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One whole month since I was made redundant and there's still no confirmation that I'm going to get my redundancy pay anytime soon.

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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5 minutes ago, ckn said:

One whole month since I was made redundant and there's still no confirmation that I'm going to get my redundancy pay anytime soon.

there's just no need for it. IT was their decision to make you redundant. They have a duty of care towards you.

I wasn't made redundant, but retired early on health grounds. My pay out and my pensions from the NHS and from teaching were efficiently and sensitively dealt with.

There's just no need for you to have that kind of experience. Shame on them

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17 hours ago, Johnoco said:

Barnoldswick has it's own accent....think they call it Barlick. A mate of mine went out with a really stunning girl from there but split up as he just couldn't bear her accent. Weird sort of mix between Yorks & Lancs.

The irony of anyone from Bradford disliking someone else's accent.

 

Learn to listen without distortion and learn to look without imagination.

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21 minutes ago, Tongs ya bas said:

there's just no need for it. IT was their decision to make you redundant. They have a duty of care towards you.

I wasn't made redundant, but retired early on health grounds. My pay out and my pensions from the NHS and from teaching were efficiently and sensitively dealt with.

There's just no need for you to have that kind of experience. Shame on them

Absolutely, there is no need at all.  You'd think I'd been dismissed for gross misconduct and was trying to get something out of them that I didn't deserve.  Redundancy pay is a legal right, a contractual right and a moral right to reflect that a company is dismissing an employee for no fault of the employee.

I genuinely don't know how they could have made me redundant in a more stressful way, I know it's not personal but it really does feel that way.

I'm rapidly losing all remaining goodwill towards the NHS's administration.  A mixture of blind adherence to bureaucracy created for no reason and a genuine lack of empathy in decision making.  One of my golden rules for my managers was that if you mess with someone's pay and there was no excuse for it then you're heading for negative performance management measures from me.

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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2 hours ago, ckn said:

Absolutely, there is no need at all.  You'd think I'd been dismissed for gross misconduct and was trying to get something out of them that I didn't deserve.  Redundancy pay is a legal right, a contractual right and a moral right to reflect that a company is dismissing an employee for no fault of the employee.

I genuinely don't know how they could have made me redundant in a more stressful way, I know it's not personal but it really does feel that way.

I'm rapidly losing all remaining goodwill towards the NHS's administration.  A mixture of blind adherence to bureaucracy created for no reason and a genuine lack of empathy in decision making.  One of my golden rules for my managers was that if you mess with someone's pay and there was no excuse for it then you're heading for negative performance management measures from me.

The thing is that they knew they were going to make you redundant, since it was their decision. You should have some form of redress.

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I finally got confirmation from HR that they've agreed to pay me.  Here's the "fun" part though.  HR asked Payroll to pay me, there's a seven working day "queue" to process any requests and the cut-off day for payment at the end of August is 2nd August otherwise it goes into end-September's payment run.  "Highly unlikely" was the answer I got when I asked if it'd be processed in time for the cut-off deadline.

So, I've just used probably my last favour with the highheidyins in HR to get my payment treated as "urgent".  It'll still sit in the same queue as "the process says everything must be treated according to its place in the queue" but it'll be done by same-day payment.  I may get my money by the end of the week given a fair wind...

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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1 minute ago, Tongs ya bas said:

The thing is that they knew they were going to make you redundant, since it was their decision. You should have some form of redress.

It's almost impossible to get redress from the NHS as their standard defence is "everyone gets treated the same way".  In fact, I know for absolute certainty that I'm being treated better than others because I was a senior manager and had a few favours to call in to make it work a bit faster.  It's an abysmal state of affairs in a process that's there simply for process's sake.

Here's how processes work in the NHS:  Someone creates a policy based on something they read as "best practice" despite them having never seen it in action or something has annoyed them and they create a sledgehammer policy to crack the nut.  It gets reviewed by others who have no clue what it means.  It gets approved for mandatory use.  Senior managers demand that it's done exactly to the letter as that's what any auditors will check.  Managers then create a zero exemption policy because they're judged on it.  Employees then have the soulless job of implementing a policy they know doesn't work, is inequitable and overly bureaucratic.

An example: The NHS had difficulty getting redundancy pay back from fewer than five employees who gained another NHS job within the 28 day period post redundancy, this caused a bit of a fuss in one meeting.  NHS England then mandated that no-one gets their money for at least 28 days to ensure that that situation never happened again.  The consequence is that redundant staff no longer get any money on redundancy and have to claim it with a pretty extravagant claim form, job-search record that has to be reviewed and indemnities from the redundant person that they know they're committing fraud if they've not looked hard enough for a job.  Seriously.

Also, under the new rules, the NHS can give you a new job within 28 days of being made redundant and you lose all qualification for your redundancy pay.  You either take the job or get no redundancy money.  Also, if you do go back then you lose every bit of your continuous service going back to new recruit status.  Seriously.  You can lose your redundancy pay and also your seniority and there's nothing you can do about it as the unions agreed that it was a "fair" policy when drafting changes to employee terms & conditions.

