Shortage of good staff

[Diggerdave]

Tescos have just increased their basic pay to £10.10/h and £10.78 in London
You are starting people off at just under £300 per year more than that.

Would that be a fixed or zero hour contract? Sometimes more than hourly rate has to be considered

 

[Ivorbiggun]

We are currently advertising for a Storekeeper and a Lab Technician, both advertised as 6 x 12hr shifts during harvest but would consider a job share (which then means recruiting and training 2 people per position).

I would think harvest students on farms work much more than 72 hours/week?

On the farm where I used to work the students along with the rest of the staff were expected to work 17 hour days ( with 10 minute break to eat a farm supplied tea) 7 days a week.

Hence why I say used to work there. Lol

 

[Mounty]

Tescos have just increased their basic pay to £10.10/h and £10.78 in London
You are starting people off at just under £300 per year more than that.

I get that but based on 1800 hours I make it £11.11 to £13.33/h, well outside of London too. Maybe I'll have to up it and and just add another chunk on the farm invoices.
A vehicle obviously doesn't count for anything anymore.

 

[Rowland]

That is because that belief is a myth. NHS shifts are about 12 hours long with 2 x 30 minute breaks. The maximum a doctor will be asked to do is 4 x12 hour shifts in a row and this is rare as well.

If a doctor tried to be a superhero and do stupid hours they would be pulled up about it and rightly so as it is clearly not safe:

Doctor suspended for working 24-hour shifts to pay for his extension

Dr Bevan Hyder, 47, who used to work at Crawley Hospital (pictured), did back-to-back 12-hour shifts on at least five occasions. He would also travel to work in Brighton, London and Basildon.

www.dailymail.co.uk

As I have told several people: if a truck driver isn't allowed to work more than about 48 hours a week on average how on Earth is it safe for a doctor or nurse to do more? The reason is that they aren't.

Not all NHS shifts are 12 hours , local hospital, nurses do 3 shifts early late and nights .

 

[Woldgrain Storage]

Is your grain store only open 12 hours a day 6 days a week over harvest?
It sounds like you need to need at least 2 shifts, (does harvest stop on a Sunday?)
Expecting people to work 72 hours a week just isn't going to work especially if they are doing repetitive work. If you must do 12 hour shifts, a 4 on 4 off would probably be better.

You said poor CV's go in the bin, which is a fair one, a job ad that says 6x12 hour shifts will be treated the same way by most people

The store operates 24/7 once harvest intake starts, with two shifts, both working 7 till 7.

In reality the lab workers finish between 5 & 7pm because drivers are running out of hours. All lab staff get Sundays off because there is no intake, Saturday intake hours are limited by the availability of drivers.

Sundays are used as a repairs & maintenance day, so the Storekeepers rotate a day off in the week.

We've had lads come for interview who don't want to be limited on their hours so go sit on a tractor all Summer instead.

I think if I was running a grain store I'd do something like a 6am-3pm and a 3 pm - midnight shift.

Losing 6 hours of drying every night just wouldn't work.

 

[Woldgrain Storage]

do prospective employers check the facts with others?

If someone claims they have a telehandler certificate or a PA12 or a degree from Durham we would always ask for the original to take a copy from before a contract was finalised.

Have you tried advertising with the universities?

Any jobs that got offered through the university e-mail system always got a lot of views and discussion.

Perhaps it isn't a graduate you are looking for, but its food for thought!

We have just made contact with LIAT (Lincoln Uni) as they do a Food Science & Supply Chain course and we are looking at starting to recruit for a graduate trainee.

 

[ollie989898]

Not all NHS shifts are 12 hours , local hospital, nurses do 3 shifts early late and nights .

You have the choice of doing 7am until 1.30pm I think it is, and then it's 1.30pm until 7.30pm. I think. I don't bother, I just do long days as the driving involved kills it all economically otherwise. Nights I think are 1900 until 7.30am.

 

[kiwi pom]

The store operates 24/7 once harvest intake starts, with two shifts, both working 7 till 7.

In reality the lab workers finish between 5 & 7pm because drivers are running out of hours. All lab staff get Sundays off because there is no intake, Saturday intake hours are limited by the availability of drivers.

Sundays are used as a repairs & maintenance day, so the Storekeepers rotate a day off in the week.

We've had lads come for interview who don't want to be limited on their hours so go sit on a tractor all Summer instead.






Losing 6 hours of drying every night just wouldn't work.

I thought you were only doing 12 hours a day, which is why I suggested 2 shorter shifts but agree 24 hours is much better. I'd imagine 12 hour shifts 6 days a week is the sticking point with some.
Most 24/7 businesses around here either do 4 on 4 off, usually 2 days 2 nights 4 off. Some do 6 and 3 which is 3 days, 3 nights, 3 off.

