Flossie and Jim

I beg to differ that government jobs are a walk in the park.....

I have worked in two different municipalities in Alberta now and there is a lot of evidence of working unpaid overtime in the evening and at weekends, despite it being unionised. Also lots of chats around the watercooler regarding what time you worked till last night/all over the weekend, etc. I've also seen the other side i.e. there are a few who do 'work to rule' and do as little as they can to get by but this seems to be the exception rather than the norm. In fact I quit my first job here because the expectation was for more and more and I didn't want to come to Canada to work myself into the ground. Don't get me wrong, I work hard but even I have a limit!

I think life is easier if you aren't working at the main office...life seems a little more relaxed in the satellite offices where you are more 'removed; from the politicians and senior management.

The other half is in the provincial side of things and last week he did about 30 hours overtime! Ok, so its paid and he can keep me in the manner to which I am accustomed, but it is expected that he works long hours as he is out in the field a lot.

Just don't think that all government jobs will be a piece of pi$$!

Rich_007

Hell yeah, that's about it.

Don't come to BC expecting big money and a career boost....just come here to do non-work related leisure crazy shit.

R.

Erinbrooke

Can anyone comment on Nova Scotia ???

I have seen evidence of varying attitudes to work just across the UK, so I am sure there is a different approach across a country the size of Canada.

It does sound great though from what people have said so far !!

Rich_007

They have just 15 minutes for lunch, were they "nip oot" for fresh cockles.

It's a Maritimes thing.

Arrona

in my view everybody is really laid back hear. no coffee breaks where i work:L:L
any way i am in a work place with basically half canadian and half british mix of english 1 scottish (me) and the british defently work harder than the canadians although i work in far different conditions to you british def have higher standards.

JonboyE

Fair enough. I admit it was a gross generalization. I said it because I know people who work for Crown Corporations, that are closed shops, in BC. They have to work hard, on uncertain hours that are not guaranteed, until they are deemed "acceptable" to the union and the employer. As far as I can see if you are acceptable to the union you are also acceptable to the employer though it doesn't work the other way around.

However, once they are approved for full-time work by the union they have a job for life at very good rates of pay and are not expected to break a sweat too often.

mik_n_ash

[QUOTE=Erinbrooke;6866119]Can anyone comment on Nova Scotia ???

As long as you don't expect any work from them before their 2nd or 3rd timmy's they aren't that bad (although this is usually well after 1pm)

dbd33

In our office it's just assumed that everyone works on the weekend. The culture is such that no one mentions participating in something other than work. Having an interest outside work is not usual and admitting to one would baffle as much as offend. We work in a strange kind of bubble, for example, I've worked with colleagues since the eighties but don't know if they're married, gay, have children, communists, members of an organized religion, teetotal.

Mind you, it's the computer business so one would not expect much in the way of social skills.

Erinbrooke

I just remembered a comment that was made by our Canadian friend living in Truro......
He said that if an Englishman and a Canadian both went for the same job, the Englishman would get it everytime !!! He continued to point out his opinion that we were considered to be brighter, more intelligent people than our Canadian counterparts, by employers......
Quite how true this statement is I am not sure, but judging by a few of the posts on this thread, there might be something in it?? But then again it may not be the 'grey matter' that employers are looking at but, in fact, work rate??

montreal mike

I am not convinced there is a need for govt. employees, be it federal, provincial, municipal, whatever, to actually have a work ethic.

Some do, others don't.

As to working overtime, well in the private sector it usually goes with the territory; however in government, it is usually well rewarded.

Also take into account all those 'sick' or personal days allowed. Quite generous. And, if memory serves, all those 'sick' days not used add up and are either paid out or accumulated so one doesn't have to show up for work, but is still paid full salary, a few months before official retirement.

I am not being critical of such employees but with relatively solid job security as one gains seniority, why would there even be a need for a work ethic?

hwp

I am Canadian and I work as little as humanly and financially possible and all Canadians are exactly like me, even the ones who love to work, or have to work, a lot.

retsujou

That is strange. The current employer that is looking at me and also has a large presence in Mississagua (around 600 people) told me flat out in one of the interviews that if I could not manage my work-life balance properly then I would not be hired. They almost force you to have a life outside work, which is fine with me

Rich_007

Not so.

dbd is not an employee

R.

Judy in Calgary

If your prospective employer has 600 employees, the employer must be a real company, and it must be offering you a real job.

Dbd33 doesn't have a real job. He's a contractor.

There's a hierarchy in Canada (and I dare say in a lot of other countries too). At the top of the food chain are the real companies that offer real jobs (with salaries, benefits, etc.). Those companies contract out some of their work to almost-real companies with almost-real jobs (jobs with come with not quite such good salaries, not quite so many benefits, not quite so much job security). Those almost-real companies, in turn, sub-contract some of their work when they have too much on their plate.

Once you get down to this level, things start to get a little more dubious. Somewhere down here, people start being employed on a contract basis. They're only paid when they're actually working. At this level, there is not enough "fat" in the system that employers can afford to "carry" the contractors when they are not doing actual billable work (work for which the employer's client can be invoiced).

On the other hand, in some fields the hourly rate for contractors is higher than the nominal hourly rate that employers earn. So, if a contractor is given enough hours, he/she may earn pretty good money. The risk is that, when work dries up, it's the contractors who are dropped first. The employees who work in "real jobs" for "real companies" try to preserve the last remaining work for themselves.

To use dbd33's own term, he's a pimp. That is a slang term for someone who hires out bodies to companies, who is paid a fee for making those bodies available, and who turns around and pays the bodies less than he received for their services. He makes his money on the difference between what he receives and what he pays, just as the banks make money on the difference between the interest that they receive and the interest they pay.

Dbd33 also does some IT work in his own right, but he makes some of his money from the people who get their work through him.

By the way, there is no such thing as an "almost-real company." That was just my made up term to try to paint a picture for you. What I meant by an "almost-real company" was a company that was a little lower in the hierarchy. A company that is a little lower in the hierarchy may be one that operates in a slightly less profitable area or that supplies goods or services to a company that's at the top of the food chain in a profitable area.

I'll use the example of Calgary, which is the work environment that I know best. Exxon/Mobil would be an example of a company that was at the top of the food chain. Exxon/Mobil might hire a consulting engineering firm -- like Colt, Fluor or SNC-Lavalin -- to design a new facility for them. If, say, Fluor is awarded the contract, there may be bits of the work that are too much for them (depending on their current workload), and they may sub-contract those bits to smaller companies. Those smaller companies, in turn, may sub-contract bits of work to individual consultants.

I promise you that, once you get down into the smaller companies and the individual consultants, no one mentions the term work-life balance. They accept any work that comes their way, even if their lives are a sort of feast or famine rollercoaster ride.

When I previewed my message prior to posting it, I saw that Rich_007 already had responded. However, the additional explanation that I provided may be useful. I'll also respond to you in the other thread in which we were discussing Canada being behind Europe.
x

AmyDavid

My OH works in the trades and is the hardest working man I know - along with his partner (a Canadian) who matches him in having a VERY VERY strong work ethic. I think my OH has found here that you get the same as you do in the UK, people that will work hard and then lazy boggers that will do all they can to skive off!