My decision was made last week , and with a heavy heart I had to turn this great opportunity down . I know some of you may disagree but it was not right for us a family . Ill explain a little .
The position on offer was a permanent night shift working wed, thur,fri rotating to a sun ,mon,tue every 2 months . (With an expectation to work every other sat night as and when needed, which right now was all the time ) As I explained earlier this came with 12 days hols +bh .... which if fell on a shift I was due to work I was expected to do in return for single rate + a day in lieu . All overtime was at single rate . My projected earnings inc ot, would have been ×3+ my current salary ( not exchange rate ) .
When compared with my current benefits I felt as a family we would not have as much quality time together, and as my child is 6 years of age I did not want to look back in 5 years time and realise I had missed a lot of his growing up by (a) working practically every weekend (b) having less holiday entitlement to enjoy as a family .
The sick pay worried me too . Btw I am never off sick ! but should I be, I currently have a safety blanket of 3+ months paid sick leave ,which as a family man is comforting . For example, a friend of mine had a kidney transplant and only received the bare minimum statutory sick pay, working for a different company.
My wife works full time and her employers allow her flexibility around my shifts which is great because we do not have to rely on child care .
This decision has not been taken lightly, and has been in the planning for 12 months with me even doing a one week reccie to Sydney ( not long enough [emoji22] )
We have a holiday home next to the beach and I plan on getting a jetski this year now. Although obviously colder and ill need a good wetsuit/drysuit maybe I can achieve a little bit of the lifestyle we are looking for .
I would just like to say a huge thankyou [emoji106] [emoji6] to everyone that has helped me with advice including the gentleman I spoke to on the phone when I was in Sydney ( @Joebloggs)
I certainly now have had a taste for Australia and who knows , if a position becomes available with more family friendly hours we will give it a go .