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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2020 18:35:08 GMT 1
I fall into non of those categories currently back three days a week with a furlough on the other two. I have been asked to do 5 days work in those 3 days, not finishing until 8 at night but a jobs a job at the moment!
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Post by blazey on Jul 28, 2020 18:46:09 GMT 1
I'm half tempted to have a go at setting one of these up. Bit of a refurb, a fridge, a kettle and a microwave and high speed broadband and you're away. Spoken like the master himself
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Post by Stowmarket Shrew on Jul 28, 2020 21:42:51 GMT 1
Last day in the office was 16th March. Was told two weeks ago that this will be the ' new normal'. Work in local government (West Suffolk). Covid has cost us £10.3 million, equivalent to 18% of our budget. This from a combination of increased cost (£2.5m spent on covid response as we were responsible for handing out businesses grants with nowhere close to that back from government), and reduced income (car parking brought in £1.3m a month and that dropped off during lockdown). We've used reserves to balance our budget this year but goodness knows what will happen after that, indications are letting out the office to raise income and just having a few touch down desks and meeting rooms for those occasions when MS teams doesn't cut it. I work as a planner so we're a statutory service which gives me some comfort but redundancies seem inevitable. We've already had endless dicking about with the planning system in the past few weeks as deregulation runs rife in an attempt to, in the words of Boris, build, build, build.
Anyway, I've enjoyed lockdown. 15 miles to work so less than 30 mins, but I've used that extra hour to run. As of this morning I'm at 141 consecutive days of running at least 5k. Lost half a stone, got my 5k pb down to 18 mins, half marathon to 1:26 so plenty that's been positive. Some colleagues have struggled with the isolation, which as a manager has challenged me somewhat but overall it's been good.
And I guess I should be grateful I have a year's security, but challenging times ahead that's for sure.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2020 21:55:56 GMT 1
However the opportunity to talk to colleagues was invaluable and often vital work resulted from informal chats, I hated meetings and avoided them whenever possible. I was responsible for purchasing packaging materials and worked closely with R&D, marketing/sales and production engineering. We all got along well so we could bounce ideas off each other and dismiss those that wouldn’t work without going through a formal, time wasting project analysis. Also, the people I worked with were good fun and I would have missed the social aspect of having them around. This. Many important things sorted out in 'corridor meetings'
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Post by staffordshrew on Jul 28, 2020 23:08:22 GMT 1
no option on there for me What option would you like? Dossing, Physically incapacitated or mentally incapacitated, just asking.
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Post by staffordshrew on Jul 28, 2020 23:10:43 GMT 1
I fall into non of those categories currently back three days a week with a furlough on the other two. I have been asked to do 5 days work in those 3 days, not finishing until 8 at night but a jobs a job at the moment! That a non-government paid furlough? I thought if the government was paying furlough meant no working?
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Post by staffordshrew on Jul 28, 2020 23:30:40 GMT 1
The company recently did a survey and a number of people said they would prefer a mix, a few days at home, a few days in the office etc. And that’s where I think we will be heading. I think that's probably the ideal position for most employees that can work from home. Having a home-based office, my ideal is probably to work there with two or three trips out to meet clients etc each week. I used to be able to work from home, the company wanted to encourage it and show it could be done, but the odd day in office could be done by "hot desking" or booking a meeting room. That meant we could share office space, but at the moment there would be cleansing issues with that. A few days a week home and a few days in the office might suit employees, but employers will be wanting to close down office space and save having to heat the place up and maintain it for just a couple of days use a week.
