Junior Doctors still can't do basic maths

 Back in Feb 24 I wrote this post stating that Junior Doctors can't do maths.

Well Labour caved in and gave them a whopping 29% pay increase and here they are back on strike.

Given today's inflation data was far more positive than expected why are they demanding a further 26% pay increase?

Since Feb 24 the Junior Doctors have rebranded themselves as Resident Doctors.  I refuse to call them that until they are capable of doing basic maths.

Their placards claim they are paid  £18.62 per hour. 

So back in 2024 the salaries were

Foundation Doctor Year 1 (FY1) has a salary of £32,398

Foundation Doctor Year 2 (FY2) has a salary of £37,303  

So currently the  rates are

FY1 = £38,831 

FY2 = £42,008

These are the MINIMUM.  With 8 hours contractual overtime payments per week, shift allowance, weekend working etc £60,000 is not unrealistic.  Not bad for someone straight out of university.

So let's stick with the minimum numbers 

40 hours per week = 2080 hours per year

less 30 days + 8 days holiday per year = 304 hours

Total hours worked = 1,776 per year

So FY1 @ £38,831 = £21.86 per hour

FY2 @ £42,008 = £23.65 per hour

Hang on where is the £18.62 per hour number from?

Well that's taken from 40 hours x 52 weeks = £38,8312 / 2080 hours per year = £18.67

So the Junior Doctors are counting the time they are on holiday lazing by the pool as working hours.  Even then they still can't do basic maths as the number is £18.67 not £18.62....

The other problem is their overall package is VERY GENEROUS. 

Back in 31st March 2024. the EMPLOYER pension contribution was  20.6% of salary. That has now increased to 23.78% of salary.  So an FY1 is getting a further £9,234 per year and an FY2 is getting a further £9,989 per year.

So the overall base package is 

FY1 =£38,831 + £9234 = £48,065

FY2 = £42,008 + £9989 = £51,997

So my daughter has a Masters degree and 2 years experience and she is moving to a job where the overall package is worth £50,000.  I would say that Junior Doctor's packages are very comparable to the real world given they had to do an extra year at university compared to her.

My solution to this would be to scrap their final salary pension at a certain date and move to a defined contribution model - like the rest of us mere mortals in the private sector (whatever final salary benefit had been acrued would still be honoured) .  If they want to take some of the employer pension contribution as salary then they can (ie reduce the contribution).  This will fix the Ponzi scheme liability of public sector pensions - it will take 40 years to be properly fixed but it would be a step in the right direction. It would also be very clear to the Junior Doctors what their package is and stop these stupid claims that they are paid £18.62 per hour.  I suspect the problem will be that the government will actually need to pay these employer contributions in the actual tax year - I suspect right now the government doesnt worry about it until the pension liability is crystallised.  All the more reason that governments need to start following the accounting standards they they expect private businesses to follow.....