How many hours do you work?

Work 40 hours per week.
Have to start by 10.00 and cannot finish before 4.00.
Lunch break is not included so I "usually" work 8:15 to 5.30 and take lunch for 30 mins
Private sector
Professional manager
No over time payable.
Would occasionally work late if needed.
Excess time work is given in leiu as an extra day, every 4 weeks.
22 days annual leave
Sick pay in full
Defined benefit pension
Good pay
 
39 hrs per week
25 days annual leave
Am on call during lunch breaks so they are paid - but I can't go far! Often don't get a proper break, coffee taken while working.
Work 9 - 5, but more hours necessary but unpaid to keep up professional knowledge and attend meetings which are out of hours as we're too busy to have them during the working day!
Top of salary scale, E49K includes long-service increment (I mention this as well-paid is a relative concept)
Public service, health professional
 
35 hours per week worked (1 hour off for lunch) 9 - 5 pm
Breaks - 11 a.m and 4 p.m
Annual Leave - 21 days + two privilege days
Sick leave 7 uncertified days - up to 6 months certified full pay.
No paid overtime - leave in lieu instead if you choose to work extra.
Sector: semi state.
Quite happy with it!
 
Contracted for 40 hours a week, but add in overtime & missed lunchbreaks, I would estimate I actually work approx 50 hours a week.
Benefits include educational assistance, contrib pension, 20 days annual leave with further 2 incentivised for no uncertified sick days. Up to 6 months sick leave paid, 7 days uncertified paid.
Disadvantages include no overtime payments, very unflexible hours, too much management
Get paid just about enough to make it worth my while.
 
Hi
I work from:
  • 9am to 5.15 pm.
  • I do have flexi-time so I have to be in between 10-12pm & 2-4pm.
  • I usually work 36.25hrs per week &
I'm not under any stress but then I'm not paid particularly well 25k p.a.
That probably sounds good to some but if you consider I spent:
  • 5yrs in College
  • I have worked consistently from 1994 then it's actually rubbish.
The only reason I don't leave is because it's stress free so I can work on my part-time business. I only intend staying until I'm here 2yrs as I have no pension at the moment (except SSIA money which is for that) but can reap the benefits of a contributory pension after that length of time.
ThereseM
 
Hi
Forgot to mention I get 20 days a year (3 must be kept for Christmas)
I do get flexi days but only if I'm in credit then I can take 1 day. You cannot take anymore than 1 flexi day at a time, unfortunately!! We might enjoy ourselves too much!!
There's a company VHI/Bupa scheme which is 10% off the normal rate which isn't great especially with VHI. It's a rip off anyway!
ThereseM
 
Therese M.

I think you are paid ok for the hours of work you do, and the fact that your job isn't very stressful.

I spent 5 yrs in college (business degree & computer postgrad), graduated in 1994. I spent another 3 yrs doing accountancy. I am a newly qualified accountant.

I earn 28K and usually work 45 hrs a week. I have month end accounts and deadlines. I do not get any pension or benefits.

My work could be stressful, eg. I must chase debtors, and take in a certain amount of money every week. I must watch the cash flow and bank account.

I just do my best while I'm at work, but when I leave I switch off, and do not worry about overdrafts in the company bank account, etc. I feel I am not paid enough to worry excessively about work.

I can't understand people who are on 40K and 50k, yet work normal hours and get VHI and pensions paid etc. Maybe their jobs might be more stressful...
 
Hi

I'm sorry to go off point slightly but I can't believe that a qualified accountant with somewhere between 5 - 9 years post qualification experience (edit - just noticed your newly qualified line - but my point could still be valid) - with a primary degree and a post grad - who is probably in their early to mid 30's is earning 28K for a fulltime job.

Obviously I don't know any of the other circumstances - such as they own the company - or the office is next door to where they live - it might be the job of your dreams, but the salary figure being quoted seems very low and would be well below most of the industry norms quoted by the various recruitment company/accountancy body reports.

I'm not in the career guidance business - but I would have a look at the various recruitment websites for comparisons sake, and look to talk to your employer if you feel you're not being remunerated correctly.

Past30
 

I have to agree with this I am amazed at how low the salary is considering all the years study! I think you should get looking or go to your boss looking for a substantial pay rise, I am looking I am in the public sector so no down on hands and knees for thank God. And you're doing 45 hours a week as well I did the technician course and before I even qualified I was being offered jobs over 20K! No pension or anything either!!
 
I feel that if you are outside the Dublin area (I am in the Mid-West) then you can't pick and choose.

My friend (who is 36 and qualified 4 yrs) is working in a multinational and is earning about 35K.

I was in a financial company for a good few years before I qualified. The money was good there, but I got made redundant and had to take ANY accounting job, just to keep working. Spent 2 yrs in another lower paid job (was a finalist then), before moving to this job.

The employer for this job said they don't need an accountant, as the role is 'senior book keeper'. It is all the accounts i.e. debtors, creditors, accruals, journals etc, and the payroll.

I found out that the previous person in my job was a man of 40, and he earned about 36K. He produced a whole package of accounts every month. (The company was not as busy when he was there, so he had more time). I am only producing the bare essentials of P&L, and B/S, as the work has got more busy (company has expanded).

I would like to ask for more money, but am a bit afraid, as the owner could throw more work my way then. (They own farms and another small business too). The agency who placed me in this job, said the owner even wanted to pay me less!!!

