Emergency loans for pay-change Lancashire firefighters

6:00pm Wednesday 26th September 2012 in East Lancashire Photograph of the Author By Lisa Woodhouse, Assistant picture editor

FIREFIGHTERS have been forced to take emergency loans after their pay date was changed with little notice.

Around 900 full-time firefighters from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service saw their paydate moved back 10 days this month after changes to the payroll by One Connect, which took over the service from Lancashire County Council earlier this year.

The change meant many workers would see direct debits coming out of their accounts before they had been paid.

As an emergency solution the fire service set up interest free loans for workers.

Steve Harman, of the Fire Brigades Union in Lancashire, said: “It has caused a problem for most of the firefighters. No one is happy about it.

“I’m sure for some families this will cause some serious problems.

“My direct debits come out of my account shortly after pay day so I can budget for the month, so these will now come out before I get paid.

“The fire service said they had no option but to offer firefighters a loan to get them through this month. This is something I took and it will be deducted from my pay over the next 12 months.

“It just seems that people don’t seem to matter to these companies, as long as they can save a few quid.”

He said historically full-time fire fighters were paid on 16th of the month, support staff on 26th, and retained firefighters on 28th of the month.

However, One Connect have streamlined the payroll and changed all paydates to 26th.

A Fire Service spokesman said: “One Connect have been providing payroll services for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service from April 1 2012.

“The move called for some administrative changes to be made but these have been implemented smoothly and without any adverse impact on our organisation or its personnel.

“However, we will be moving some of the services we currently receive from One Connect in order to better meet our requirements.”

One Connect Limited declined to comment.

Comments(13)

DirtyHarry says...
6:40pm Wed 26 Sep 12

They do it so they can have the amount sat in a bank account for any extra ten days accruing more interest. I have a family member in the Police and they did it to them a few years ago. Apparently it earns somewhere in the region of an extra 40 grand in interest which is clearly more important to the big wigs regardless for how much hassle it causes everybody in the Fire Service.

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2 for 5p says...
7:47pm Wed 26 Sep 12

£28,199 on completion of training plus overtime money and that shower need loans.
What they need is money counseling

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Rich Riley says...
8:31pm Wed 26 Sep 12

So they have to wait 10 days to get paid and 'most of the firefighters' are crying poverty? Behave yourself. If you cant manage for 10 days because you haven't got enough money in the bank then the real issue is poor money management.

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DirtyHarry says...
9:04pm Wed 26 Sep 12

2 for 5p wrote:
£28,199 on completion of training plus overtime money and that shower need loans.
What they need is money counseling
What a pair of utter w@nkers you and "**** Riley" are.
A Shower are they? The very people that would turn up and drag you out of your burning house (personally I'd leave you in) should it ever happen and save your life, and you have the nerve to call them a shower because they earn a justifiable reasonable living?
Jealousy is one of the seven deadly sins you cretin. While your at it why not have a pop at the Police and the Army or Ambulance service.......and maybe even the Coastguard........A
hole !!!

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2 for 5p says...
10:55pm Wed 26 Sep 12

DirtyHarry wrote:
Rich Riley wrote:
So they have to wait 10 days to get paid and 'most of the firefighters' are crying poverty? Behave yourself. If you cant manage for 10 days because you haven't got enough money in the bank then the real issue is poor money management.
Just how do you know exactly what each of their personal financial circumstances are?

Did you get turned down for a job in the Fire service by any chance?

You're probably a jobless, friendless hermit who sits alone in your p1ss soaked bedsit strewn with crusty dogeared copies of Razzle magazine, eating your Lidl corned beef hash meal for one whilst waiting with your filthy yellow stain Y fronts round your ankles with smart price bog roll for the ten minute
freeview on bang babes.
hey dirty harry yu seem to be a expect on lonely lifestyles :-) I wonder why :-)

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Rich Riley says...
10:55pm Wed 26 Sep 12

DirtyHarry wrote:
Rich Riley wrote:
So they have to wait 10 days to get paid and 'most of the firefighters' are crying poverty? Behave yourself. If you cant manage for 10 days because you haven't got enough money in the bank then the real issue is poor money management.
Just how do you know exactly what each of their personal financial circumstances are?

Did you get turned down for a job in the Fire service by any chance?

You're probably a jobless, friendless hermit who sits alone in your p1ss soaked bedsit strewn with crusty dogeared copies of Razzle magazine, eating your Lidl corned beef hash meal for one whilst waiting with your filthy yellow stain Y fronts round your ankles with smart price bog roll for the ten minute
freeview on bang babes.
I don't claim to know the financial background of any firefighter, I am merely quoting the spokesman from the Fire Service Union. His words, not mine.

And I have never been turned down for the fire service because I don't think I could take sitting on my backside all day doing naff all. I'd rather do something a bit more productive with my time.

The point I'm making is surely these firefighters can manage for 10 days until pay day, it's hardly a crisis. If they can't then they really need to look at how they manage their finances.

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oracle999 says...
11:12pm Wed 26 Sep 12

Yeah rich, I'm sure getting out of your bed for £6 per hour is far better than being in the fire service.

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5:40am Thu 27 Sep 12

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Fire Fly says...
5:41am Thu 27 Sep 12

Can't believe anyone has a lack of sympathy based on the salary...£28,199 is the gross salary not the net. This may be a families only income! Changing your pay day by 10 days with little or no notice would hit most of us badly.

And while i'm on my soap box....£28,199 buys one highly trained Fire Fighter who will risk their life in order to save ours. A few weeks ago the Panorama programme highlighted the case of a Shadsworth 'resident' who receives £1200 per month in benefit...which equates to approx £21,000i'sh net if she was able to drag her mammoth backside out of bed to go to work. Now which would you rather have 'sat on their backside doing nothing..apart from waiting for a call to save someones life???

I know which receives my full sympathy & support!

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Kevin, Colne says...
9:50am Thu 27 Sep 12

Everyone is different but even those who have been operating with a substantial ‘buffer’ – a sum of money left over each month after all expenses have been paid – will have found over recent years that this has been eroded through relentless price inflation on essentials – fuel and food. In some cases the ‘buffer’ will have vanished completely and I suspect that even people who are ‘low-maintenance
may find that the moving of a pay date would cause hardship.

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Izanears says...
11:01am Thu 27 Sep 12

2 for 5p wrote:
£28,199 on completion of training plus overtime money and that shower need loans.
What they need is money counseling
I can't agree more. What a sob story.

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sniper16 says...
11:43am Thu 27 Sep 12

Rich Riley you are a complete prat. You think firefighters sit Down on their backsides all day doing naff all, They start at eight they then check and maintain equipment till half nine, they have a brew till 9.45, then drill (practising scenarios and familiarising with equipment such as ladders and breathing apparatus) which can be quite physically demanding, you would probably struggle. Then lunch 12.30 till 13.30, then it's out all afternoon talking to schools, fitting smoke detectors and checking fire hydrants to keep idiots like you safe. Oh yes they also answer calls to incidents at a moments notice and get there within five minutes, maybe you might need there skills one day (I hope so). Then you'll be glad they don't sit on their backsides all day doing naff all.

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ray_carlings_moustache says...
7:13am Fri 28 Sep 12

2 for 5p wrote:
£28,199 on completion of training plus overtime money and that shower need loans.
What they need is money counseling
Not to mention the large number who have a second job and the extra income that generates.

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