Finally, Hunt has announced a change to the policy again and it's out for consultation now.  It'd have been in but for the election.  The original proposal was that any employee on over £80,000 would see that 28 day period extended to a year where a redundant person would have to sign an indemnity that they'd repay the entire redundancy payment if they came back to the NHS within a year.  Hunt has changed this to that £80,000 lower limit being "optional" only meaning it'll really be implemented at all levels.

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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2 minutes ago, ckn said:

It's almost impossible to get redress from the NHS as their standard defence is "everyone gets treated the same way".  In fact, I know for absolute certainty that I'm being treated better than others because I was a senior manager and had a few favours to call in to make it work a bit faster.  It's an abysmal state of affairs in a process that's there simply for process's sake.

Here's how processes work in the NHS:  Someone creates a policy based on something they read as "best practice" despite them having never seen it in action or something has annoyed them and they create a sledgehammer policy to crack the nut.  It gets reviewed by others who have no clue what it means.  It gets approved for mandatory use.  Senior managers demand that it's done exactly to the letter as that's what any auditors will check.  Managers then create a zero exemption policy because they're judged on it.  Employees then have the soulless job of implementing a policy they know doesn't work, is inequitable and overly bureaucratic.

An example: The NHS had difficulty getting redundancy pay back from fewer than five employees who gained another NHS job within the 28 day period post redundancy, this caused a bit of a fuss in one meeting.  NHS England then mandated that no-one gets their money for at least 28 days to ensure that that situation never happened again.  The consequence is that redundant staff no longer get any money on redundancy and have to claim it with a pretty extravagant claim form, job-search record that has to be reviewed and indemnities from the redundant person that they know they're committing fraud if they've not looked hard enough for a job.  Seriously.

Also, under the new rules, the NHS can give you a new job within 28 days of being made redundant and you lose all qualification for your redundancy pay.  You either take the job or get no redundancy money.  Also, if you do go back then you lose every bit of your continuous service going back to new recruit status.  Seriously.  You can lose your redundancy pay and also your seniority and there's nothing you can do about it as the unions agreed that it was a "fair" policy when drafting changes to employee terms & conditions.

Finally, Hunt has announced a change to the policy again and it's out for consultation now.  It'd have been in but for the election.  The original proposal was that any employee on over £80,000 would see that 28 day period extended to a year where a redundant person would have to sign an indemnity that they'd repay the entire redundancy payment if they came back to the NHS within a year.  Hunt has changed this to that £80,000 lower limit being "optional" only meaning it'll really be implemented at all levels.

What union/professional organisation are you a member of?

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4 minutes ago, Tongs ya bas said:

What union/professional organisation are you a member of?

None.  I refused to join the NHS unions after they made a decision to support only a 1% pay rise for those up to a certain pay band.  Those in my pay band and above were effectively told by the unions we had to just suck it up that we were getting 0% pay rise.  Why should I pay the best part of £300 a year for membership of a union that openly does not represent me?

Also, the union have zero power in things like this.  They agreed many of these policies and just won't fight them because they know they can't change them.  NHS unions are virtually powerless in a situation where the government will take any consequence on patients and staff to not lose to a union.

My professional organisations won't step in to these things either, they're not primarily healthcare related and they know that the NHS is a quagmire they'd never escape from if they got involved over one person.

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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2 hours ago, ckn said:

None.  I refused to join the NHS unions after they made a decision to support only a 1% pay rise for those up to a certain pay band.  Those in my pay band and above were effectively told by the unions we had to just suck it up that we were getting 0% pay rise.  Why should I pay the best part of £300 a year for membership of a union that openly does not represent me?

Also, the union have zero power in things like this.  They agreed many of these policies and just won't fight them because they know they can't change them.  NHS unions are virtually powerless in a situation where the government will take any consequence on patients and staff to not lose to a union.

My professional organisations won't step in to these things either, they're not primarily healthcare related and they know that the NHS is a quagmire they'd never escape from if they got involved over one person.

Modern Britain eh. 

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4 hours ago, Johnoco said:

Nobheads who think the binmen will take away all their junk and leave out vacuum cleaners and ridiculous stuff like that for them - which end up being there for weeks. There's a tip down the road SFB.

We had someone renting a house in our street and he never got the hang that the binmen will take away nothing that isn't in the bin.  The binmen will routinely ignore the rule that the bins have to be fully closed but that doesn't mean they'll start to shift bin bags, empty boxes, old TVs, etc that are randomly left by his bins.  Strangely enough, he never put out his blue recycling bin.

Thankfully he was only there for about six months before moving on.

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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5 hours ago, Johnoco said:

I think his relations rented a house on our street recently. Masses of cardboard,  but not actually in the recycling bin provided!!

And when the jobsworths refuse to take it it ends up at the side of the road. 

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6 minutes ago, Tongs ya bas said:

They aren't jobsworths

You are right, I take it back. The bit about fly tipping still stands though. No fault of the workers at the coucil, just some idiot sat in a nice office making stuff up as they go along.

