Life on easy street

I have to agree the world today certainly different to a couple of decades ago Most of my working life if you were a good worker after 3 months the majority of employers would give you a full-time permanent contract. In the U.K those day are long gone employers now seem to go out of their way to find ever more creative ways to avoid giving workers any job security. I work for a logistics company and a significant percentage of workers are trapped In a never-ending loop zero-hour contract – short term contract – zero-hour contract. With ever decreasing number obtaining full time permanent jobs.

I am sorry to be blunt this is how it is in the U.K today. The UNVERSAL BENEFIT system is corrupt and not fit for purpose. If you have the misfortune to need to claim universal credit At some point you can and will be forced under the threat of sanctions into accepting a zero hour Contract that can fail to deliver a single paid hour of work for weeks at a time. Also, if your claim for universal credit is successful there is a minimum of five weeks delay before You receive any payment.

My experience I could find work short temp work or farm labouring but could not get a permanent skilled job with long term prospects. Unfortunately, I was approaching 50 the last thing I wanted was zero job security. I loved Melbourne and Australia but I could see that it made no economic sense for me to stay in Australia. When I returned to the UK. I had to rely on my savings and job agency until I found a permanent job. It took me over one year to get a permanent job back in the U.K. Up to the age of 47 I could pick and choose where I worked now I am past 50 I have no choice but accept whatever I can get

If you have not worked in the U.K in the last two financial years then you cannot claim carers allowance.

6.You can make voluntary class 3 National Insurance payments to make up for some of the missing years of contributions for years working outside the U.K. State pension age in the U.K has changed recently depending on date of birth.

National Space Centre near Leicester about 1.5 – 2hr drive from Rotherham https://spacecentre.co.uk/ never been so not sure how good it is.

I agree with Bobbsy. I worked as a test engineer for fax products manufacturer for 15 years until 2002. The telecoms standards of Australia and the U.K are close but they are different. The line components for Australia and the U.K were not the same on the products we sold. So yes they will work in both countries. But There is a theoretical possibility that a none U.K approved phone could damage the phone exchange!

Average wages is totally meaningless as it includes ALL workers’ wages divided by the number of workers. Senior workers in investment banks, footballers on x million pounds per year distort the average figure upwards. 21K is not bad pay for a starting wage What people earn before and after tax. If you are earning above 26k then 70% of the working population are earning less than you. These figures are two years old. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/percentile-points-from-1-to-99-for-total-income-before-and-after-tax

¬My observations of zero hour contracts. I have heard most the augments from the apologists for zero hour contracts. People choose to work zero hour contracts as the like the flexibility to work around family life etc. The vast majority of people I have spoken to who are on zero hour contracts would prefer Full time or at least fixed guaranteed number of hours. People have the flexibility to work the hours they choose. If a person is not available 24/7 for work when the agency want them They sulk and you find there is no work for you for a few days or weeks! The flexibility is all on the employer’s/ agency side willing to drop any worker at any time they choose for no other reason that they can! All zero hour contracts are the same and provide people with the opportunity to learn valuable skills At different companies. This is at best half true but only in industry requiring skilled, semi-skilled workers. Stacking shelfs, warehouse operative are not skilled jobs! A zero hour contract working and learning valuable skills for a high tech company that could one day be the next Google or apple. Or a zero hour contract engineer / health care professional with decades of experience earning £30-£50 per hour. IS NOT the same as a zero hour contract at minimum wage £7.20 per hour doing an unskilled job stacking shelfs etc. at a company that perhaps only one in a thousand will ever be get the opportunity to progress to a well-paid full time job? Unfortunately it is the low skilled minimum wage jobs that are seeing the dramatic rise in zero hour contracts

My observations from the real world. Most of my working career at companies through the 80’s, 90’s if you worked for a Company and were good at your job after 12 weeks you were offered a permanent contract Did not matter if you were a production worker or a skilled engineer If not you were shown the door out. (An unwritten code of conduct between the owners of capital and workers that most decent companies would follow). This has changed in the last decade the companies I have worked for go out of their Way to avoid giving people full time permanent contracts adopting the sports direct business model of zero hour contracts. Ask a private company for any meaningful training any one would think the cost of the training was taken direct from the manager’s wages! Since 2008 all the risks and costs of capitalism have been pushed onto the workers and the taxpayers. When I was on zero hour contracts my monthly wage varied from £1100 down £170! On one occasion I had two weeks with zero pounds!! This is one reason why people end up using food banks they are in NO-MANS LAND between paid work and the benefits system. Not ticking all the right boxes to claim benefits but also not getting enough paid hours to Pay basic living costs.

My experience in the east midlands is similar to Perthbum experience. I know about 30 peaple on zero hour contracts. 29 of them ether hate zero hours contracts or are resigned to the fact this is all they can get. One of them was ok with zero hour contracts and that was because he had a PHD in Maths And was applying for jobs in the city of London. In my experience that works out at a little over 3% who like zero hour contracts.

Correction. The UK unemployment RECORDED rate currently stands at just 4.7%, the lowest in 40 years. Unfortunately the RECORDED unemployment rate does not match the real level of unemployment. If it did then the number of zero hour contracts would be declining and not increasing by 100k to 900k! Employers would not be able to get away with offering zero hour contracts as the only option for Employment at 4.7% unemplyment. The pay rate for all advertised jobs would be increasing not declining. The tax credit bill, housing benefit bill would also be declining. Something does not add up.