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Post by theshrews81 on Jul 29, 2020 2:37:29 GMT 1
Last day in the office was 16th March. Was told two weeks ago that this will be the ' new normal'. Work in local government (West Suffolk). Covid has cost us £10.3 million, equivalent to 18% of our budget. This from a combination of increased cost (£2.5m spent on covid response as we were responsible for handing out businesses grants with nowhere close to that back from government), and reduced income (car parking brought in £1.3m a month and that dropped off during lockdown). We've used reserves to balance our budget this year but goodness knows what will happen after that, indications are letting out the office to raise income and just having a few touch down desks and meeting rooms for those occasions when MS teams doesn't cut it. I work as a planner so we're a statutory service which gives me some comfort but redundancies seem inevitable. We've already had endless dicking about with the planning system in the past few weeks as deregulation runs rife in an attempt to, in the words of Boris, build, build, build. Anyway, I've enjoyed lockdown. 15 miles to work so less than 30 mins, but I've used that extra hour to run. As of this morning I'm at 141 consecutive days of running at least 5k. Lost half a stone, got my 5k pb down to 18 mins, half marathon to 1:26 so plenty that's been positive. Some colleagues have struggled with the isolation, which as a manager has challenged me somewhat but overall it's been good. And I guess I should be grateful I have a year's security, but challenging times ahead that's for sure. I work for the county council, our building holds 1600, with Social Distancing 420 and we are a dept that will be last on the list to have space created. So work from home it is. Luckily for the last 8 years, we have only had Monday as a compulsory office day the rest of the time was optional and I often didn't take it up as I could work remotely (40 min drive in, 15 min walk from parking added a lot to the day). Like you I use the added time to my day to run, currently day 941 of at least 5k a day and loving it. Exercise during these times has been invaluable
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Post by Stowmarket Shrew on Jul 29, 2020 9:04:55 GMT 1
Last day in the office was 16th March. Was told two weeks ago that this will be the ' new normal'. Work in local government (West Suffolk). Covid has cost us £10.3 million, equivalent to 18% of our budget. This from a combination of increased cost (£2.5m spent on covid response as we were responsible for handing out businesses grants with nowhere close to that back from government), and reduced income (car parking brought in £1.3m a month and that dropped off during lockdown). We've used reserves to balance our budget this year but goodness knows what will happen after that, indications are letting out the office to raise income and just having a few touch down desks and meeting rooms for those occasions when MS teams doesn't cut it. I work as a planner so we're a statutory service which gives me some comfort but redundancies seem inevitable. We've already had endless dicking about with the planning system in the past few weeks as deregulation runs rife in an attempt to, in the words of Boris, build, build, build. Anyway, I've enjoyed lockdown. 15 miles to work so less than 30 mins, but I've used that extra hour to run. As of this morning I'm at 141 consecutive days of running at least 5k. Lost half a stone, got my 5k pb down to 18 mins, half marathon to 1:26 so plenty that's been positive. Some colleagues have struggled with the isolation, which as a manager has challenged me somewhat but overall it's been good. And I guess I should be grateful I have a year's security, but challenging times ahead that's for sure. I work for the county council, our building holds 1600, with Social Distancing 420 and we are a dept that will be last on the list to have space created. So work from home it is. Luckily for the last 8 years, we have only had Monday as a compulsory office day the rest of the time was optional and I often didn't take it up as I could work remotely (40 min drive in, 15 min walk from parking added a lot to the day). Like you I use the added time to my day to run, currently day 941 of at least 5k a day and loving it. Exercise during these times has been invaluable That's an awesome 'streak', well done. I've run for almost a decade, but like you, found it invaluable for my physical and mental wellbeing during lock down. I'm in a routine now, don't ever expect I'll stop. Even managed the odd 05:30 run to keep things going when I've otherwise been busy. Just need to get back to racing now - had so many cancelled this year and tend to race every 2-3 weeks as there are loads of local races over here in Suffolk and nearby.
