Author Topic: wage packets then,  (Read 6269 times)

Alfred

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wage packets then,
« on: Feb 16, 2018, 07:40:35 AM »

I wonder how many of you like me remember when you  got your first wage packet, I started work in a wine factory and on a Friday lunch time the foreman walked around the factory with a metal tray on one arm, and he called out your name, as he knew all the workers,  and then he gave you your wages , which came sealed in a little brown envelope .


once opened there was a pay slip, it was a 1/4 inch wide about a foot long which had all the details
of what you earned, how much tax you had paid and relevant details , and of course you checked the money which added up to what you had been paid and if there was a discrepancy then you mentioned it to the foreman ,


Seventy years on , now were paid by direct debit for just about everything. much easier and simpler.all round, ...... even paying bills then meant endless running back and forth to the shops a weekly ritual , do you remember those times,

Ashy

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Re: wage packets then,
« Reply #1 on: Feb 16, 2018, 11:45:08 AM »
Yes although everywhere I worked wages were collected from an office via a little window. I think that went on until the 1980s.

prestbury

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Re: wage packets then,
« Reply #2 on: Feb 16, 2018, 12:22:55 PM »
Yes although everywhere I worked wages were collected from an office via a little window. I think that went on until the 1980s.

And me too.

My first wage in 1966 as an apprentice was £6, about 18 months later I had a rise of 10s which did me a good night on the town which was had with a packet of fags, copious amounts of ale and a chip supper on the way home.

In 1980 I went onto a salaried position, what a struggle that was going from weekly to monthly paid and having to get my regular expenses in order.

Traveller

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Re: wage packets then,
« Reply #3 on: Feb 16, 2018, 01:31:01 PM »
As a student in the 60's, I had various summer jobs and worked as a postie at Xmas.
These were the only times that I received a weekly pay packet.  When I started work, it was all salaried and paid monthly into my bank account.

The only time I had to 'clock in' was when we lived in Germany.  This was a surprise to me because I never had to in the UK.  I discovered that each country had its own rules, so in Germany we had unions, clocking in and beer vending machines so we always stopped for a drink in the evenings.  In France, I could have a glass of wine with lunch.  In the UK we just went to the pub at lunch time.  Which one you went to depended on what department you worked in. 

Does anyone clock in these days?  We just signed  in.
You'll have had your tea.

Ashy

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Re: wage packets then,
« Reply #4 on: Feb 16, 2018, 03:41:03 PM »
Clocking in is quite common in England, for wages staff, not usually for salaried.

GrannyMac

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Re: wage packets then,
« Reply #5 on: Feb 16, 2018, 04:09:58 PM »
I was a wages clerk in the late sixties in a Remploy factory. I'd get details of the men's wages, calculate how much each was due,  bonus, overtime etc then work out what coins and notes were needed.  I'd then trot off on my own to the bank, pick up the cash, come back and divide it into the allotted amounts, then take the pay packets round to each department. My boss calculated the staff monthly salaries! 


My first job was as a junior clerk for Dundee Corporation. £16 a month in 1962.
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Johned

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Re: wage packets then,
« Reply #6 on: Feb 16, 2018, 07:33:56 PM »
In 1951, I started office work on £3/10/0d per week which was not bad for a complete ignoramus.  Then came a fall down to earth with £1 per week army pay for the first six months and when I was demobbed two years later £3/3/6d.  When I reached age 28 I finally achieved senior draftsman's rate of £16/5/0d per week and unbelievably a couple of months later the rate went up to £17/5/0d; I felt as rich as a king!

sparky

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Re: wage packets then,
« Reply #7 on: Feb 17, 2018, 08:22:22 AM »
There seems to have been a lot of wealthy people when  first starting work, my pay when I started work was £1 a week, and from that I had to pay my daily train fare from Chingford to Liverpool Street Station..

crabbyob

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Re: wage packets then,
« Reply #8 on: Feb 17, 2018, 08:31:01 AM »
my first pay poke was £2.17/6...... my second was £5.00 much to the disgust of the restof the lads.... the boss had seen me empty a lorry of ten ton of cement bags, at 15
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minniemouse

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Re: wage packets then,
« Reply #9 on: Feb 17, 2018, 05:11:56 PM »
I earned £3, as a Junior in a Solicitors Office. 
Smoking kills you, bacon kills you, smoking bacon cures it.

zoony

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Re: wage packets then,
« Reply #10 on: Feb 17, 2018, 05:14:21 PM »
 ;D ;D You'd've made more swingin' yer handbag on a street corner..
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minniemouse

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Re: wage packets then,
« Reply #11 on: Feb 17, 2018, 05:50:11 PM »
 ;D ;D ;D


I earned more than Crabby. ;D
Smoking kills you, bacon kills you, smoking bacon cures it.

StephenM123

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Re: wage packets then,
« Reply #12 on: Feb 17, 2018, 06:17:02 PM »
 I left school after taking my ‘O’ levels. Between then and starting an apprenticeship I worked on a farm and got the heady sum of £10/week (7 days a week – 10 to 12 hours per day). In the September (1968) I started the apprenticeship at £4/10s per week (did I feel poor). I gave my mother a third, paid a third for the HP on a motorcycle that had replace the moped I had been using and had the remainder for clothes/records/the odd evening out/etc. After a year I was on £5 but felt hard done by as some of the people were not time served and were on £20 despite being only 19 and not particularly skilled. This blew up six months later and I left. Then I had another well paid period getting £20+ per week as a builders labourer (44 hour week plus plenty of well paid overtime that could get you near £30!), Common sense then prevailed and I got a technician job in ICI that paid £700 per annum. I never saw a pay packet again as they would only pay monies into a bank account.

zoony

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Re: wage packets then,
« Reply #13 on: Feb 17, 2018, 06:46:21 PM »
;D ;D ;D


I earned more than Crabby. ;D


[cancelled]
"Listen to the wind, it cleans the mind."

"Never use money to measure wealth, son"

                                           cowboy wisdom.

crabbyob

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Re: wage packets then,
« Reply #14 on: Feb 18, 2018, 11:53:43 AM »
thats because i didnt charge during my handbag (sporran) swinging days i only did it for love/lust
“Life may not be the party we hoped for, but as we are already here we may as well dance”