I'm leaving the charity sector because I'm tired of being underpaid
I’ve spent my entire career working at various disability charities and have always been proud to be working in the voluntary sector. However I have decided to move on – because after 10 years of being underpaid and undervalued I’m ready to try my hand at something new.
For the last four years I have been working as a support worker based in the community. Frontline staff like me, who are often working for less than the living wage, are increasingly expected to do more with no monetary benefit or recognition. And, when we utter the words ‘pay rise’ or ‘promotion’ we are criticised because we work in a sector designed to help those in need.
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Does having a vocation that helps others mean you should not concern yourself with material things like pay? And if you expect a decent salary does this somehow mean you are less caring and dedicated to your work? I don’t think so.
These attitudes do not necessarily stem from management either. In my experience co-workers can be highly critical of a colleague who wants a pay rise or promotion. If you want to be financially rewarded for your hard work and talent then your commitment to the ethos and mission of the charity is seen as questionable – particularly in frontline caring roles. I have seen former colleagues be highly judgmental of an ambitious staff member who has intentions to climb the career ladder.
An “us and them” type attitude towards senior staff means that having aspirations to become a senior leader or part of the management team is a bit of a taboo among some frontline staff in charities.
And this stigma is not helping the sector – you only have to read the recent headlines, comments and opinions about charity pay to see that many people think that charities should largely be run by volunteers. Research from NPC has shown that 16% of the public believe charity executives should not be paid at all.
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The reality is not far from that. Research from NCVO has shown that 91% of registered charities have no paid staff and are run by volunteers. I understand that resources are tight but if the sector is to flourish, its staff need to be rewarded for their hard work. During my time in the voluntary sector my colleagues and I have been expected to take on extra responsibilities, like training and mentoring staff, quality assurance, leading behaviour support or communication plans, with no extra pay, training or dedicated time to get the work done.
I often wonder whether this would happen in the private sector – are staff expected to take on such extra responsibilities willingly, without extra pay or whether is it expected in charities because, by definition, we are the voluntary sector and we are there to help others.
In my view to attract the best, most dedicated people to your cause, you also need to pay them a decent salary. And with the cost of rent and living expenses rising, it’s not possible to sustain a decent standard of living on less than the living wage. How can we be expected to give our best with anything less than this?
A version of this article first appeared on Katherine Sheriff’s blog.