Environmnet and Local government.
Probably from the franchise section which deaLS WITH ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES, VOTER REGISTRATION marked registers of who votes collection of all the votes in the country after the ballot is counted etc.
http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/Voting/#Contact%20Details

Returning officer - qualified lawyer of many years experience -usually one per county. state appointed and remains in job until they retire. One per county usually the county Sherriff.


Returning officer constituency. temp appointment for the duration of the count. Again a senior lawyer or council staff member. one per constituency.

On the voting end the returning officer appoints an inspector per constituency. These go around checking the identity of the polling station staff and issuing them with votes if they are in a station in another ward. If they are in another constituency altogether they can get a postal vote.


In each station there is a chief presiding officer and a presiding officer and poll clerk for each ballot box. If there are less than six boxes the Chief is the one with the lowest box number. These are appointed by application and keep their position. If a vacancy arises for a presidient officer a poll clerk may fill it.

Current policy is for unemployed and/or students to fill poll clerk positions. they will have to be there from about 6:30 Am till 10:O0 PM. Presiding officers may have to wait till midnight for boxes to be collected - an 18 hour day. Will they then be available for 18 hours in a years time? Many teachers do no doubt get the job in the country because the school is used as a polling station and is remote and closed for the day.

As far as i know the Presiding officer is a job of experience. You have to know how to handle people and what the law is. As such you just can't take someone with no prior experience. What do you do for example if a TD judge or ambassador 's spouse demands a vote and gets them to back them up? You can end up in the High Court and it can cost tens of thousands to fix this. You really need to know what you are about. On the other end when is someone being disruptive? Should children be allowed to see a "secret ballot"? Can old people shout out who they are voting for? Like a Garda all these things require discretion - there is nothing so public as a polling station in Ireland.

Dublin_Gunner

The polling clerk jobs should be handed out to those on the register of electors. Names drawn for a hat just like Jury service.

Even if it is a 17 hour day (unlikely in fairness). Thats just €30 per hour.

It really should be different people manning them each time. Its just another case of government looking after their buddies.

shofukan

Johnny Utah wrote: »

What do ye think of teachers and other public service workers being employed as polling officers for the general election?

I'm an unemployed student.
I applied for this before Christmas through email.
Received several phonecalls to check my information and availability.
And I got the position of poll clerk.

Johnny Utah wrote: »

This is unskilled work and it pays over €500 for a day's work. Invariably, however, you need to have connections to get the job.

I have absolutely no connections with the local council whatsoever. Literally. No connections whatsoever.
I don't know how much I'll be getting paid for it.

Johnny Utah wrote: »

Surely, these jobs should be advertised and the unemployed should be given first preference.

It's there if you want it. I looked into it, found the addresses and telephone numbers and made contact. If people aren't arsed to look for a job it isn't really anyone's problem but their own. I'm studying for the Leaving Cert. at the moment. I made the effort to go for it and through the luck of the draw I got the position. It didn't matter for me that it wasn't advertised.

seanor3

seanor3 wrote: »

I'm an unemployed student.

wtf is an unemployed student?

chin_grin

RoverJames wrote: »

wtf is an unemployed student?

Student:
n
1. One who is enrolled or attends classes at a school, college, or university.
2.
1. One who studies something: a student of contemporary dance.
2. An attentive observer: a student of world affairs.

Unemployed:
adj.

1. Out of work, especially involuntarily; jobless.
2. Not being used; idle.

ISAW

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

The polling clerk jobs should be handed out to those on the register of electors. Names drawn for a hat just like Jury service.

Even if it is a 17 hour day (unlikely in fairness).

It is certainly from half six to half ten at night excluding travel. that is sixteen hours minimum.

Thats just €30 per hour.

And a teacher gets about 48 per hour?

It really should be different people manning them each time. Its just another case of government looking after their buddies.

Not at all! You cant change the staff for those with no experience! There is also other requirements for example someone can insist that they be served in irish or the station is in a gaelscoil so an Irish speaker must be employed ( or all have to be Irish speakers).

Polling clarks can and do change from election to election.

Dublin_Gunner

ISAW wrote: »

It is certainly from half six to half ten at night excluding travel. that is sixteen hours minimum.



And a teacher gets about 48 per hour?



Not at all! You cant change the staff for those with no experience! There is also other requirements for example someone can insist that they be served in irish or the station is in a gaelscoil so an Irish speaker must be employed ( or all have to be Irish speakers).

Polling clarks can and do change from election to election.

Its the polling clerk position I thought we were all talking about?

pragmatic1

biko wrote: »

In an earlier thread it was mentioned that they start at 0630 and finish at 2230 which is 16 hours work.

Bit of a stretch to call it work. Even if it was hard labour, 30 odd euro an hour isnt bad.

