Private to Public Sector

bobbysands81

jess1984 wrote: »

Hello,

I have a situation..one wouldn't say it's a bad one but I'm really stressed about it.
I work in the private industry, it's a high pressure role. I work Christmas day, public holidays, weekends though my position is supposed to be Monday to Friday - 8 to 4, usually finish at any time up to 10 pm and could start at 0500 am. Trying to get vacation is tough, you have to find coverage. You are expected to provide coverage for others. Your expected to check your emails when you are off. In saying all this I do get paid well. But I'm always stressed and tired. Plus the 1 other person in my department in our Irish office stinks and drives me around the bend. Im with the company 8 years.
I've now been offered a permanent position in a local authority. The work life balance would be amazing but my salary will drop by €12 k. I'm so stressed about this. I know money doesn't buy happiness but I'm literally getting sick about this decision. Has anyone been in a similar situation?
Thanks for any advise.

Sounds like the hours you’re working are completely illegal under the Working Time Act as well. They state you can’t work more than 48 hours per week over a 6 month period. Your employer might be in serious trouble over this and you might even have a claim against him/her.

TheBoyConor

I took up a public sector job 2 months ago. Best decision I ever made. To and from work in 15 minutes on my bike, 9-5 pretty much always.
And as for being sneered at by my be colleagues for being a "sunshiner" or some such, go away or of it will you!
We get on fine and they are all good banter! Social scene is good and I know a lot of former colleagues from my old job in there.
Money is a bit less alright but to be honest I couldn't give a fúck! Quality of life is far far more important. When you're old do you want to look back on life saying " oh I worked my hole off and had no quality time with friends and family, but that's OK I had an extra 12k than those public sector losers!" What a sad principle to live your life by. I cannot understand the attitude. There's so much more to life than breaking your hole for some faceless multinational who don't appreciate nothing and having to fight for every scrap of annual leave.

Tzardine

Just to put this out there.

The difference in salary will be more than 12k. You have to account for the pension deductions / prd etc that you must pay as a public servant.

On a salary of €40,000 you will be stopped about €3,000 a year for your pension.

But - As somebody who went from private to public and took quite a drop in pay , it is worth it.

PopTarts

The work balance is great. I’d advise you to get an idea of the net pay you will be taking Home as there are other deductions that you may not have accounted for in the €12k.

You do have Flexi time though / options of shorter working year, career break / working 8-4.

Consider all options. If you’re not happy where you are it might not be the worst idea to give it ago. You can always go back to the private sector.

jess1984

surrender monkey wrote: »

I'd take the job if you can afford the hit. What grade is the job on offer?. Keep in mind that you will have two further deductions from your wages - superannuation and PRD . As other posters have said there will be promotional opportunities along the way. The pension isn't what it once was but if you are say around 30 you will be able to work up close to the full 40 years. People are also forgetting about the lump sum element which is 1.5 times your salary I think. Factor in 29 days annual leave and depending on the council, flexi time. You will have bank holidays off. Assistance with study fees if approved and granted study leave for exams. You are not happy in your life right now and if you can take the financial hit you don't stand to lose really. If you hate it you can always leave and go back to the private sector.

Hello. It is Grade 4. I'm 34 so have a good 30+ years ahead of me still. I'm not happy but I fear being broke but am excited at the prospect of having a normal life. Thanks for the advice

jess1984

Tzardine wrote: »

Just to put this out there.

The difference in salary will be more than 12k. You have to account for the pension deductions / prd etc that you must pay as a public servant.

On a salary of €40,000 you will be stopped about €3,000 a year for your pension.

But - As somebody who went from private to public and took quite a drop in pay , it is worth it.

On my current salary I do pay the higher rate of tax on a proportion. But with this role I won't hit the higher tax rate for a long time..I think I've worked out the actual take home. I'll roughly be down a net of 1000 per month

Tzardine

jess1984 wrote: »

On my current salary I do pay the higher rate of tax on a proportion. But with this role I won't hit the higher tax rate for a long time..I think I've worked out the actual take home. I'll roughly be down a net of 1000 per month

This might be of use. Do it for your current salary and then your proposed public service salary.

