if you're unemployed then dealing with the DHSS has become almost torture. .
I left school in 1988 and got a job with the DSS, back then we still scribbled the letter H out of the headed paper, as the then Her Majesties Stationery Office had printed too much stuff.
It depends on your contract. In some cases, bank holiday working is 'custom practice' and therefore allowed, but in the majority of cases it will be in your contract.
If your job depends on you being there or being replaced (usually, if you book a holiday then someone else has to do overtime to cover - a regular occurrence with shift workers), then you can request a holiday and hope someone covers for the OT.
There's a lot we don't know without knowing your contract. It sucks, but that's life. I spent 16yrs either working xmas eve nights, xmas day, new years eve night, new years day, etc and in most cases most of them. I chose that career and signed those contracts.
You don't have an automatic right to take bank holidays or public holidays off work. You will only be allowed to take bank holidays off work if your work contract says that you can. If your contract doesn't let you take off bank holidays, you might have to work on these days, as long as your employer gives you the right amount of notice.
There is a minimum legal amount of holiday that you are allowed every year. If your contract says you can have bank holidays off work, they will be counted as part of that legal minimum. This is unless your contact says you can have them on top of the minimum amount of holiday.
Just finished for 2 weeks for Xmas. Not that I'm complaining as I'm happy for the break, but it's been a big f**king palaver for weeks now.
First, it was going to be business as usual except for the statutory holidays (Xmas Day, Boxing Day & New Year's Day), which was fine, then our boss said that we'd be doing next to nothing, so we didn't have to come in and he'd pay us out for the days anyway (which was great) and on the strength of that, one lad booked his holidays to visit his wife's family in Texas.
Then our boss's boss nixed that and said he wasn't letting him pay us if we weren't coming in, so we were back to working all the days but the stats, so this lad had to change his flight dates to come back on the 21st for work on Monday while his family stayed down there.
So that was the plan until two days ago, when the bean-counters in the accounts department figured out that most of our client sites would be shut, and decided that it would be more cost effective and wouldn't upset the clients if they closed down the depot for two weeks rather than paid everyone to work the holidays.
It pissed a lot of people on our team off, as they were counting on the money. We're contractors, so we don't get paid out if we don't work. I'm OK because my wife is working too, so we can get by for a couple of weeks, and they're legally obliged to pay us for the statutory holidays as we're returning after Xmas, so it's only a week and two days instead of two full weeks of pay we're missing, but it's still a s#!tty thing to drop on you with a couple of days' notice.
Don't know if the lad who changed his plans switched his flight back, but he was saying that it cost him to switch every time, so I imagine he's quite unhappy with the whole experience.
That's the odd thing as a lot of companies we support are major chains which will be closed on xmas day (and possibly boxing day) but the managers looked at how many fault tickets were opened last xmas and it was 46 so they said that would need 8 staff. I'm doing inbound emails that week and will probably fall asleep with boredom!:grin:
I'm assuming our place will just have some senior support staff on-call from home and will handle it that way. (I don't do over the phone support, just share a depot with a lot that do).
I'm sure that 90% of the sector we deal with is shut down until the 5th. Our team is switching out older PCs with new ones to combat obsolescence.
The thing is, we just received a huge order of new computers that all have to be imaged and have the appropriate software installed on them before they can be deployed on-site, and if we had worked over the two weeks, we could have made a huge dent in that part of the process and put the whole team out on-site doing the deployments.
Now we're going to have to leave 1/3 to 1/2 of the team back at the office imaging while the others deploy, which will slow us down a fair bit.
last production day is monday (last date we have on the production schedule anyway)
the owner was in on friday to do his yearly speech before he jets off abroad this weekend for his holiday
he mentioned on tuesday we will get help with our groceries (a voucher i think) so will be in to get that anyway, possibly a cleaning day.
Professional Mel-the-Bell Simulator................"So realistic, I found myself reaching for the Kleenex King-Size!" - Richard Darling
I finish on Tuesday. Rather coolly the company I work for has granted everyone who's birthday falls on a weekday can have the day off as an annual day - a rather nice touch by them - so Xmas Eve off for me. We should have been due to go back on the 2nd Jan but they also decided it's not worth opening the offices so back on the 5th.
Easily the best company I've ever worked for. So much so it shocks me that I stopped at my previous two jobs for so long.
We break up (love saying that - reminds me of school :D) on Tuesday, but that last day usually consists of a meeting with the directors followed by a few drinks and a good chinwag with everyone, should be out of there by lunchtime. We go back on the 2nd.
