tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post4174535576229770904..comments2024-03-04T17:54:32.559+00:00Comments on Iain Dale's Diary: Pulling a Sickie on HolidayIain Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03270146219458384372noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-49537551278217036172009-09-17T05:34:11.191+01:002009-09-17T05:34:11.191+01:00What do you expect from a country where an employe...<b>What do you expect from a country where an employee can self-certify themselves as sick for up to 7 days. UNBELIEVABLE!</b><br /><br />Well, I think right now I can do that (in the US) but it's a special chicken little 'flu rule 'cause nobody wants infectious but poor employees showing up to work and passing their germs around.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-10075669513978160322009-09-16T23:11:04.325+01:002009-09-16T23:11:04.325+01:00Darren; "simple really"
As in "the...Darren; "simple really"<br /><br />As in "the vessel with the pestle has the pellet with the poison, the flagon with the dragon hold the brew that is true" kind of simple.<br /><br />The court jester analogy being entirely relevant for anything emenating out of the EUSSR.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-69873735152654137732009-09-16T22:13:17.798+01:002009-09-16T22:13:17.798+01:00Neil A,
My brother in law is a police officer, s...Neil A, <br /><br />My brother in law is a police officer, so I know all about what some police officers get up to too. I am, however, too realistic and respectful of our police to make the stupid mistake of viewing all police officers as bad apples: which is error you make in respect of small business people.Auntie Flo'noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-37069962415223638172009-09-16T22:08:23.028+01:002009-09-16T22:08:23.028+01:00"I do get a little tired of the self-employed..."I do get a little tired of the self-employed and small businessmen complaining about their lot...I know how small businessmen abuse the tax system (paying themselves £450 a month and taking the rest of their money as "director's loan" payments, putting personal expenditure on company credit cards etc - yeah, we know what you're up to" (Neil A)<br /><br />I'm afraid you don't, Neil. Like many other small business people, I don't do he above. <br /><br />I have an essential, ancient, company Mondeo and pay tax through the nose for this.<br /><br />My director's loan account owes me money for the loan I've given my company to help it survive the recession. This loan, albeit a smaller one, is fairly standard even outside recessions.<br /><br />My business partner and I have also taken pay cuts to help our company through the recession, we have not asked our staff to take reduced pay.<br /><br />I do not have credit cards, personal or company and claim only those expenses I have incurred.<br /><br />Those small companies that you criticise are 99.9% of UK's businesses. Without us, UK would be up the creek without a paddle and there would be no money to finance the well deserved pay of police officers like yourself.Auntie Flo'noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-75173943111091898702009-09-16T21:50:17.363+01:002009-09-16T21:50:17.363+01:00"The expensive and correct direction - but no..."The expensive and correct direction - but not the popular one - would be to offer regular sick pay and protections to contract and temporary workers." (Chris)<br /><br />Chris, that's an ill founded criticsm in respect of the majority of the recruitment industry. My temporary workers have:<br /><br />Good salaries<br />full genral training<br />full industry specific training<br />statutory sick leave & pay<br />statutory holiday leave & pay<br />full maternity and paternity rights<br />full platform of workers' rights<br />non discriminatory treatment<br />full written terms & conditions<br />elected worker's representatives<br />flexible working <br />good H&S and working conditions<br />statutory grievance procedures<br />statutory disciplinary procedures<br />respectful treatment<br />etc<br /><br />My agency is a member of the DTI amd TUC approved Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC), which means we strictly adhere to their stringent, c 40 clause code of practice covering all aspects of workers' rights & employers' responsibilities. The REC operates a very strict disclinary procedure in respect of members, we can be expelled for non-compliance. <br /><br />Over half of the recruitment industry belongs to the REC and, in my view, REC members are as good, if not better, employers as are found anywhere. <br /><br />We are also one of the most regulated industries with a dedicated Act just for us, which regulates everthing we do in minute detail. Few other industries can hold a candle to us for professionlism. There are bad apples in the industry, but this is largely due to the government's failure to enforce the law.<br /><br />Lastly, the recruitment industry is the cornerstone of the flexiblity that provides temporary work and training for a couple of million people a year, which provides a substantial number of permanent jobs and which, recession aside, is the lynch pin of the success of UK's flexible economy.Auntie Flo'noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-75501021297916622102009-09-16T11:09:45.432+01:002009-09-16T11:09:45.432+01:00dy get this, which is odd, I'm used to using m...dy get this, which is odd, I'm used to using my holidays to hide whenever I'm sickDominicJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-58848401466981424822009-09-16T10:53:33.013+01:002009-09-16T10:53:33.013+01:00I think it's fair enough. We live in a society...I think it's fair enough. We live in a society where we must toil away all day for no particular reason other than to eat and sleep and we are afforded 'annual leave' to allow us to maintain sanity and relax for a few measly days a year. If we don't get to use those days for the purpose for which they were intended then we should be given days in their place.