You will pay 0.58% in pension deduction on the first €45k and also PRD at 10% of everything between €26k and €60k.

http://download.pwc.com/ie/2018-income-tax-calculator/index.htm

Edit - this one might be simpler

http://taxcalc.ie/budget-2018/

jess1984

pew wrote: »

Op, I was in the same position last year. I was offered a public service job coming from the private sector. I took it and took an 11k pay drop along with it.

I have no regrets. The pay is crap but I find the benefits outweigh that. I no longer have to struggle to get a day off, or asking to go to my gp or hospital appointment doesn't end up an argument with a manager.

Best of luck with whatever decision you may choose op.

Thank you.. it's good to hear from someone who has been in the exact same position. Yea I understand about getting time off...I used go to the GP and then come back to make back the time. It was never worded to me in exact words you have to do this but in a roundabout way it was put out there that was expected of you.

jess1984

xfactorfan23 wrote: »

That 12k difference is to be considered in light of this-
Permanent job
Pension
Sick pay
Maternity pay
Career break option
Funding for further education (this depends on Dept)
Study leave.

I work in public sector and find the perks are great, look at the big picture and then make up your mind.

The perks do look amazing!

Green Peter

12k a year extra until an early grave. The flexibility and quality of life you will get will be easily worth the money.

mad m

OP don’t know if it’s been mentioned but you can stay in that job way past the usual retirement age. You can also get promoted up to 5/6/7 depending on what department.

Good luck with it.

I went in 2002. I went in at height of boom. All my old work mates said I was mad to go into public sector. Few years later when the crash happened they were ringing me asking how to get in...

surrender monkey

jess1984 wrote: »

Hello. It is Grade 4. I'm 34 so have a good 30+ years ahead of me still. I'm not happy but I fear being broke but am excited at the prospect of having a normal life. Thanks for the advice

The 4 is a decent enough payscale after a few increments. Plenty of opportunity to get the 5 with a bit of experience. if I was you I'd take it! But bear in mind you could be put in any department doing anything !

dar100

Just stumbled along this post and it has got me thinking; i work in an organisation funded by public service, and my salary is grade V1, my leave is also equal to pubkic service, however no pension, just wondering how much monthly would be coning out of my salary if i was actually a PS employee? Im on point 5 of grade v1 so 50, 000 year? I may start my own pension and put said amount into a pfivate pension

shar01

dar100 wrote: »

Just stumbled along this post and it has got me thinking; i work in an organisation funded by public service, and my salary is grade V1, my leave is also equal to pubkic service, however no pension, just wondering how much monthly would be coning out of my salary if i was actually a PS employee? Im on point 5 of grade v1 so 50, 000 year? I may start my own pension and put said amount into a pfivate pension

I'm guessing your PRSI class is A so contributions would be:
€50,000 x 3% = €1,500
plus
€50,000 - €25,390.08* x 3.5% = €861.35
Total €2,661.35 per annum / €221.78 per month

*Twice annual state pension.

Then there's PRD which at the moment is not part of the pension scheme but from next year will be known as Additional Superannuation Contributions.

http://www.per.gov.ie/en/faq-documents/

Tzardine

dar100 wrote: »

Just stumbled along this post and it has got me thinking; i work in an organisation funded by public service, and my salary is grade V1, my leave is also equal to pubkic service, however no pension, just wondering how much monthly would be coning out of my salary if i was actually a PS employee? Im on point 5 of grade v1 so 50, 000 year? I may start my own pension and put said amount into a pfivate pension

Very roughly, about 5k per year. (including PRD)

Gumbo

Considering you have no private pension, that 12k drop will be realistically a 15-16k drop when you account for the PS pension Contribuion and the PS Pension Levy.

jess1984

I really appreciate everyone's advise..I've worked as a student in the public sector previously for 3 summer periods..so have seen the comparison of the work life balance. I would have 520 PRSI contributions paid

Gross salary would be dropping from 39.5k to 27.5k.