Feel like it at the moment! Nope I'm in charge of all the internet orders - usually I have a bit of help, but this year the bloke who usually helps me went off on paternity for a week, so I've been working every day just to keep on top of it. Tomorrow will be my first Sunday off for six weeks :D
oh and ive formally put my name down for the new supervisers job for our area for january. tbh i do most of the job currently for naff all extra so thought i may aswell try and get it officially lol
Professional Mel-the-Bell Simulator................"So realistic, I found myself reaching for the Kleenex King-Size!" - Richard Darling
I'm not doing too bad this year for a change. Working in retail, we hardly get any time at all, but my company is one of those rare ones that still doesn't open on Boxing day and as I don't work weekends, I'm getting 4 days off, plus New Years Day. The fact that we close on Boxing Day is usually met with annoyance to most people who think we should be open though because people in retail don't deserve more than one day off for Christmas (and some don't even get that anymore)
Also, as I'm dialysis free for the first time in 3 years, I get a proper Christmas for a change! So I'm really looking forward to going out to see the activities that happen on the sea front for a change :-)
All I need to do I keep this cold away from me and I'm set for a good one :D
I'm going to be doing something where I work on the nights of crimbo eve, crimbo day, boxing day, and new year's eve. I don't know what I'll be doing and my boss can't make up his mind. The hotel closes on crimbo eve and opens again boxing day. He's trying to sort some security role for me over those days. He wanted me there to stay over-night but is now thinking theres no need for a presence there all night.
My Sister is having to work crimbo day. She's a nurse at our local hospital. She going to get up early to open there presents with the kids, then go to work at 8AM.
Why is everyone off apart from me? It's not fair!
Even my customers are off:sad:
I'll be honest I don't usually get Chrimbo off and I felt kind of bad posting it, especially after calling your (yet uneaten) Chrimbo dinner a transvestite ;)
My last day off was at the end of October. Am meant to be off from last Friday until the 6th as our party is on the 4th. So far I have spent a couple of hours sorting some issues out yesterday and today and am going onto a site on Saturday. All in all though, its not so bad, I will be bored by Saturday and the people I work with are great.
Comments
I left school in 1988 and got a job with the DSS, back then we still scribbled the letter H out of the headed paper, as the then Her Majesties Stationery Office had printed too much stuff.
DWP these days.
old timer LOL
yup and also
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/news/whats_new_dec14_working_over_christmas.htm
You don't have an automatic right to take bank holidays or public holidays off work. You will only be allowed to take bank holidays off work if your work contract says that you can. If your contract doesn't let you take off bank holidays, you might have to work on these days, as long as your employer gives you the right amount of notice.
There is a minimum legal amount of holiday that you are allowed every year. If your contract says you can have bank holidays off work, they will be counted as part of that legal minimum. This is unless your contact says you can have them on top of the minimum amount of holiday.
That's the odd thing as a lot of companies we support are major chains which will be closed on xmas day (and possibly boxing day) but the managers looked at how many fault tickets were opened last xmas and it was 46 so they said that would need 8 staff. I'm doing inbound emails that week and will probably fall asleep with boredom!:grin:
I hate you!:grin:
I'm sure that 90% of the sector we deal with is shut down until the 5th. Our team is switching out older PCs with new ones to combat obsolescence.
The thing is, we just received a huge order of new computers that all have to be imaged and have the appropriate software installed on them before they can be deployed on-site, and if we had worked over the two weeks, we could have made a huge dent in that part of the process and put the whole team out on-site doing the deployments.
Now we're going to have to leave 1/3 to 1/2 of the team back at the office imaging while the others deploy, which will slow us down a fair bit.
wow! Are you a robot?:grin:
last production day is monday (last date we have on the production schedule anyway)
the owner was in on friday to do his yearly speech before he jets off abroad this weekend for his holiday
he mentioned on tuesday we will get help with our groceries (a voucher i think) so will be in to get that anyway, possibly a cleaning day.
Easily the best company I've ever worked for. So much so it shocks me that I stopped at my previous two jobs for so long.
Feel like it at the moment! Nope I'm in charge of all the internet orders - usually I have a bit of help, but this year the bloke who usually helps me went off on paternity for a week, so I've been working every day just to keep on top of it. Tomorrow will be my first Sunday off for six weeks :D
Also, as I'm dialysis free for the first time in 3 years, I get a proper Christmas for a change! So I'm really looking forward to going out to see the activities that happen on the sea front for a change :-)
All I need to do I keep this cold away from me and I'm set for a good one :D
That said, it'd have been better to get a working speccy on xmas day all those years ago. :grin:
My Sister is having to work crimbo day. She's a nurse at our local hospital. She going to get up early to open there presents with the kids, then go to work at 8AM.
Currently lying on the couch eating crisps in an attempt to avoid wrapping presents.
Now if I get new years off that'll be my hat trick.
Even my customers are off:sad:
I'll be honest I don't usually get Chrimbo off and I felt kind of bad posting it, especially after calling your (yet uneaten) Chrimbo dinner a transvestite ;)
Merry Xmas Guys :smile:
I'm working Boxing Day from 6.00am if that helps!
Only 7 hours to go. :(
Watching scrooge on tv, he gave cratchett the day off and was still considered a ****. :grin: