Been offered a job with the council but unsure.

[postiewhite]

I've been offered a 'seasonal post' with my local council, basically it's the Garden bins where I would work March to November with December-February off plus it's a 4 day week with a long weekend off and I still get 5 weeks holiday allowance plus bank holidays. I would work 38hrs a week (job and knock) but would get a wage for 27.5hrs over 12 months.
That is the up side.

The downside is that I would probably take home around £70 a week less than my 35hr current contract but I do have a p/t second job, live alone and mortgage is paid, I'm also 52 years old.
Been told the council may get you in some weeks over the winter anyway or you are free to get agency work over that period if you really wanted to in the 3 months you are off.

It really is a tough one, I'd probably miss the £70 a week although financially I will be fine but the benefits are also I'd be working a hell of a lot less, have most of the crappy winter at home and it would give me a foot in the door to maybe try for any internal jobs eventually if I really wanted to.

I do like my current job with RM but I'm starting to detest the indoor work, the constant lectures about the driving data on the vans, the managers talking down to you, the changes that never seem to benefit us and the lack of any pay increases. I've literally no idea if RM are giving us any pay increases this april.
My mate who also works on the garden bins had a £2k pay rise in their wage last year and are in line for a further 5% this April.

Would anyone in my position jump or stay?

[fadetogrey63]

If your on the crappy new contract it's a no brainier, go for it,.. this job is just getting worse and they analyse almost everything we do.. if you don't take it you will be regretting it in a month or two.. soon as I find a job more suited for me I'm off..

[postslippete]

People that I know who have left RM would only ever come back if it was like the job they did back in the day and sadly those days are gone. Something tells me that things are going to get a lot worse when this new owner takes charge given the method change regarding the USO and bonus driven managers will still be trying to push its existing workforce over and above what they are contracted to, full-time or not. At 52 you want to be slowing down not speeding up. I've often said given the physical job we do that many of us should be working a 4 day week and weekends off is something of a pipe dream.

So the real question for you is how permanent this new job is and how you are fixed financially. If you're doing ok then I would leave and not look back. Plus, if you get December off then there will usually be plenty of seasonal job opportunities that month anyway.

[nutcracker]

How would the physical levels of work compare with what you do now week to week, excluding that big break?

As mentioned all that RM stuff you detest will get worse. I doubt that culture exists at the council.

You could always come back as a Xmas casual each year

[LouBarlow]

The council are as obsessed with cutting costs as RM. The bin collection routes around here were recently modified and now some weeks the rubbish isn’t collected at all. Sound familiar? I wouldn’t expect to be treated any better in any job that has financial restrictions.

[richietns]

Its the garden bins so you wouldn't be skipping pickups but bad culture's can exist in any workplace,its easily better work life balance to me it seems your biggest problem is the wage cut £70 over the month £280.

[ted_e_bear]

I fully understand the hit you'll take on pay but surely you'd be in the best position when a vacancy on the regular all year round bins becomes available.

[kazardaimenu]

If you need extra cash I’m sure you could get a temp job for 6 weeks over Christmas no problem even if it’s back at RM

[Dexydog]

You could most likely just do an extra day every other week (which will likely be time and a half) to make up your wage if you feel you need to.
No brainer with that shift pattern, go for it.

[2chorizon]

Most people don't last a week "on the bin's"

[postiewhite]

Most people don't last a week "on the bin's"

Most people? Very much news to me, I know people that have left RM and do not regret it. What experiences do you know about why most people are quitting after a week? My friend says hardly anyone leaves our council.

[HTPostman]

I know 2 people who work on the bins, both long term and I’ve rarely heard a bad word said about the job.

To the original poster, the best advice I could give is go for the job, but on your day(s) off work on a side hustle - maybe you enjoy gardening so develop a gardening service on the side. If you’re a regular at the gym, look at offering personal training.

That’s exactly what I did - I went down to 4 days a week with RM, and on my days off developed my guitar playing, networked etc. It took me about 3 years to really get somewhere. I went from earning £50 a month playing gigs to £1000+ which meant I could leave RM and enables me to now do it as my job. I gig 3 nights a week, 15 hours a week doing something I love. I genuinely am living the dream.

[GaryLawler]

My mate works on bins, best job hes ever had he says

[ebbzie]

The blokes doing the garden bins round my way run everywhere, your crew with you might expect you to do the same

[Haditup]

Two people left my delivery office to work on the bins both with 20+ years service.Give it a go and don’t look back.