Expectation's of relief milkers

[jersey lou79]

What do people expect of their relief milkers?
We're paying £45 per milking.
Start 5.30am finish 8.30
Start 3.30pm finish by 6
We fetch cows and close them up and help with wash down
We want to start earlier both milking so we actually get to finish by 5.30ish instead of generally a 6.30+ finish after closing cows up but some staff are moaning. We also want to get staff to occasional fetch cows in / close up
Is this unreasonable to ask on these wages / times ??

 

[bitwrx]

I'd want £25-30/hr for relief milking. Think about it: early start and/or late finish. Effectively a split shift, so double commuting. Presumably self employed, so need to pay for holiday, sick, pension etc. It's not an unskilled job either, if done well.

On the other hand, I don't relief milk, and expect that if I looked around for work, I wouldn't find any takers for my terms. But I'd probably find plenty of people who can't get good relief staff. Go figure, as they say.

 

[Milkcow365]

What do people expect of their relief milkers?
We're paying £45 per milking.
Start 5.30am finish 8.30
Start 3.30pm finish by 6
We fetch cows and close them up and help with wash down
We want to start earlier both milking so we actually get to finish by 5.30ish instead of generally a 6.30+ finish after closing cows up but some staff are moaning. We also want to get staff to occasional fetch cows in / close up
Is this unreasonable to ask on these wages / times ??

Self employed ?

 

[Horn&corn]

We pay £70 for morning and £60 for afternoons. Similar timings to above with someone fetching and feeding. Mostly weekends and self employed
Our chap gave his notice this morning so we’re on the hunt for 2 weeks time and every other etc. Ruins their wkend so we have to pay well to make it worth it.

 

[jersey lou79]

Self employed ?

Yes

 

[jersey lou79]

I'd want £25-30/hr for relief milking. Think about it: early start and/or late finish. Effectively a split shift, so double commuting. Presumably self employed, so need to pay for holiday, sick, pension etc. It's not an unskilled job either, if done well.

On the other hand, I don't relief milk, and expect that if I looked around for work, I wouldn't find any takers for my terms. But I'd probably find plenty of people who can't get good relief staff. Go figure, as they say.

6pm isn't really a late finish when they have had from 9am to 3pm as free time.

 

[WillM]

I don’t relief milk but if I did I’d want 35£ /hr for a Saturday or Sunday.

6pm is a late finish. Regardless of time off during the day.

 

[jersey lou79]

I don’t relief milk but if I did I’d want 35£ /hr for a Saturday or Sunday.

6pm is a late finish. Regardless of time off during the day.

You'd be a long time looking for work in north Shropshire then @ £35 / hour, I don't know any farms offering that money even for night ( 3xday) weekend milkings

Most of my friends working standard office jobs work 9-6

 

[Nearly]

6pm isn't really a late finish when they have had from 9am to 3pm as free time.

You'd be a long time looking for work in north Shropshire then @ £35 / hour, I don't know any farms offering that money even for night ( 3xday) weekend milkings

Most of my friends working standard office jobs work 9-6

9am to 3pm is no use for getting anything else done .
Relief milking needs to be double money compared to full days.
Been there.

 

[yin ewe]

And people think robot service costs are expensive.

 

[bitwrx]

6pm isn't really a late finish when they have had from 9am to 3pm as free time.

Not exactly useful time though is it?
Everyone else you know is working, so no socialising. Someone else has had to get the kids ready for school, and pick them up. So _they_ can't have a full time job, leaving the relief milker to earn a 'full time' wage. The time between milkings is not long enough to do a full shift elsewhere, especially when travel time is taken into account, so not easy tinwork in with other employment.

The best you can hope for is someone local who is underemployed on their own (non-dairy) farm and can work it round their own daily routine. Which, incidentally, is the position I am in. You just have to induce them to turn up when you need them... For me, £25-30/hr would do it.

(Oh BTW, I used to work in an office. 40h a week, 25 days plus BHs off every year. Flexitime, starting anytime between 7 and 9:30. Good pension, opportunity to buy extra leave and dental/health insurance etc. All work gear provided if I was needed on site, and no hassle of being 'self-employed'.
My gross salary was equivalent to just shy of £25 per hour worked. Against that, £90 a day working split shifts doesn't look great does it?)

 

[vantage]

You'd be a long time looking for work in north Shropshire then @ £35 / hour, I don't know any farms offering that money even for night ( 3xday) weekend milkings
Most of my friends working standard office jobs work 9-6

Pretty much the same here. Not everyone is on office hours, many work shifts, then weekends are just the same as any other day.

9am to 3pm is no use for getting anything else done .
Relief milking needs to be double money compared to full days.
Been there.

True. Then the employer needs two separate milkers so the problem doesn’t arise.

 

[Whitepeak]

What do people expect of their relief milkers?
We're paying £45 per milking.
Start 5.30am finish 8.30
Start 3.30pm finish by 6
We fetch cows and close them up and help with wash down
We want to start earlier both milking so we actually get to finish by 5.30ish instead of generally a 6.30+ finish after closing cows up but some staff are moaning. We also want to get staff to occasional fetch cows in / close up
Is this unreasonable to ask on these wages / times ??

I do night milkings, typically 8-11.30pm includes setup, wash down, fetching groups, doing beds, pushing up feed and checking calving cows (also calve and feed calf if req). Always 2 of us there. All this for £40, which I am regularly told on here is not enough.

 

[vantage]

I do night milkings, typically 8-11.30pm includes setup, wash down, fetching groups, doing beds, pushing up feed and checking calving cows (also calve and feed calf if req). Always 2 of us there. All this for £40, which I am regularly told on here is not enough.

No, you’re just very good value!

 

[scatterbrainedlass]

I used to do night milkings, 8pm to 11.30pm, we got cows in and washed out/locked up after, all for £35 a shift. Did it twice a week for a couple of months but at £10/hr and my husband was getting £12/hr doing daytime milking and gfw it really wasn't worth the lack of sleep! I have no issue with doing the whole job, not just milking the cows, as long as a sensible wage is paid.

 

[jersey lou79]

Pretty much the same here. Not everyone is on office hours, many work shifts, then weekends are just the same as any other day.

True. Then the employer needs two separate milkers so the problem doesn’t arise.

Agreed.
My original post was actually about what work people expect their workers to do but has got high jacked about wages regardless of the fact that I actually pay higher than majority of farmers around here.

 

[som farmer]

we would just like a relief milker, and we would pay £120 day

 

[Cows 'n grass]

I do night milkings, typically 8-11.30pm includes setup, wash down, fetching groups, doing beds, pushing up feed and checking calving cows (also calve and feed calf if req). Always 2 of us there. All this for £40, which I am regularly told on here is not enough.

It's enough if you're happy with it and enjoy the work.


There are a lot of dreamers on here and threads about wages seem to draw them all out.

 

[jersey lou79]

I do night milkings, typically 8-11.30pm includes setup, wash down, fetching groups, doing beds, pushing up feed and checking calving cows (also calve and feed calf if req). Always 2 of us there. All this for £40, which I am regularly told on here is not enough.

I would agree it is not enough,

 

[jersey lou79]

It's enough if you're happy with it and enjoy the work.


There are a lot of dreamers on here and threads about wages seem to draw them all out.

[emoji122][emoji122][emoji122][emoji122][emoji122][emoji122][emoji122][emoji122][emoji122] spot on !!!