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Post by Pilch on Jul 29, 2020 10:57:03 GMT 1
no option on there for me What option would you like? Dossing, Physically incapacitated or mentally incapacitated, just asking. on the sick getting zero sick pay and cant claim a penny, waiting for the NHS to reschedule a simple urgent appointment that was arranged back in February
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2020 11:01:39 GMT 1
Self employed at the moment but will be unemployed in the next few months I would think. My wife works for me so that'll be both of us out of work. I catch the train in every moring from Telford Central and usually at half 8 there's 200 cars in the car park. In the 6 weeks i've been back the most i've seen is 12. Practically nobody is travelling on to Brum and the rail operators cannot keep running the services they do and make money. As has already been mentioned above that will have a knock on effect for those who do still need to travel in to work as services will have surely be cut and prices will have to go up. Sorry to hear things are difficult at the moment business wise, hope it picks up. Is online something you could look at to expand your customer base? Would have thought it might work well for cards. Interesting about Birmingham. That's my commute (Salop to Brum). Done that an average 2 - 3 times a week for 7 years, not been near the place since February. My dad sent me a picture of Grand Central on a weekday lunchtime a couple of week's back deserted. With John Lewis already announcing they're closing that store, future not looking bright for Birmingham city centre to be honest. I normally walk through Dale End twice a day to and from the office. Can only see the social problems from there spreading if the rest of the city centre area starts to deteriorate. We opened an ebay shop back in February during the flooding. At the time we started it seemed like a bad idea, lots of time spent getting listings ready and very few sales. During lockdown things went crazy and I was working from 9am until 2am pretty much every day through May. It's a lot of work for what is really not a lot of finanial reward but when the other option is to earn nothing then it's been invaluable.
Since retail has reopened the online sales have held up to an extent but it's much quieter but then that's to be expected. It may keep the wife working part time but i'll need to think of something else I can do. Which after 10 years of retail work is probably not a lot!
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Post by staffordshrew on Jul 29, 2020 11:10:17 GMT 1
What option would you like? Dossing, Physically incapacitated or mentally incapacitated, just asking. on the sick getting zero sick pay and cant claim a penny, waiting for the NHS to reschedule a simple urgent appointment that was arranged back in February Have things changed so much? Don't know if it would suit you, but surely when sick pay runs out an enhanced medical retirement offer could be forthcoming? Otherwise, with the amount you are losing on income, if the simple appointment could get you back earning money and you have savings then it might be wirth considering paying fot it? We would have sent a bucket round at the match, but, you know, what with no crowd and stuff...
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Post by Pilch on Jul 29, 2020 11:34:39 GMT 1
on the sick getting zero sick pay and cant claim a penny, waiting for the NHS to reschedule a simple urgent appointment that was arranged back in February Have things changed so much? Don't know if it would suit you, but surely when sick pay runs out an enhanced medical retirement offer could be forthcoming? Otherwise, with the amount you are losing on income, if the simple appointment could get you back earning money and you have savings then it might be wirth considering paying fot it? We would have sent a bucket round at the match, but, you know, what with no crowd and stuff... I could apply for medical retirement and was indeed considering this pre lockdown but with the job market as it is now I dont fancy my chances in finding a new job anytime soon, and when a simple day case procedure that has a 75% success rate could mean I return back to work as normal its all very frustrating, I've tried to return to work on restricted duties but wasn't allowed. as far as funding my own treatment, I feel like I've already done that, and it would probably clean me out anyway
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Post by staffordshrew on Jul 29, 2020 11:50:57 GMT 1
Have things changed so much? Don't know if it would suit you, but surely when sick pay runs out an enhanced medical retirement offer could be forthcoming? Otherwise, with the amount you are losing on income, if the simple appointment could get you back earning money and you have savings then it might be wirth considering paying fot it? We would have sent a bucket round at the match, but, you know, what with no crowd and stuff... I could apply for medical retirement and was indeed considering this pre lockdown but with the job market as it is now I dont fancy my chances in finding a new job anytime soon, and when a simple day case procedure that has a 75% success rate could mean I return back to work as normal its all very frustrating, I've tried to return to work on restricted duties but wasn't allowed. as far as funding my own treatment, I feel like I've already done that, and it would probably clean me out anyway It's about time decent working people got a fair deal in this country. Getting people like you back into the labour market=another taxpayer.