Overheal

I dont get this business of calling it unskilled or being thrown at the hobos. Its the election. Its kinda important. And you kinda want to avoid voter fraud. I wouldn't regard it as throw-away work.

PARKHEAD67

Ellis White Marmot wrote: »

Fair play to them if they can get it, grab it.

Dog eat dog out there my friend.

What an idiotic point of view.500 euros of taxpayers money per day to sit in a room.No wonder this country is such a bloody shambles.Bloody disgraceful.

omg a kitty

Johnny Utah wrote: »

What do ye think of teachers and other public service workers being employed as polling officers for the general election?

This is unskilled work and it pays over €500 for a day's work. Invariably, however, you need to have connections to get the job.

Surely, these jobs should be advertised and the unemployed should be given first preference.

What do you think?

whats your source?

PARKHEAD67

pragmatic1 wrote: »

Bit of a stretch to call it work. Even if it was hard labour, 30 odd euro an hour isnt bad.

Watched a programme on BBC2 last night about a taxi driver in Manilla getting paid £8 per day for 12 hours driving arund in a piece of crap.He lived in ahouse no bigger than a large bathroom.THATS WORK.Teachers in this country wouldnt know work if it smacked em in the chops.Moaning and whingeing and they off half the year on HOLIDAYS!!!!!!

PARKHEAD67

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

The polling clerk jobs should be handed out to those on the register of electors. Names drawn for a hat just like Jury service.

Even if it is a 17 hour day (unlikely in fairness). Thats just €30 per hour.

It really should be different people manning them each time. Its just another case of government looking after their buddies.

JUST 30 euro an hour????? JEEBUS.Whats the minimum wage? 7 or 8 euro? So their getting paid about 4 or 5 times this to sit on their arse.

20Cent

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

What an idiotic point of view.500 euros of taxpayers money per day to sit in a room.No wonder this country is such a bloody shambles.Bloody disgraceful.

I think it involves more than sitting in a room tbh.

PARKHEAD67

Overheal wrote: »

I dont get this business of calling it unskilled or being thrown at the hobos. Its the election. Its kinda important. And you kinda want to avoid voter fraud. I wouldn't regard it as throw-away work.

Ya, it must be a very challenging bit of work alright:rolleyes:.Easily worth 500 euro per DAY.Not per week.1 DAY-500 Euro.Taxpayer to foot the bill.

PARKHEAD67

20Cent wrote: »

I think it involves more than sitting in a room tbh.

Sitting ina room AND ticking off your name.Very hard work.They must build up an awful sweat by the time they have to collect their 500 euro courtyesy of the shmuck PAYE worker.The election is on a Friday so the teacher gets paid for a Friday teaching, even though he or she is not teaching.Then, to add insult to injury another 500 euro is added to this for sitting down in a room. It would make you sick.

mikemac

Once you are on the list people tend to stay there. So there are openings but not very many

For example if you work this election but refuse to work the next one, probably the Presidential election in the autumn you get kicked off the list.

Know a few people doing this work. They take a day's annual leave and then go work in the polling station
It's a very long day

heyjude

ISAW wrote: »

You cant change the staff for those with no experience! There is also other requirements for example someone can insist that they be served in irish or the station is in a gaelscoil so an Irish speaker must be employed ( or all have to be Irish speakers).

Polling clarks can and do change from election to election.

If you can't change the staff for those with no experience, how is someone supposed to get the experience ?

Overheal wrote: »

I dont get this business of calling it unskilled or being thrown at the hobos. Its the election. Its kinda important. And you kinda want to avoid voter fraud. I wouldn't regard it as throw-away work.

I think after our recent experiences in this country with politics and business, the idea that we need to offer high pay or restrict these jobs to those with the necessary experience, in order to avoid any type of fraud is very optimistic. Most of those in positions of power as we descended into our current mess were qualified, experienced and above all well paid. Being unskilled doesn't make you dishonest and experience doesn't doesn't make you honest.

As for the need for experience, well, the only polling clerks that I have known personally were the wife and the son of a school teacher. The job of polling clerk largely consists of checking a voters' ID, crossing their name off a list and watching them putting the ballot paper into a box. Tasks that wouldn't seem to be beyond most adults.

PARKHEAD67

feelingstressed wrote: »

Once you are on the list people tend to stay there. So there are openings but not very many

For example if you work this election but refuse to work the next one, probably the Presidential election in the autumn you get kicked off the list.

Know a few people doing this work. They take a day's annual leave and then go work in the polling station
It's a very long day

Boo-hoo for them. Boo bloody hoo. A weeks wage for a days work(if you call sitting on your arse work)

20Cent

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Sitting ina room AND ticking off your name.Very hard work.They must build up an awful sweat by the time they have to collect their 500 euro courtyesy of the shmuck PAYE worker.The election is on a Friday so the teacher gets paid for a Friday teaching, even though he or she is not teaching.Then, to add insult to injury another 500 euro is added to this for sitting down in a room. It would make you sick.