Almost everyone agrees on one aspect, life is for living and not working. My fear, please don't judge me is that I will feel inferior to friends due to earning less money and that people will think I'm not able for the real work life. But I have gave everything to this job. I care too much about it, I'm frustrated when I see the department running badly. Also I will be the 11th person to leave the worldwide division in a year if I go which tells something.
I'm not afraid of hard work, I've worked in chippers and shops to put myself through college. I have a first class degree and a masters and love the thought of further education.
I guess what I really wanted to see was if people had made this move and were genuinely happy and content by doing so.

Thanks everyone!

mad m

I worked in construction before I went into PS. Always around December or January I was let go, it was a fact. Once worked dried up I had to go looking, it was the way it was.

OP the only other thing I can see if you went to your boss told him you were offered a job in PS and say your working conditions are not healthy to you long term etc...

Your boss may try and keep you with incentives.

But I haven't looked back since 2002. Yes the money I was on in construction was double but I got job security and all I wanted was a steady wage to pay my mortgage.

Tzardine

The drop from 39.5 to 27.5 is significant, there is no doubt.

But once you get in to the public service you will get your increments. The possibility for promotion does exist too. So long as you are good at what you do and have a good work ethic you will likely move up. You can also look at further education sponsored by the pubic service.

I joined the PS 4 years ago, they have pretty much paid for my degree since I joined.

There are loads of benefits that outweigh the (temporary) drop in salary.

Alf Veedersane

jess1984 wrote: »

My fear, please don't judge me is that I will feel inferior to friends due to earning less money and that people will think I'm not able for the real work life.

I understand the train of thought but friends won't think of it as negatively as you framed it. A friend of mine left a big consultancy for PS because it improved his career prospects. I did the same myself.

It's not necessarily the same across the board but it's not a backwards step in your career by default

Class of 82

What you are doing now is not 'real work life' though. You are being under paid and taken advantage of based on what you have posted. Move on.

Dial Hard

Would you not move within the private sector? You could easily move somewhere with better hours, culture and benefits and with a salary increase rather than decrease.

bobbysands81

Loads of people on this thread saying they took a pay cut to join the public service.

I’m in the PS 17 years and have yet to meet someone that got a pay rise when joining the PS, though listening to the Irish media you’d swear we’re all driving Mercs, living in D4 and quaffing copious amounts of Richebourg Grand Crú.

Dial Hard

bobbysands81 wrote:

Loads of people on this thread saying they took a pay cut to join the public service.

I’m in the PS 17 years and have yet to meet someone that got a pay rise when joining the PS, though listening to the Irish media you’d swear we’re all driving Mercs, living in D4 and quaffing copious amounts of Richebourg Grand Crú.

And yet people still do it. Because you will never, ever get terms or job security like it in the private sector. Where we're also not driving Mercs, living in D4 and quaffing copious amounts of Richebourg Grand Crú.

judeboy101

"So long as you are good at what you do and have a good work ethic you will likely move up"

Lol
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=peyOAA1w&id=953B208C5BBC86D4AEBE66369B9F651B543D0B8E&thid=OIP.peyOAA1wetHYO7ODS4-oWwHaFj&q=meme+that's+not+how+any+of+this+works&simid=608033595988970827&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0

bobbysands81

Dial Hard wrote: »

And yet people still do it. Because you will never, ever get terms or job security like it in the private sector. Where we're also not driving Mercs, living in D4 and quaffing copious amounts of Richebourg Grand Crú.

Open the Indo any day over the last ten years. Read about our “gold plated pensions”, read about the “ATM” that was Benchmarking, read about how even during the recession we had pay increases, read about how we caused the downturn in the economy etc... when the truth is our pensions more than pay for themselves, benchmarking was an essential exercise by the Govt as the PS was haemorraging staff, we had multiple pay cuts and all had to do more with less (remember that when our numbers were at their highest the OECD said we already did more with less when compared to similar sized countries) and public servants have been central to the quick turnaround of our economy by creating the necessary economic conditions.