I don't like to say it out, but I think employers (especially small Irish companies) see women as an opportunity to pay less. In a small company there is no HR to watch this, and employers can do what they like.


Ever since I took the other low paid job after redundancy 2 yrs ago, I have been trying to change jobs.The agencies said that the multinationals pay well, but they want multinational experience which I don't have ( the financial company doesnt' count).

I know that the public sector pay very well, even at the lower levels, but again, it is very hard to get into.

Any suggestions would be welcome. I am getting married in a few months, and will have 2 incomes (I own my house and have been paying a mortgage by myself for 5 yrs) As I will be a bit relieved from the bills, I could always threaten to leave if I don't get X rate of pay. The backfire of this is that I may not be able to get something else of reasonable pay.
 
I think there is a 'race to the bottom' as its being called these days when it comes to Irish employers in general, they tend to be very mean with money. This is obviously one of the reasons for the success of the Irish economy and now they're trying to just circumvent the law by employing foreigners and thus (dont know the exact way it works) avoid the miniumum wage which is one of the highest in Europe I feel sorry for those people being cheated
 


I just hope my boss isn't reading this thread

On the other hand I'll be sending the link onto my reports in advance of the annual pay reviews to keep the expectations in check! Might even threaten to send them off to the mid West if they give me any lip!

Roy
 
I work 9-5.30 Mon-Fri. I don't know when exactly companies started adding on the extra 30 mins. My first couple of jobs in the 90s were 9-5 with flexi-time (ie. work up a day off per month), which was easy coz you were allocated 1.25 hours for lunch but could just take 30 mins if you wanted. God that was cushy, I don't think I appreciated it at the time.
 
I have to say I find this a pretty 'damning indictment', etc. — with no offence intended to buzybee, of course.

At the risk of being flamed personally for being a 'cushy' public sector drone, 'part of the problem', etc., I also find myself asking why the corporate culture in this country has been so successful — ever since the so-called Celtic Tiger decade — in winning over public opinion, and the significant sections of The Meeja that shape it, so that trade unionism and its underlying principles can be so casually vilified or dismissed as lunatic-fringe lefty 'rant'.

The statistics clearly show — and no, please don't ask me to link to them! — that the fantasmagorical boom of the past 10 years has served principally to enrich the old established 'bosses' of yore. The salary/assets gap between the top and bottom of the scale has been dramatically widened. It has never been so 'good to be greedy'. Meanwhile, 'Joe-and-Jill-Bloggs' taxpayers' money drops into ever-widening, government-(mis)managed black holes without any appreciable improvement in the services provided — health, education, roads, whatever... — and yet the current administration (as I prefer to call it) will almost certainly be returned to power for another term at the next elections. Meanwhile, we're whipped up into a xenophobic rant about dem durty furriners spoiling the party and leeching off the State's munificence...

Intemperate pinko rant over, and apologies for momentarily sidetracking the original thread. I'll move over to the 'Letting Off Steam' forum...
 
buzybee said:
The employer for this job said they don't need an accountant, as the role is 'senior book keeper'. It is all the accounts i.e. debtors, creditors, accruals, journals etc, and the payroll.
Click to expand...

From what you have said about your job it does appear to be a book-keeping role and you are being paid accordingly IMO. It seems in your case that your qualification is not required for the job you are doing and most likely hasn't been taken into account. I work in practise and I would consider 28k to be a reasonable salary for a book-keeper outside Dublin.

If you don't have much useful experiance (as you have mentioned above re multi national) then in all honesty you can't expect to walk into a job paying 50K...the reason people are getting paid 50K is because they have the knowledge and experiance to do the job they are employed to do..not solely because they have a qualification (although there are people in all walks of life who land on their feet).
 
I am a qualified accountant & work in an accountacy practice. I work 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. 20 days annual leave plus 2 company holidays. I also have my annual membership fees and CPD courses paid for.

Overtime is give as time in lieu but is a rare occurance..and the salary it good too .
 
Regarding my experience, I spent 2 yrs doing accounts payable (temping) in a govt organisation, then 7 yrs in a financial company (not transferable experience). Then I spent 6 months temping in a multinational (accounts payable), and finally my 2 yrs experience doing the payroll, book keeping etc. I am CIMA qualified.

I find it hard to get 'more useful' experience, as it is hard to get jobs. Also, what is the 'more useful' experience? I have seen ads for accountants for maintaining fixed asset register and ather such jobs. I think that if I had experience in a large company, then my experience would be too narrow, and I would find it even harder to get a suitable job.

What type of company should I be looking to get into? What type of accountancy jobs should I look for, in order to add more value onto my experience?

I notice that I have got called for interviews in the past, where the employer said that I had a good experience, but I still didn't get the jobs.


Any suggestions welcome.
 
Contracted to work 37.5 hours a week, overtime (no pay) expected to meet the deadlines. In reality, works anywhere between 40 to 50 hours every week, and at times weekends too (gets time in liu for weekend work).

Private sector - IT / Software
 
Work 37.5 hours a week - 9 - 5:30 with an hour for lunch. Pay is good enough but could be better! Would love flexi-time or part-time work but not an option and as job is close to home its benefits outweigh its downside!
Private sector - IT also
 
37.5 hours. No overtime. Very lucky though as I can work from home anytime I want which is great if I need to be at home at 5:30 on the dot or am getting deliveries that day.

Private sector. IT.
 
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