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1 hour ago, Mark S said:

And when the jobsworths refuse to take it it ends up at the side of the road. 

It's the "rather not provide jobs which involve paying tax & NI worths" who cause the big problems with waste and tipping etc. That having been said, it's a fairly basic requirement to expect citizen A to know what household rubbish they can put out and when.

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This is a double delayed rant...one happened a while ago but still feel effects and it  annoys me... 

I live near woodland and my local woodland authority decided to fell a lode of trees. In fact they are doing it all over the South East  but these trees were important. They were Canadian  Spruce and  were given and planted by the Canadian Government as a permanent war memorial to remember the Canadian troops that were stationed in the area. Whilst they did allow a few to survive the majority were felled. 

Although I was not born anywhere near that time, I liked the fact that there was something to remember those troops b..later they served an important function by acting as a natural sound break  against the flow of traffic from near by roads. 

The authority did it for two reasons, the trees were not indigenous species of flora ,, er irrelevant it is a memorial..they want to turn the area more to grazing but where they fell the trees ,the logs lie strewn ..if you drive along the near by dual carriageway it looks depressing. 

The second thing that irks me is all over the South East they are removing Rhododendron plants as again they are not indigenous and also they are a parasitic plant.  Many people enjoy them and they were introduced to this country over 100 years ago...the Grey  Squirrel is not  indigenous to this country, it causes destruction to plant, eats bird eggs, threatening species that are already in decline but I  know they would not attempt to  eradicate  the animal, even though it drove out our own native squirrel , leaving it to populate small pockets of the country.   

Local authority have destroyed the local woodland ,they claim  it allowed other  species to thrive..but also made others disappear ,like the leaf ant..every time I walked in the woods I hoped one day I would come across the mother of all nests..but now most of the woodland has been changed to heathland. Fine small areas but not every part...and also everything is so tidy..nothing natural. 

Rant over. thank you. 

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Normally, this thread is about us ranting but this rant in the Guardian is more than worthy of inclusion and honorary guest membership of the forum.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/03/britain-world-beater-ripping-off-citizens-rail-fares-water-energy-bills

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"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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I've just been to our local doctors near Wrexham. To get in for an appointment it's same day for urgent/emergencies and 2-3 weeks for routine cases. I was there well early so sat for over half an hour waiting for my turn. In this period on two occasions medical staff were wondering about calling the names of people who apparently hadn't turned up. I then spotted a notice informing folks that there were 61 missed appointments last week with no cancellation made. That's 12 a day which probably works out at half a doctor. Apparently this is a regular occurrence. What a waste of time and resources.

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1 hour ago, clwydianrange said:

I've just been to our local doctors near Wrexham. To get in for an appointment it's same day for urgent/emergencies and 2-3 weeks for routine cases. I was there well early so sat for over half an hour waiting for my turn. In this period on two occasions medical staff were wondering about calling the names of people who apparently hadn't turned up. I then spotted a notice informing folks that there were 61 missed appointments last week with no cancellation made. That's 12 a day which probably works out at half a doctor. Apparently this is a regular occurrence. What a waste of time and resources.

I know a couple of GP practices who have a three strikes rule.  Each time you fail to turn up without a reasonable cancellation or notice you get a "strike", third strike gets you de-listed from the practice.

The problem though is that GPs are meant to be the first line of the NHS, waiting 2-3 weeks for an appointment is a disgrace.  That's way beyond the reasonable time it should take for you to get in and get seen.  We need a far lower ratio of GPs to patients and increase the time to an average of 12-15 minutes per appointment rather than 10, that'd bring us in line with the rest of the industrialised world, especially western Europe.

Unfortunately, until we have an adult conversation about this as a nation, you're held hostage by idiots who are our elected representatives with their narrow political views on both sides of the divide.

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"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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Except there can be excuses....

When the illness is so mentally debilitating an individual can't face outside despite fully intending to when making an appointment.

When an individual with learning disabilities has behavioural difficulties/autism etc and who's presentation on the day of the appointment mean the carer/family can't get them out of the house etc

Employing such a philosophy in my field would be counter productive....

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1 minute ago, Johnoco said:

Then I'm sure  their circumstances could be taken into account, couldn't they?besides you don't even have to leave the house to cancel an appointment. But this accounts for a miniscule amount of missed appointments anyway, the vast majority are people 'forgetting' or can't be arsed. They are abusing the NHS and its a simple way of recouping some money, maybe even leading to a less lackadaisical approach to NHS appointments in general.

I largely agree with this John.

My field is very much a special case and shouldn't be subject to the "usual rules.

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55 minutes ago, Mark S said:

People with perfectly good drives but insist on parking on the road. It seems to be a thing in Doncaster.

Oh, yes. i have an opposite neighbour who parks his car directly opposite my drive exit, forcing me to exit my drive across the grass verge. then I get a parish council newsletter telling me not to drive on the grass verge! They have a 4 car drive. Three cars.

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