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Post by Pilch on Jul 29, 2020 12:07:51 GMT 1
I could apply for medical retirement and was indeed considering this pre lockdown but with the job market as it is now I dont fancy my chances in finding a new job anytime soon, and when a simple day case procedure that has a 75% success rate could mean I return back to work as normal its all very frustrating, I've tried to return to work on restricted duties but wasn't allowed. as far as funding my own treatment, I feel like I've already done that, and it would probably clean me out anyway It's about time decent working people got a fair deal in this country. Getting people like you back into the labour market=another taxpayer. what I dont get is what is going on in hospitals ?, I picture several departments totally empty apart from doctors and consultants watching tv
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2020 13:15:35 GMT 1
I fall into non of those categories currently back three days a week with a furlough on the other two. I have been asked to do 5 days work in those 3 days, not finishing until 8 at night but a jobs a job at the moment! That a non-government paid furlough? I thought if the government was paying furlough meant no working? I am part furlough (government) 2 days a week, get 80% of my pay for those, 3 days full pay paid by my employer, the whole company staff are the same just working 3 days. We are all on different days so we can cover Monday to Friday in different area's. At the moment its 1 day working from home the other 2 is in customer premises, but yeah they are taking the p**s as i am and doing the same stuff just crammed into 3 days, but there is nowhere to go at the moment so head down and get on with it! It is nice to have those extra 2 days off as a long weekend.
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Post by davycrockett on Jul 29, 2020 13:46:42 GMT 1
Work for BG from home but visiting customers houses... was furloughed for 12 weeks but now back BAU except all PPE’d up with social distancing and many pre checks......
British Gas have followed British Airways and others and taken advantage of the pandemic to announce 5000 redundancies but not before renegotiating everyone’s (over 20,000) terms and conditions. As you can imagine the negotiations aren’t going well with many different unions and employee representatives being frustrated by a SLT that Only has one pre planned agenda. The SLT have already started the clock on terminating everyone’s contract en mass and offering a new contract (without negotiation) in case agreement can’t be reached which it won’t be....Whilst furloughed over 4000 BG engineers voluntarily striped out the company vehicles and converted them for use by the Throstle Trust and volunteered to distribute to and from food banks whilst others continued to work in customers homes even those with the virus if their boiler broke down or needed replacing. To come back to be told we’re changing everyone’s T&Cs is just a step too far and an autumn / winter if discontent with widespread industrial action is sure to follow...
Im due to retire (now) but hanging around to see what’s offered so may actually benefit me but others will really suffer.
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Post by venceremos on Jul 29, 2020 14:39:20 GMT 1
Work for BG from home but visiting customers houses... was furloughed for 12 weeks but now back BAU except all PPE’d up with social distancing and many pre checks...... British Gas have followed British Airways and others and taken advantage of the pandemic to announce 5000 redundancies but not before renegotiating everyone’s (over 20,000) terms and conditions. As you can imagine the negotiations aren’t going well with many different unions and employee representatives being frustrated by a SLT that Only has one pre planned agenda. The SLT have already started the clock on terminating everyone’s contract en mass and offering a new contract (without negotiation) in case agreement can’t be reached which it won’t be....Whilst furloughed over 4000 BG engineers voluntarily striped out the company vehicles and converted them for use by the Throstle Trust and volunteered to distribute to and from food banks whilst others continued to work in customers homes even those with the virus if their boiler broke down or needed replacing. To come back to be told we’re changing everyone’s T&Cs is just a step too far and an autumn / winter if discontent with widespread industrial action is sure to follow... Im due to retire (now) but hanging around to see what’s offered so may actually benefit me but others will really suffer. My brother's partner has been an air steward with BA for many years and she's facing the same enforced new Ts & Cs. It's dreadful how an employee's past service can just be disregarded in that way. I appreciate the financial difficulties that any company can have (although I raised an eyebrow when BA said it was selling its art collection to demonstrate that it was doing all it could to raise funds) but the levels of job insecurity (or flexibility as the free market cheerleaders like to call it) we now tolerate do not make for a contented, cohesive society.