 

[ollie989898]

On the farm where I used to work the students along with the rest of the staff were expected to work 17 hour days ( with 10 minute break to eat a farm supplied tea) 7 days a week.

Hence why I say used to work there. Lol

10 minute break ffs. What is wrong with people.

 

[Sheep]

The store operates 24/7 once harvest intake starts, with two shifts, both working 7 till 7.

In reality the lab workers finish between 5 & 7pm because drivers are running out of hours. All lab staff get Sundays off because there is no intake, Saturday intake hours are limited by the availability of drivers.

Sundays are used as a repairs & maintenance day, so the Storekeepers rotate a day off in the week.

We've had lads come for interview who don't want to be limited on their hours so go sit on a tractor all Summer instead.


Losing 6 hours of drying every night just wouldn't work.

If someone claims they have a telehandler certificate or a PA12 or a degree from Durham we would always ask for the original to take a copy from before a contract was finalised.
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We have just made contact with LIAT (Lincoln Uni) as they do a Food Science & Supply Chain course and we are looking at starting to recruit for a graduate trainee.

I went to uni in NI to do an Ag course, out of 40 or so in the class, around 7-8 of us ended up in England for the harvest period each year. That's quite a number of us IMO, although I only know of one that went to do a lab job (then again they just weren't advertised to us?).

On your first point, I'll go against the grain of what everyone else is saying, and agree that 72 hours isn't enough when people can be doing 80+ in a tractor (as an average). Which doesn't seem like a lot, but its a minimum of a £1000 difference over a 10 week harvest period.

Harvest lands just in the middle of university semesters so is damn near perfect for a summer student job. I'm sure by contacting a few more you'll get a response somewhere.

 

[ollie989898]

Sounds like two possible changes to the offer could be as follows:

1. Offer a tidy and modern mobile home on site for people to sleep/live in over the harvest period.

2. Offer enough money to ensure that people who could drive 100+ hours a week would be earning comparable money once all things are taken into account.

Local college sounds like the best place to advertise.

 

[deleted user 436632456]

I got an email from Queens Uni Belfast a few weeks ago about 16 week summer placements for agri technology and environmental management students,

Some of those lab/sampling jobs would suit them alright for summer placement.

 

[Norfolk Olly]

One of my closest friends who I worked with for many years has jacked in farming to work in an oil recycling plant. He unloads tankers, monitors tanks and out loads the oil into tankers when needed which involves opening a valve. He works within a team of 3, starts 7:30 am finishes 4pm Monday to Friday, earning £34k per annum . He openly admits that it is dull and would prefer to be farming but financially it’s a no brainer. Knows he can organise things for weekends, go on holiday with his family through the summer, even do things in the evening. I wish I had the balls to do the same as the more I look at it the more I think “what the hell am I doing”.

 

[bobk]

One of my closest friends who I worked with for many years has jacked in farming to work in an oil recycling plant. He unloads tankers, monitors tanks and out loads the oil into tankers when needed which involves opening a valve. He works within a team of 3, starts 7:30 am finishes 4pm Monday to Friday, earning £34k per annum . He openly admits that it is dull and would prefer to be farming but financially it’s a no brainer. Knows he can organise things for weekends, go on holiday with his family through the summer, even do things in the evening. I wish I had the balls to do the same as the more I look at it the more I think “what the hell am I doing”.

And doesn't take his job home

 

[ollie989898]

One of my closest friends who I worked with for many years has jacked in farming to work in an oil recycling plant. He unloads tankers, monitors tanks and out loads the oil into tankers when needed which involves opening a valve. He works within a team of 3, starts 7:30 am finishes 4pm Monday to Friday, earning £34k per annum . He openly admits that it is dull and would prefer to be farming but financially it’s a no brainer. Knows he can organise things for weekends, go on holiday with his family through the summer, even do things in the evening. I wish I had the balls to do the same as the more I look at it the more I think “what the hell am I doing”.

But you take on more responsivity than the average tractor driver, surely? Don't you get a say in the running of the place, machinery policy, workload and the like?

 

[Norfolk Olly]

But you take on more responsivity than the average tractor driver, surely? Don't you get a say in the running of the place, machinery policy, workload and the like?

Just a bum on a seat according to my contract, just tend to look after myself and get on with the job when the going is good and sit at home when it’s peeing down

 

[7610 super q]

10 minute break ffs. What is wrong with people.

Quite, 5 is plenty.

 

[serf]

Just a bum on a seat according to my contract, just tend to look after myself and get on with the job when the going is good and sit at home when it’s peeing down

You seem to be working a field everyday of the year ...... bet you don't have a lot of down time with ground like that .

 

[Norfolk Olly]

You seem to be working a field everyday of the year ...... bet you don't have a lot of down time with ground like that .

I just done my yearly hourly total, 3271 hrs

 

[serf]

I just done my yearly hourly total, 3271 hrs

Ffs


Don't no what you find to do after breakfast .....