christmasoompa

All of the things DBD mentions are standard in the UK and not restricted to government employees, maybe he meant in Canada, although I think Bristol was referring to working for the government in the UK.

Flexi time is something all employees have the right to request here (although it doesn't have to be granted of course - but an employer needs a good reason to refuse a request). Both my husband and I have always worked flexi time, when the kids were little he started at 7am (when they'd woken us up anyway!) and finished at 3pm to pick them up from school etc.

rivingtonpike

There's no doubt in my mind that our cost of living is lower now than it was, relatively speaking, when we lived in the UK.

dbd33

Yes, quite. They're also offered in Ontario, both for government and some private sector jobs. In a government job, in Canada, one can take advantage of these benefits without that being an issue, that's the reason for wanting a government (or banking) job.

I don't believe that to be true in the private sector, at least not in the businesses I'm familiar with. One could take a regular flex day or a vacation but it would absolutely be a career limiting move. It's a great irritation to me that firms are moving away from paying staff at year end for their unused vacation toward saying that staff have to take "time off". That's a conceit and it has lead to people half working "technically I'm on vacation" they'll say when asked why they're not working faster. Working conditions were more fairly stated, I think, when companies would tell employees that they didn't get vacation but did get 4% holiday pay at year end.

Anyway, not to be contentious, I think most would agree that working conditions in Canada are shit compared to the UK and compared to most places outside the US. Other factors in life may make up for that.

BristolUK

I was, but the original observation by Mordko claimed that it was the same (for gov workers) in both Canada and the UK and I was making the point that for the overwhelming majority, gold plated anything was not an apt description. If it really is the same in Canada as the UK then gold plated doesn't apply for the majority in Canada either. It's just the usual lazy stereotype.

JamesM

It's no exaggeration.

Do a comparison of salaries for firefighters and the police in Canada, the TTC and so on versus the UK. They make about 50% more in Canada.

It could be argued they deserve it but particularly on the firefighter and TTC side they do very little work and are well oversubscribed in terms of applicants for positions.

And certainly the salaries are not set by demand and supply which in other threads you claim to have a grasping of.

Government jobs and inflating housing are the two biggest economic drivers of Canada and sadly neither is sustainable.

I'm genuinely amazed people think this is a good place to move for their children.

CanadaJimmy

I don't see anything wrong with government workers earning a good living wage personally, in the grand scheme of things their salaries being above average is probably nothing compared to other government expenses.

As for inflating housing I agree it's a very serious issue. Eventually the music will stop and it's going to be a very painful correction.

JamesM

I don't have a problem with anyone making a good living either.

The challenge comes when other people are making sacrifices to sustain someone else's good living. Usually when a service is paid for one expects some value back for it- the value of the service of the few in no way meets the sacrifice of the many when it comes to big government. The many don't get a choice in the matter and cannot shop elsewhere.

Mordko

You said “very few [public sector workers make] less than $100K”. That was an exaggeration. The fact is that in Ontario the majority of public sector workers make less than $100K (70%).

Do they make more in Canada than in the UK? Don’t know. Probably. Average salaries in in Canada are higher full stop. Canada’s strong public sector unions and closed shops may be making the disparity worse and public sector less efficient.

Yes, house prices in Canada are high. They are also high in Britain.

I don’t see much difference in terms of working conditions in the private sector.

Canada was a great place to move to for our kids. At one point it looked like we might go back to the UK. Kids were distraught. I am sure experiences will vary.

Siouxie

Perhaps we could get back to the OP's actual question, rather than the whether Govt salaries are the same, etc.,.

Moses2013

I think for the OP that might not be the case and he isn't in Great Britain. Looking at the house prices in the UK or specifically Northern Ireland prices are not that high. Of course the salaries are lower in general but if the OP is working in the IT industry you have far more options and can have a Republic salary, or be employed in another European country (work from home with London salary etc.).

HGerchikov

Your pension amount seems really low after 30 years service. I have a civil service pension, I worked there for only 18 years, and was part time for half of those years, I am still a few years off retirement age and the current value is a fair bit more than £520 per month (I expect it will be even more by retirement) - I was not in a particularly high paying role.

dbd33

pounds and dollars?

HGerchikov

I mean pounds I will try and edit it.

Mordko

U.k civil service used to give 1/60 of salary per year of service. Someone with a monthly salary of 1040GBP over 30 years would get a pension of 520GBP on retirement day. The pension is inflation protected, so someone who left service a while back on 12K a year should be getting a lot more than 500 quid monthly in todays pounds.

I understand Canadian civil service pensions are slightly less generous, paying a bit less than 1/60 per year of service.

The reason its “gold plated” is because the taxpayer carries all the risk and the “extras” such as unlimited inflation protection, death benefit, etc are extremely generous. This is not available to a corner store owner who, as a taxpayer, is paying for civil service pensions. The “commuted value” for DB pensions of this type is very high (if permitted) because of all the benefits that come on top of the actual pension.

BristolUK

Ah yes, that old lie about 'the taxpayer' as if civil servants aren't liable for taxes at the same rates in the same way.
My dad's "Wills" pension passed to my mum as a death benefit. That's normal isn't it? Yet gold plated is only used for molly coddled civil servants.

Is it not the case that the corner store owner makes that choice about being self employed with certain advantages available to them as a result?
Are there not death benefits available in other pension schemes? I was just looking to see how much the lump sum would be in the event of my death.
There isn't one.