Of course the ultimate irony is that during the recession a pay cut in the PS saw all that money going back into the public coffers to be redistributed to where it was needed most, but a private sector pay cut merely added to the negative economic spiral and in some cases merely lined the pockets of a few.

Job security may be good but it’s not accepted as legal tender in any shops. Terms and Conditions are good, but not as good as many private sector companies, and are completely at the whim of local management. Some Depts (like DEASP) can be very difficult to get any of these conditions that might be far more easily available in other offices/Depts.

However, I believe things like Parental Leave (which is refused to CS staff even though there’s a Statutory “right” to it), career breaks, flexible working etc... are going to be strengthened in the CS over the coming years as the CS can never compete with private sector wages so will need to somehow continue to be an employer of choice.

As for people still joining the CS, I don’t have any data to back this up but DPER are finding it very difficult to hold onto graduates as they realise that they can earn far far more in the private sector. This is a huge issue for the CS and one which they have to try and meet head on and quickly.

Alf Veedersane

bobbysands81 wrote: »

Open the Indo any day over the last ten years. Read about our “gold plated pensions”, read about the “ATM” that was Benchmarking, read about how even during the recession we had pay increases, read about how we caused the downturn in the economy etc... when the truth is our pensions more than pay for themselves, benchmarking was an essential exercise by the Govt as the PS was haemorraging staff, we had multiple pay cuts and all had to do more with less (remember that when our numbers were at their highest the OECD said we already did more with less when compared to similar sized countries) and public servants have been central to the quick turnaround of our economy by creating the necessary economic conditions.

Of course the ultimate irony is that during the recession a pay cut in the PS saw all that money going back into the public coffers to be redistributed to where it was needed most, but a private sector pay cut merely added to the negative economic spiral and in some cases merely lined the pockets of a few.

Job security may be good but it’s not accepted as legal tender in any shops. Terms and Conditions are good, but not as good as many private sector companies, and are completely at the whim of local management. Some Depts (like DEASP) can be very difficult to get any of these conditions that might be far more easily available in other offices/Depts.

However, I believe things like Parental Leave (which is refused to CS staff even though there’s a Statutory “right” to it), career breaks, flexible working etc... are going to be strengthened in the CS over the coming years as the CS can never compete with private sector wages so will need to somehow continue to be an employer of choice.

As for people still joining the CS, I don’t have any data to back this up but DPER are finding it very difficult to hold onto graduates as they realise that they can earn far far more in the private sector. This is a huge issue for the CS and one which they have to try and meet head on and quickly.

For a start, the Indo is a rag. Whatever is in it is irrelevant.

T&Cs may not be as good as some private sector companies but that's comparing apples and oranges. The T&Cs are good in the private sector if what you do helps make the company money. I worked in the private sector until recently. In a big company. Some of us were in areas that could tread water...others hadn't a hope and a lot were laid off.

It's not a black and white situation. But a lot of the comparisons are not comparing apples with apples.

bobbysands81

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

For a start, the Indo is a rag. Whatever is in it is irrelevant.

T&Cs may not be as good as some private sector companies but that's comparing apples and oranges. The T&Cs are good in the private sector if what you do helps make the company money. I worked in the private sector until recently. In a big company. Some of us were in areas that could tread water...others hadn't a hope and a lot were laid off.

It's not a black and white situation. But a lot of the comparisons are not comparing apples with apples.

It wasn’t just the Indo though, most public discourse over the last ten years went the way I explained it.

Alf Veedersane

bobbysands81 wrote: »

It wasn’t just the Indo though, most public discourse over the last ten years went the way I explained it.

I don't think most people thought like how you're painting/seeing it.

I don't know anyone who thought "I could be in the private sector now, doing less and earning more at the level I'm at. The ones who did were few and far between

the14thwarrior

think of it as a positive move.. move on, you need the variety of experience and you may end up making more money / getting promoted. it a no brainer.