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Post by northwestman on Jul 29, 2020 15:22:53 GMT 1
Not run one metre. Total couch potato. In the vulnerable group for sure.
I'm retired, which is just as well, as I envisage the role of teachers or lecturers in the future as being horrendous.
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Post by theshrews81 on Jul 29, 2020 21:21:55 GMT 1
I work for the county council, our building holds 1600, with Social Distancing 420 and we are a dept that will be last on the list to have space created. So work from home it is. Luckily for the last 8 years, we have only had Monday as a compulsory office day the rest of the time was optional and I often didn't take it up as I could work remotely (40 min drive in, 15 min walk from parking added a lot to the day). Like you I use the added time to my day to run, currently day 941 of at least 5k a day and loving it. Exercise during these times has been invaluable That's an awesome 'streak', well done. I've run for almost a decade, but like you, found it invaluable for my physical and mental wellbeing during lock down. I'm in a routine now, don't ever expect I'll stop. Even managed the odd 05:30 run to keep things going when I've otherwise been busy. Just need to get back to racing now - had so many cancelled this year and tend to race every 2-3 weeks as there are loads of local races over here in Suffolk and nearby. Lol, I ran 5k around Dubai airport to keep my streak going. I made sure I told security so they didn't arrest me. I had London and Manchester Marathon booked, still waiting on London but can't see it in October. I have entered Boston (UK) in Sept as they have limited number and confident it will go ahead. Hopefully means we will get lots of local club races in Oct-Nov as I miss it
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Post by Stowmarket Shrew on Jul 29, 2020 21:30:31 GMT 1
That's an awesome 'streak', well done. I've run for almost a decade, but like you, found it invaluable for my physical and mental wellbeing during lock down. I'm in a routine now, don't ever expect I'll stop. Even managed the odd 05:30 run to keep things going when I've otherwise been busy. Just need to get back to racing now - had so many cancelled this year and tend to race every 2-3 weeks as there are loads of local races over here in Suffolk and nearby. Lol, I ran 5k around Dubai airport to keep my streak going. I made sure I told security so they didn't arrest me. I had London and Manchester Marathon booked, still waiting on London but can't see it in October. I have entered Boston (UK) in Sept as they have limited number and confident it will go ahead. Hopefully means we will get lots of local club races in Oct-Nov as I miss it Yeah, I was in Boston as well before it got cancelled. Elected to get my money back as never really got on too well with marathon distance, tend to feel a bit overwhelmed by the discipline needed to train. Shame really as I'm as fit as I've ever been - got back under 40 mins for 10 and over a minute off my 5k PB and 90 seconds of my half marathon PB during lockdown, just from running every day! Cant see any big races going ahead this year sadly, but hopefully a few smaller ones. Norwich half is my next, rescheduled from April to October, but with a field of 4000 even that may be too big.
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Post by The Shropshire Tenor on Jul 29, 2020 22:43:39 GMT 1
You guys have got a way to go to match Ron Hill’s 52 year streak!
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Post by staffordshrew on Jul 29, 2020 22:44:24 GMT 1
It's about time decent working people got a fair deal in this country. Getting people like you back into the labour market=another taxpayer. what I dont get is what is going on in hospitals ?, I picture several departments totally empty apart from doctors and consultants watching tv Bet you wish you had joined one of those hospital schemes through work now?
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Post by staffordshrew on Jul 29, 2020 22:46:25 GMT 1
You guys have got a way to go to match Ron Hill’s 52 year streak! Doesn't bear thinking about, after 52 years he should put his wrinkly body away and stop streaking.
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Post by Pilch on Jul 29, 2020 23:44:39 GMT 1
what I dont get is what is going on in hospitals ?, I picture several departments totally empty apart from doctors and consultants watching tv Bet you wish you had joined one of those hospital schemes through work now? I have a very basic one for overnight stays and 2 in calls a year but having been in 'health shield' in a previous job I worked out I'd paid in over 10k and only ever needed dental and eye tests and only got back a fraction of what I paid in. I put a complaint into the NHS a couple of weeks back, I had no problem accepting I got cancelled back in March but it now seems a joke and I'd like an explanation why
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Post by neilsalop on Jul 30, 2020 6:30:57 GMT 1
I've been back at work for 3 weeks now after being on furlough for 8 out the previous 11 weeks.
About half of the production staff are still off now and we're down to one shift. Instead of 11 or 12 in the sales and customer services office, there are now about 5, the rest are furloughed. All the sales staff that are in are multi-lingual, so most countries in Europe are still covered.
All of production is being forced to take weeks holiday next month, but being in the warehouse I'm unaffected. They cocked up a bit by letting me cancel my week off in May when I was on furlough, which means that I still have 17 days holiday left.
I'm ashamed to say that I didn't use the time off to improve my fitness levels like of you on here. I've been smoking for over 40 years, so running is not really my bag, but I did go on 5 mile walks most days and pushed myself to do it at around 4 mph. If I hadn't done that I would have turned into a right bloody porker, but as it is I'm just the wrong side of cuddly.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2020 19:04:26 GMT 1
That a non-government paid furlough? I thought if the government was paying furlough meant no working? I am part furlough (government) 2 days a week, get 80% of my pay for those, 3 days full pay paid by my employer, the whole company staff are the same just working 3 days. We are all on different days so we can cover Monday to Friday in different area's. At the moment its 1 day working from home the other 2 is in customer premises, but yeah they are taking the p**s as i am and doing the same stuff just crammed into 3 days, but there is nowhere to go at the moment so head down and get on with it! It is nice to have those extra 2 days off as a long weekend. Saying that yesterday, I have now been furloughed on all days bar Mondays, the work has dried up. Finger crossed for the students A level results and deciding to go to Uni! Otherwise i can see be on the scrap heap!
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Post by Red Rose In Exile on Jul 30, 2020 19:32:06 GMT 1
I am part furlough (government) 2 days a week, get 80% of my pay for those, 3 days full pay paid by my employer, the whole company staff are the same just working 3 days. We are all on different days so we can cover Monday to Friday in different area's. At the moment its 1 day working from home the other 2 is in customer premises, but yeah they are taking the p**s as i am and doing the same stuff just crammed into 3 days, but there is nowhere to go at the moment so head down and get on with it! It is nice to have those extra 2 days off as a long weekend. Saying that yesterday, I have now been furloughed on all days bar Mondays, the work has dried up. Finger crossed for the students A level results and deciding to go to Uni! Otherwise i can see be on the scr@p heap! Nobody should think that tye are on the scrap heap - it is merely a change of circumstance. I am fortunate enough to be in a role I love, however in the past I had 6 months unemployment - so I do speak with experience. Should you find yourself out of work - sharpen your skills both professionally and personally and regard it as a challenge. I keep my fingers crossed for everybody to come out of this 5h1tstorm mentally and physically well.
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Post by welshshrew on Jul 31, 2020 0:00:29 GMT 1
Work for a council in the North West.
Blessed to still have a job for the foreseeable.
Worked probably 60+ hours a week March to June with barely any days off. Only 4 or which were in England. On one hand absolutely brutal, but on the other I still had more time with my kids than any time since before they started school.
One of my responsibilities before CoVid was the move of 1250 people into a 800 desk new build. We started our move one day before lockdown. Our plans are changing.
I doubt we will learn too much from this crisis. The world of workplaces and town centres will undergo some change though I'm sure.
My personal politics has undergone a radical review during the period.
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