Our senior management team has just asked for volunteers to work one day a week without pay to clear the 6M debt we have, looking at my salary I thought I already was!

Not sure how many senior management have put their hand up

Would you volunteer?

If the alternative was that 20% of the staff were to be made redundant, would that alter your view?

wot druidh said.

Enlightened self interest.

No, my organisation gets its pound of flesh for free from me already. Not getting anymore.

would you like a 20% pay cut? Depends how much you love the job.

FWIW I’m still owed about £650 from my employer who did this in the early 1990’s. He made me redundant at about this time of year, and never paid back his ‘can you work just this week with no pay till the co. gets paid’ loans.

If I was either to be made redundant or take a wage cut for a period I’d accept the latter, but it would have to be across-the-board, not voluntary as that’s wholely unfair.

volunteers

i’d like to think it was everyone or no one. seems a bit weird that anyone would take it on those terms.

I’d probably be inclined to drop 20% pay and work smarter 4 days instead of 5.

If I felt I had contributed to the £6m debt I might do. But my guess is the ‘blame’ lies further up the ‘ladder of success’

Depends what job it was, who it I worked for, how much I enjoyed it etc. etc.

If it was some big multinational blah blah not a **** chance when the top dogs are probably earning 10x your pay.

Well I was working at a certain Japanese maufacturer when they made asked us to take a 10% pay cut. I was doing at least 10hrs overtime each week too.

I left.

I’ve been working for free for the last year.

Only you know the specifics but if I thought it would protect my job or those of my colleagues then yes I would do it but it also depends on a lot of other factors.

If I were ever to be a salaried employee again and was asked to work 20% for no pay temporarily I would accept if they issued me shares equivalent to my lost pay. That way, if my sacrifice has contributed to the revival of a flagging firm I am rewarded. If it was a busted flush anyway, then it wont change anything.

Would you volunteer?

Not on your nelly!

would you like a 20% pay cut?

I have done, but I do less working hours for it which is fine.

Stoner – Member
If I were ever to be a salaried employee again and was asked to work 20% for no pay temporarily I would accept if they issued me shares equivalent to my lost pay. That way, if my sacrifice has contributed to the revival of a flagging firm I am rewarded. If it was a busted flush anyway, then it wont change anything.

Yep – good idea

TBH I think more people should have the opportunity to work for equity. Salary sacrifice for equity rewards labour, innovation, and shows commitment to the firm much better than cash bonuses which are selfish by their structure.

Probably works best in SMEs where you can feel that your work can have an influence and you can take an interest in other parts of the firm – necessary if you really want to behave like a shareholder. You’ve got to understand the bigger picture.

It’s the NHS so no shares available, lots of people would like redundancy or early retirement but the trust can’t afford it, it’s purely voluntary not mandatory atm, if everyone did it across the board I’d do it if it meant continued employment or maybe if the whole NHS did it I would…

No. Especially not considering its government run.

Rocketdog – I cannot believe they are even proposing it. Foundation trust perhpas? Nothing will come of it.

You management sound like a bunch of bunglers. Firing them should help recover the company’s position.

If you can get something else that suits you for what you’re on now or better = NO. If losing your job makes you unemployed for the foreseeable future then = YES.

Harsh but fair I think. I have always viewed work as a straightforward contract trading my life for money, it has to be worth my while.

If it was going to be mandated for all staff, or if everyone was going to take the same percentage pay cut then yes I would accept it.

Asking for volunteers is crazy as it would be the hard working minority rather than the lazy majority that would volunteer and therefore not solve the issue (note the sweeping assumptions, but you get the point)

The company I worked for had different cuts based on your level in the business…

My Trust asked the same a couple of years ago, NHS cost cutting has been around longer than the new government have been in power. They had such a lousy up take it just died a death.

A couple of months back we were either given a 20% pay cut, or given notice of redundancy. I look on it as if everything isn’t an option, then something’s better than nothing.

No.

If they wanted to reduce from 5 days/week to 4days/week for a 20% cut then I might consider it for a short term. Assuming the £6m defecit is nothing to do with you.

Agree with some of the posters above, if they let you work 4 days a week for 20% less pay then OK – if your circumstances can afford it. I went to work for money at the end of the day, though did loads of extra hours unpaid.

You might have to consider the long term as well though, the whole pay and conditions thing. For instance if you took the reduction would your pension be effected?

TJ you never me mentioned joining a union?

Has someone stole your account.

Well as I work for the NHS too no I wouldnt I’m already on an a freeze for god knows how many years.

My company did something similar – temporary part time, or unpaid leave.

Quite a lot of the younger guys took the opportunity to do a year off travelling with the guarantee of a job back when they’d finished. Others went to work for other companies and never came back.

It was quite popular actually working part-time, maybe for childcare, or kids holidays etc. knowing it wasn’t a permanent fixture.

About 4 weeks ago myself and my workmates were given the choice between taking a 25% pay cut or 3 of the work force being made redundent. As a result 3 of the worlds laziest barstewards were made redundent 😀

Well at our place (rather large rail engineering/construction company) there are talks of 20% reduction in staff and no more paid overtime, just rostered weekend shifts when the majority of construction work is done.

One day for free seems quite a decent option in my book

Thanks to an interesting loophole in my contract I put in a 9 hour day last week starting at 2.30am, and GAVE the company £210 for the privilege.

Amount of hours I’m doing I already am. Ask how many senior management are then decide. How safe is your job? Company?

If I got some love for what I did them maybe but as the public think its their right that we run around after them and never manage a word of thanks, then no. Plus I simply couldn’t afford it.

Sound like a sinking ship to me.

I got volunteered a 12.5% pay drop, by volunteered I mean given notice and a choice of my old job at -12.5%.

I also had a mate (smallish company, <50) – Company meeting called, A – 2 people out, b 10% cut across board, need to know in 1 hour (they took 10% cut)

Other mate (admittedly optionally) had a year off at 15% of salary (but they did say if enough didn’t do it it would require redundancies and it might still do so)

To be honest I fail to see why it’s taken this long to hit the public sector.
Point 1 – use the phrase ‘lead by example’
Point 2 – ask the question, presumably all external contractors/contracts have also been reviewed and when and what changes were made.
Point 3 – ask how management bonuses and (edit)payoffs are calculated asnd ask for them to be public domain

(edit) Equity is a great idea, I’d also suggest looking at the bonus scheme and making it apply at all levels of staff (get the initial bonus steps to be a fixed sum – that way it works well at lower salary levels – ie bonus step1 £x per person, step2 y per person, step 3 x + y + z% of salary

1 day a week for free? Hardly. I don’t even do extra shifts for £17.50 an hour. I spend much more time there than I want to.

we had something similar – which seems ok as you get time off. then they ask (tell) you to work full time for no return of salary levels or they threaten redundancies. so here i am working full time for 20% less.

I’m a driving instructor (till the end of the year anyway) so I seem to work for free anyway!