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-72321635278486653882009-09-16T05:36:46.531+01:002009-09-16T05:36:46.531+01:00We shouldn't be copying the Italians. It's...We shouldn't be copying the Italians. It's about time we started supporting a traditionally British attitude to this sort of thing that served us so well in the past.Andy JShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15819413906544791899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-42924598146660947302009-09-15T23:46:28.835+01:002009-09-15T23:46:28.835+01:00"Being self employed my life is simple, no wo..."Being self employed my life is simple, no work no money. Should be like that across the board. It would cure the entitlement and benefits culture problem overnight. Nuf said."<br /><br />I am sick and tired of the self-employed banging on about how hard it is only earning when you are working. I am in the forces and we get a salary and no such thing as overtime or sick leave when we are away (I know you don't either before you bleat on about that). But nobody joins up to get rich, I made the decision to do what I do knowing what I would get paid and how. <br /><br />I can bet that when things are going well you are laughing your socks off but as soon as there is a downturn it's all woe is me etc. You chose to do what you do and I chose to do what I do so stop with the tears. Should quangos be cut and wasted money be saved, yes; should public service workers lose their rights that get them to provide a SERVICE at a set rate and with some quite strict employment regulations, no.Grump to Inspirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15265755941358662359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-77517433828300568962009-09-15T23:20:31.987+01:002009-09-15T23:20:31.987+01:00What this case is actually about is the situation ...What this case is actually about is the situation where the employee is on sick leave first and the period of sick leave runs over into a period that has been pre-arranged as holiday. The ECJ has said (in relation to the 4 weeks' paid leave required by the Working Time Directive)that the employee must be given the holiday at a later date. This also prevents the employer from designating as period as holiday when the employee has just begun what will be an extensive period of sick leave. <br /><br />Importantly the case only applies where the employee is on sick leave when the holiday begins. If the employee starts the annual leave and then falls ill, the case won't apply because the employee is not on sick leave - he is on holiday but not feeling well, and that is different. <br /><br />Simple really.Darren Newmanhttp://www.incotraining.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-3433877185388813562009-09-15T22:09:56.672+01:002009-09-15T22:09:56.672+01:00I knew a metallurgist who worked for a private fir...I knew a metallurgist who worked for a private firm 30 years ago who used to do this.Martin Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04148241391183658112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-61584904393066724352009-09-15T21:31:56.857+01:002009-09-15T21:31:56.857+01:00Like anonymous at 5.36pm, it is common in the poli...Like anonymous at 5.36pm, it is common in the police for us to take annual leave rather than going sick if it's a minor, short-term illness. This is because of "attendance management" policies that mean we cannot apply for posts, promotion or certain kinds of training if we have "too many" days off sick. I would say over the last ten years I have spent more days sick on annual leave than I have sick on sick leave.<br /><br />I do agree that there are massive abuses of the sickness system in public services. I do get a little tired of the self-employed and small businessmen complaining about their lot, though. I will never be able to afford more than a small house and a second hand Vauxhall. I am secure, yes, but I will never be rich. I know how small businessmen abuse the tax system (paying themselves £450 a month and taking the rest of their money as "director's loan" payments, putting personal expenditure on company credit cards etc - yeah, we know what you're up to).<br /><br />Do you a trade, we'll take an axe to public sector pensions and perks and at the same time we'll do away with your tax advantages, OK?Neil Anoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-16191429496407092122009-09-15T19:25:01.424+01:002009-09-15T19:25:01.424+01:00Last time I worked in the Public Sector(Local Auth...Last time I worked in the Public Sector(Local Authority),there were employees who were on long-term sick leave(usually for 'stress')who carried forward their holiday entitlement to the following year on the grounds that they couldn't take all their holiday leave as they were off sick.The number of staff who returned to work on the very last shift before they were due to have their pay halved(this happens after 6 months of sick leave)was truly remarkable.We could predict in advance which day they would be returning.