Unfortunately there is more than one type of National insurance contributions It is the EMPLOYER'S NI that affects your eligibility for carers allowance & none means tested JSA. EMPLOYEE NI is a separate contribution and is for pensions and other benefits. I remember at the time 5 years ago finding this get out clause on the government web site. sorry i lost the links when i upgraded my PC.

The benefits system has become a minefield / tick box system. To be able to claim (carers allowance) one of the boxes you have to tick is do you have Employer,s National insurance to your name in the last 2 years?

That is not correct. If you have not worked in the U.K for more than two years you cannot claim carers allowance. As you will not have EMPLOYERS NI contributions for the previous two tax years. But there may be other benefits you may be able to claim.

The low figure for nottingham does not surprise me at all I have less disposable income than when I was living in Buckinghamshire with a mortgage Than I do mortgage / rent free in Nottinghamshire. Nottinghamshire is a low wage economy unless you are lucky enough to work for an employer with nationally agreed wages. Found this a few months ago never realized that so many people are paid below a living wage The number of people who are paid below a living wage. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/revealed-quarter-million-greater-manchester-10245215

you are having a laugh Southampton in the county of Hampshire one of the wealthiest counties in the U.K. take drive up to mansfield.

It really depends on what sector of the economy you work in and what part of the U.K you intend to live. The government have goosed up/rigged the economy for certain sectors of the economy if you are fortunate enough to work for or are close to those sectors then of course you are doing incredibly well. If not part of the crony capitalism then it is I am alright jack you are on your own mate. For most people the sector of the economy they are skilled in depends on the career path that they chose when they left school.

Good one. To MARYROSE02 the daily mail is the holy bible of economics.

This is what i was told when i returned to the U.K a few years ago. If you have not worked in the U.K in the previous two years then you will NOT be entitled to contribution based job seekers allowance. but you should be able to claim meens tested job skeekers allowance.

My experience on my return to the U.K. lived in Australia for a few years. I was not entitled to contribution based J.S.A. even though I had been in full time employment in the U.K for nearly 30 years prior to emigrating to Australia. any one returning to the U.K after more than a two year absence will have to prove U.K residency. Also any benefits they attempt to claim will be means tested! The attitude I got was you are on you are on your own no help from the state But of course was required to pay council tax from my savings even though for the first few months i was earning well below a living wage.

Why it took him so long to apply for PR visa? I am no expert this is just my opinion. I suspect that this visa class requires more tick boxes than the average skilled trade’s person PR visa. It would not surprise me that he was required to have several years of accounts earning above x amount in each and every one of those years before he could lodge an application for a PR visa. Or some other obscure caveat.

I cant seem to find anyone on here with a similar trade. . Electronics trades are a very tiny minority on PIO I have only seen three in all the time I have been on PIO. The majority are construction industry, mining or health care industry. I went to school just down the road in Nottinghamshire started out as an apprentice electrician at the NCB left and went back to college to study electronics then moved to Buckinghamshire in the 1980’s. My U.K work experience 25 years working for manufacturing companies. R&D Test technician bespoke video switching systems, Test Technician telex & fax systems, Customer support + R&D prototype testing, 2nd & 3rd line IT support at UK bank, Test engineer x-ray systems. I think he is worrying about job prospects, so he is going to do the 17th Edition Electrician and get the relevant liscences out there (he has the 16th edition) so if push comes to shove he may have to house bash!! . He has every right to be worried. I remain unconvinced that there ever was any skills shortage in the electronics trades except at maybe senior design engineer level or in some highly specialized niche market,Military electronics. Going back to house bash sounds like a viable plan in hindsight i should have gone down that route Instead of the IT training. If he does decide to attempt to get a job in electronics then Australia wide job agency helped me get my first job in Australia http://www.australiawide.com.au/ At least they replied to my applications even if the answer was no. If you have the opportunity to attend Engineer’s Australia holds expos April every year http://www.monash.edu.au/careers/students-grads/events/fairs-festivals-forums.html I do not know if other states run similar expos. LinkedIn seems to be an additional way of making contacts you may get lucky and find ex school / work colleague in Australia. . So L.O.E.S what do you do over there? You will have been out there around 8 years now! How are you finding it, getting work etc? Where have you settled? I moved back to the U.K in 2010 went back in 2011 to get a RRT visa stayed for a few months then toured New Zealand for a few weeks now back in the U.K. my RRT runs out in June 2016 not sure if I will go back to Australia. . My experience of Melbourne Australia. I loved Central Melbourne as a place to live but work situation proved very tough for me. In 2007/2008 I was able to get a couple of short term contracts quality assurance testing car parts in Melbourne $1k per week. About six months after the GFC adverts for electronics jobs that I could do fell off a cliff! After that all I got was a few thanks for your application but we are not hiring right now replies. Spent two years doing unskilled farm labouring work, casual employment Took two months off work and studied full time for the then current Microsoft certifications plus Linux. But was unable to get an entry level job 1st line IT support job! It was at this point I decided it made more economic sense to move back to the U.K.

I migrated to Australia in 2007 on an electronics trades visa 138 skilled sponsored visa. It took 18 months from start to finish. Detailed references from all employers from leaving school. What sector of the electronics industry do you work for? I had a few links that may be of help to you when you eventually arrive in Australia If I can still find will post them at the weekend. Off to work in a few minutes.:sad:

I agree Work colleges bought in the height of the 1980’s boom and when the market correction came In the early 1990’s they had their house repossessed. I also know a few who had negative equity for several years!