A
female
age
51-59,
anonymous
writes:I've taken this job that was advertised in the job centre as 15-20 hours a week. Minimum wage of £5.73 per hour. So i take it, after being on Income Support for the last 8 yrs. 16 hours is what it takes to be able to claim tax credits. Im a single mum of 2. The manager said over a 4 week period it will work out 16 hours a wk average. Now i've started it, it seems its more than 16 hours. It pays 16 hours, but you have to work more than that to earn 16 hours. I will explain. Its cleaning hotel rooms and they pay you per room. To earn an hours wage you need to clean 3 rooms. This is impossible. I have done it before in another hotel that paid from when you signed in to when you signed out! But here you arrive there at 9am, by the time you have set up the trolley with sheets etc and cleaned 9 rooms, then put the dirty laundry (of 9 rooms) in the trolley to be collected by the laundering company, and loaded the dishwasher with dirty cups, its 1pm. According to them you need to finish 9 rooms by 12pm, and only get paid for that. I've been there a week and worked 30 hours and will only get paid for about 18 hours. Where can I look to find a job that pays per hour? This one doesn't have any permanent staff. They leave within a couple of weeks, I only started last thursday, and already she has had me showing some Polish woman what to do, and tomorrow I am suppose to be showing some other new woman what to do. Yet I don't get paid any extra. Even though i wont get my rooms done in the time stated because of that, and if i did, i would lose it in tax credits anyway. Help!!!!
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female
reader, carebear +, writes (25 October 2008):
 Dear Anon
You need to get back to the jobcentre asap, tell them what is going on. Get appiontment with lone parent adviser you should have done this before you took the job, they will give you a back to work calculation to see if it benefits you going back to work otherwise you should enroll in a collage course of a training for work programme. The reason you should have done this before you went to work as you are entiltled to more like money for clothes for interview, travel costs, run on in income support hopefully you have not missed out on these.
There is all sorts of help out there you need to ask for it. My advice chuck the job go back to jobcentre and they should helpyou out if you need more advice just update me and I will get back to you.
A
male
reader, LazyGuy  +, writes (25 October 2008):
 There are a LOT of jobs like that, the EU is sliding towards the american system without taxes getting any lower. So we get high taxes and low wages. Yippee! Long life new labour and its various variants on the main land. (Don't get me started on PvdA (oops to late))
Ages ago in holland for manual labor the rule for breaks was this:
1 hour, 5 minute break on the work floor with coffee.
1 hour, 15 minute break in canteen.
1 hour, 5 minute break on the work floor with coffee.
1 hour, 30 minute lunch break.
1 hour, 5 minute break on the work floor with coffee.
1 hour, 15 minute break in canteen.
1 hour, 5 minute break on the work floor with coffee.
USED to be, ALL breaks wear paid.
Then things changed, the 5 minute break disappear, half an hour only was payed. Now, 2.45 hours before the first UNPAID 15 minute break followed 3 hours later by an unpaid lunch break.
Used to be companies that had odd hours had cheap warm meals for a small cost, 2 guilders (less then a euro) for a decent meal. Then it switched to snack foods at costs, now it is scack foods with a profit margin.
All to remain competitive.
Frankly, these jobs you are better of without. Get educated and get up the ladder. These companies KNOWN they can't keep anyone and so don't bother, just keep rotating people and claim they need laxer employment laws and more immigrants because nobody wants the jobs. Meanwhile goverment votes themselves huge salery increased and dines on tax money on smoked salmon (yes really, I work in IT and sometimes do goverment contracts).
So, vote LEFT wing (you are never going to be rich so don't vote for the rich guys party and when you are rich, you don't need the rich guys party) and get yourself OUT of this situation.
Cleaning and other throw-away jobs are NEVER the way to go. Either find a small company, educate yourself to a better position or find something you are good at in a field were they can't just rotate the entire personal roster every month.
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