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-43698363756338156242009-09-15T18:44:42.153+01:002009-09-15T18:44:42.153+01:00This is standard practice in the NHS. If you'r...This is standard practice in the NHS. If you're meant to be on annual leave but are instead sick then you reclaim the annual leave, otherwise you would be being paid twice - sick pay (SSP and employers's) and salary. That would be fraud wouldn't it.<br /><br />I can't believe this deosn't appy universally.Chris Anoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-89607643706588987352009-09-15T17:52:26.963+01:002009-09-15T17:52:26.963+01:00Its not worth running a business in this countryIts not worth running a business in this countryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-56782537110837429322009-09-15T17:43:59.887+01:002009-09-15T17:43:59.887+01:00I've worked for small businesses and I've ...I've worked for small businesses and I've been self-employed. Now I work for a big organisation which does pay staff who are sick on holiday. It is not widely advertised and very few use it. <br /><br />Of course being self-employed does have advantages like making it easier to avoid tax.<br /><br />A third of my salary goes on tax and national insurance. My friends who are lucky enough to work as self-employed freelancers in the same industry pay nowhere near that amount in tax.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-24803716730187930642009-09-15T17:36:40.505+01:002009-09-15T17:36:40.505+01:00Some of us have to do it the other way round, fall...Some of us have to do it the other way round, fall ill for a couple of days and use a couple of holiday days to cover it else we can't afford the mortgage that month! SSP doesn't pay anything the first 3 days and then it's only a token amount!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-85891235043070514042009-09-15T16:47:33.222+01:002009-09-15T16:47:33.222+01:00Claiming back sick days whilst on holiday has been...Claiming back sick days whilst on holiday has been part of NHS terms and conditions since the 1960'sAlwyn ap Huwhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06194724336424525283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-74463326773905236102009-09-15T16:29:35.568+01:002009-09-15T16:29:35.568+01:00What about weekends? If we're ill on the weeke...What about weekends? If we're ill on the weekend can we ask for a couple of days off during the week?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-23798733430495138602009-09-15T16:13:19.465+01:002009-09-15T16:13:19.465+01:00@ Cynic
In a rational world that muppet should of...@ Cynic<br /><br />In a rational world that muppet should of been out on his ear a long time ago, with due notification to any subsequent employers had he the nerve to ask for a reference.Jabba the Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08378736389976858775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-73423754505832070132009-09-15T16:00:24.999+01:002009-09-15T16:00:24.999+01:00Iain are you not aware of the duvet days concept? ...Iain are you not aware of the duvet days concept? Many public sector employers add a % on to leave entitlements now so that the odd sickie is hidden as a duvet leave day.<br /><br />Much better than managing absence and improves the absence stats.Procrustesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-42548463707500255662009-09-15T15:56:53.156+01:002009-09-15T15:56:53.156+01:00I work for a Whitehall dept, and I certainly could...I work for a Whitehall dept, and I certainly couldn't claim that. I think some of the caricature of the public sector is a little overdone here...Tom Xnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-46860654872224718802009-09-15T15:54:57.411+01:002009-09-15T15:54:57.411+01:00It's from Brussels so yes it is true and no we...It's from Brussels so yes it is true and no we have absolutely no control over it.<br /><br />Today I have already had a member of staff on to me. We cosnulted him on making a very minor change in his work as we modernised the equipment in the room where he worked. He immediately demanded more money for this and when we gently refused he immediately went sick with 'management induced stress'. <br /><br />There he has remained for 3 months now, but he did find time in his hectic daily schedule to let us know this week that following the recent European Court judgement his leave entitlement is accumulating while he is away and that when the GP eventually signs him back off the sick, he will expect to be able to take it all and immediately to help him 'recuperate from the stress of having been off sick.' <br /><br />I wish I was joking or exaggerating but I am not. We ahve some brilliant staff who are in work day in and day out and do an excellent job and a few liars and layabouts like this one who just exploit the system.Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04852867933348403214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-15082649010178526852009-09-15T15:46:01.300+01:002009-09-15T15:46:01.300+01:00This doesn't go nearly far enough - what about...This doesn't go nearly far enough - what about if it rains during your holiday? Surely your employer should take full responsibility.Twighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16698620636313191152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-50653588630602226632009-09-15T15:24:35.800+01:002009-09-15T15:24:35.800+01:00Being self employed my life is simple, no work no ...Being self employed my life is simple, no work no money. Should be like that across the board. It would cure the entitlement and benefits culture problem overnight. Nuf said.Jabba the Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08378736389976858775noreply@blogger.com