May's EU speech

[RocketLawnChair]

seeing as prices are likely to be rising, i wouldn't get too excited.

Ah yes but at least I maybe rising with the prices. For years they've just been getting further away !!

[Claretnick]

I didn't say it was.

So when did we vote to leave the Council of Europe?

[Damo]

Seems quite a few remain voters are starting to see sense

[dsr]

So when did we vote to leave the Council of Europe?

Was it before or after we voted to join the Council of Europe?

[aggi]

So my question still stands.

How bad were the Tories before the EU reined them in?

The way I'm reading what you've put, you're under the belief that the Tories are suddenly going to do away with the majority of workers rights that have been introduced over the years.

Personally I don't think they'll be that stupid, but I'm merely asking you to show they are.

Liam Fox's thoughts on the need to deregulate the labour market could give a clue there:

Political objections must be overridden. It is too difficult to hire and fire, and too expensive to take on new employees. It is intellectually unsustainable to believe that workplace rights should remain untouchable while output and employment are clearly cyclical.

[aggi]

Since the Euro is currently trading at the same rate as its average for 2013, then you're no worse off. Because I can only assume that when the Euro rate rose in 2014 and 2015, you received exceptionally generous pay rises when the company was doing well?

Although the dollar is at its worse for a long time (pretty much ever apart from a brief spell in the mid 80s). If that's the currency they're exposed to then it's not surprising they're suffering.

[Sidney1st]

Liam Fox's thoughts on the need to deregulate the labour market could give a clue there:

Political objections must be overridden. It is too difficult to hire and fire, and too expensive to take on new employees. It is intellectually unsustainable to believe that workplace rights should remain untouchable while output and employment are clearly cyclical.

To a degree he has a point.
Some staff are just too difficult to fire when they're bad at their job.

[ClaretMoffitt]

To a degree he has a point.
Some staff are just too difficult to fire when they're bad at their job.

True that, not to mention they restricting opportunities for people who are actually hardworking.

Have a few where I work, have constant time off for dependents, only willing to work minimum contract, no flexibility what so ever. Basically do everything they can get away with and offer absolute bare minimum, don't even deserve a job. Can't get rid though, and they know it.

[HatfieldClaret]

True that, not to mention they restricting opportunities for people who are actually hardworking.

Have a few where I work, have constant time off for dependents, only willing to work minimum contract, no flexibility what so ever. Basically do everything they can get away with and offer absolute bare minimum, don't even deserve a job. Can't get rid though, and they know it.

I take it you work in the public sector ? I'm all for protecting workers rights, but there's rights and taking the absolute pi$$.

[Sidney1st]

I take it you work in the public sector ? I'm all for protecting workers rights, but there's rights and taking the absolute pi$$.

I'm not in the public sector and I know a few like this.

[ClaretMoffitt]

I take it you work in the public sector ? I'm all for protecting workers rights, but there's rights and taking the absolute pi$$.

No it's private actually, haha.

But I've worked in education too and that is even worse.

[HatfieldClaret]

Education....

My daughter's school has an exodus of teachers everytime there's a new Head.

Lost some good teachers too.

[JohnMcGreal]

True that, not to mention they restricting opportunities for people who are actually hardworking.

Have a few where I work, have constant time off for dependents, only willing to work minimum contract, no flexibility what so ever. Basically do everything they can get away with and offer absolute bare minimum, don't even deserve a job. Can't get rid though, and they know it.

When you say that people are having 'constant time off' I presume they're taking:

Personal leave days that they're entitled to.
Other leave that has been approved by management (childcare/carer issues etc) .
Sick leave that they're entitled to.
Maternity/paternity leave that they're entitled to.

As for working minimum contract, do you mean they're just working to the terms in their contract and nothing more?

I'm genuinely curious about this.

[ClaretMoffitt]

When you say that people are having 'constant time off' I presume they're taking:

Personal leave days that they're entitled to.
Other leave that has been approved by management (childcare/carer issues etc) .
Sick leave that they're entitled to.
Maternity/paternity leave that they're entitled to.

As for working minimum contract, do you mean they're just working to the terms in their contract and nothing more?

I'm genuinely curious about this.

I'm talking about blatant abuse of a system in place to be an assist when genuinely needed. When people are having days off over and over for the same reasons (like my kid has a headache), 3 or 4 times a month, its no longer good. Its not good for the business, not good for others in their team, it's not even good for them because they complain when they lose overtime as a result.

And yes, working minimum contract, but also just working bare minimum in general in terms of effort/productivity. Just a bare minimum way of doing things in general to be honest.

[JohnMcGreal]

I suppose it's down to management to judge whether individuals are genuinely in need of that time off or if they're abusing the system. It might appear to others that they're taking the ****, but then again they could have genuine problems which you and others don't know about?

As for working to your contract, there's nothing wrong that, legally speaking. You don't have to go beyond that, but pretty much everyone I know goes well beyond what's expected of them (contractually) in their work. But if they didn't, I don't think it would be fair to sack them because of it, providing that the work they were doing was to the best of their ability.

I see your point, though. It's not good when a small minority abuse a system which is designed to protect people.

That said, I wouldn't agree with the watering down of employment rights just because a small minority hide behind it for certain abuses, for the same reason why I don't agree with hammering and persecuting everyone on jobseekers allowance or DLA just because a small minority play the system a bit.

Employment rights are there to protect all of us and we'd all be worse off if they were diluted or removed in the future.