It has already been shown that this is not just a job given to teachers.

heyjude

Dymo wrote: »

These positions rarely come up because people tend to hold on to them.You might not need a qualification but it is a lot of responsibility, if any mistakes are made your knocked off the list straight away.

The idea of someone being knocked off the list(sacked) for making mistakes must be a novel concept for anyone associated with the government and civil service of this country, I imagine we'd be in much better shape now if such a rule had been applied across the board. Perhaps we wouldn't need an election as they'd all have been replaced already.

PARKHEAD67

20Cent wrote: »

It has already been shown that this is not just a job given to teachers.

It shouldnt be given to ANY teachers FFS.

Kinetic^

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

It shouldnt be given to ANY teachers FFS.

Why? It was open to anyone to apply for.

dave1982

I tried to apply for these positions and so it turns out the teachers got jobs.

A paid days holiday and 500 euro on top of that???:rolleyes:

dvpower

rainbowtrout wrote: »

It's midterm break this week. All teachers are off.

No so. Some schools are closed Monday and Tuesday only (and Friday because of the election, not the mid term).

Kinetic^

dave1982 wrote: »

I tried to apply for these positions and so it turns out the teachers got jobs.

A paid days holiday and 500 euro on top of that???:rolleyes:

What do you mean "tried to apply"? You either did or you didn't.

hatrickpatrick

It amazes me how, in our time of crisis, we are so incredibly willing to turn on eachother.

Good for them. At least that's €500 which won't be going into the black hole that is the banking bailout, or into the well lined pockets of politicians.

Why are we now so quick to bash the lucky people who are still managing to earn money in this economy? This is the state paying ordinary people for a change. If they weren't paying these teachers with that money, they'd be bailing out crooks with it instead.

Raging_Ninja

What's this bull**** about polling officers/clerks getting €500? I don't think I ever got that.

If you're going on a frothing at the mouth rant, at least try to be accurate.

And I don't mind if a teacher get the job. If a person goes through the vetting process and are found eligible, and they aren't doing any electioneering, then I have no problem with them getting it.

thenutflush

But I just don't get it.. surely they could have offered 150 euro for the day's work and people would have jumped at it? Why are they unnecessarily paying 3 times more money than they need to?? A perfect example of public sector innefficieny. Note I am not saying every single nook and cranny of the public sector is innefficient, I'm just saying this is a good example of one of the many times that it is.

gosplan

Ho Ho.

Those crafty teachers up to it again I see. :rolleyes:

Wish people would spend less time b1tching about how amazing a job it is and more time actually becoming a teacher if it's so bloody awesome.

There's a baby boom on at the moment so you're guaranteed work in a few years.

Come over to the dark side!!!! MUH HA HA HA HA.

Mint Sauce

I'm not a teacher, the figure of €500 is nearly €200 more than what I heard it to be.

I am, unfortunalty unemployed. Before the election was announced, at this point it was beleived to be at the end of march, I made inqueries how I might apply, for both a Clerk and at the count centre, I treated it like any other job application, a cover letter, my CV, and I enclosed a reference.

A couple of weeks ago, received a responce, simply told to return the enclosed form to the returning officer and turn up at 6.30am on the morning of the election.

treascon

I have done polling clerk on the last 3 occassions. The pay works out at approx 350 after tax (it isn't even 500 before tax). I did not encounter any teachers or public service workers doing polling clerk. I am unemployed and will not apologise for doing the days work & getting paid for it. It might not be rocket science but its one hell of a long day. People starting threads should get their facts straight before they start one!

the groutch

surprised that the outgoing government didnt orgainse for as many of these job as possible to go to those on the dole, would have won them a good few extra votes.
but no, they have to keep up their cronyistic ways of jobs for the boys (or girls)

Mint Sauce

the groutch wrote: »

surprised that the outgoing government didnt orgainse for as many of these job as possible to go to those on the dole, would have won them a good few extra votes.
but no, they have to keep up their cronyistic ways of jobs for the boys (or girls)

Jobs for the Boys and Girls? Last two posts, including my own, we're both unemployed. I applied for for the role.

No offence to any one here, but if you dont try to apply for one of these roles, and yes, you can apply, and if you dont know all the facts, regarding who can apply, and what you get, you cant really complain.

the groutch

irish-stew wrote: »

No offence to any one here, but if you dont try to apply for one of these roles, and yes, you can apply, and if you dont know all the facts, regarding who can apply, and what you get, you cant really complain.

I would have applied, but I have to work that day, unlike the teachers
Btw, here are alot of other locations that could be used instead of schools as polling stations