janet burton's newest comments

Query has arisen here too - Access to Work advises us they purchase equipmnt for the person to enable them to access the workplace - so they expect the item to move with the person to avoid essential re-purchase when they change jobs.
But that is only advice when they fund the item; we too are a Gov Dept.
Of course, since everyone's disability is different a lot of such equipment would be wasted if anyone other than the person it was purchased for used it - even if some of it might be used by others.
Our Department has said it will consider each item/person separately, costs, type and age (of equipment) and disability. They are considering either making a beneficient gift of it (tax to be paid ?) or possibly charge a nominal sum depending on any asset value.
With many staff leaving under redundancy over the next year, it will be an important equal opportunity support for the chances of redundant disabled people getting a new job, if they don't need to ask a new employer to fund their reasonable adjustment equipment immediately. (Of course redundancy is different to a straight forward job change).

Clearly lack of income is not a major factor in lower sickness absence if retailers dock pay fastest and have higher than average sick leave.
Any research done on measurements of sick absence? I'm in the public sector. If I'm off work a week, that is 7 days (Monday to Sunday). Or two days (Monday & Friday) can be measured as 4 days sick leave. In my husband's private sector job, they only count working days sick, not days sick (so that's 5 & 2 in the above cases).
Could be why public sector is higher? Or is my Dept just weird in the way it counts sick leave?

'Recent graduate' is only ageist if degrees are limited to school-leavers - which they are not. I got my degree in 1999, aged 42.

The point with cycle helmets is the same as that with motor-cycle helmets - they offer some protection.
No-one says you will not get hurt if you wear them, but they do protect against injury - and no-one can stop accidents happening.
Whether there is someone at fault or whether it is just an accident, anything which reduces the chance of serious injury to a cyclist must be good.
Any serious cyclist wears a helmet - only prats trying to look good for the cameras don't.

Strange - my local Costa Coffee disabled loo opens directly into the cafe - no wall or doors, just seats, tables and the counter behind which food is dished out. (Coffee, cakes, Paninis heated etc)
The other loos are downstairs, just the disabled one in the cafe itself - does that impact on the issue?

'Sketchy about how any monies should be paid back - obviously they are under normal circumstances -' ???!!!
What normal circumstances are those? Training is not something you pay your company back for, except by your improved skills in your post. If it was non-job-relevant training, the company would not have paid for it in the first place.
If you really feel he has to pay you back for his training, he has - by not waiting for the redundancy payment. Whether it was him or someone else selected, he has saved you one of those 25 payments.

Six months? And they only found out when the checks came back? Pretty convincing then. So can anyone with no University education and no experience do the job of a Deputy CEO? Or was he just exceptional anyway?
Not that I'm condoning his actions. Just wondering what the degree and the experience are supposed to provide that makes the job worth £165k a year, if he can do it without them.

Re the scooter, if she is visiting and it will not go further than the communal hall (which is certainly feasible in a block of flats) it may be essential to power up the scooter there - if it needs powering to take her home again!
It could be reasonable she do so, if the person she is visiting is part of the community, but it could also be expected she ask permission.
If she lives there, what arrangements have been made for her to park it / power it up elsewhere?
Do you know how much power it uses? It could also be reasonable to expect payment of an agreed fee per visit, if she is not part of the community paying for the electricity.
And also what reasonable alternatives are there for her? Mobility scooters may be great, but they are limited - my mother always checks before she goes out that the person she is visiting is in, because once she was stranded on hers.

Speaking for myself, I cannot reduce my sickness absence because I only take time off when I am sick.
But two years ago that meant I had 24 days sick leave after a severe infection and a nasty fall; this year I have 8 days, one week with flu and 3 odd days. But neither I nor my boss have 'managed' this fantastic reduction in my sick leave!!!!

If it was just between the two of them, then why was this client 'lock-up' taken into account when she could not demonstrate it?
To be really fair, this area should have been ignored completely - it is inherently unfair to both to compare them in an area one cannot demonstrate.
It sounds like a case of trying to make a template score sheet fit a situation rather than taking the bold(?) step of actually assessing the real situation.

I would expect it to be kept on secure personnel files if the employee has disclosed the condition to a manager or to HR. (Legally, if it is disclosed to a manager, the company is informed and therefore liable for any reasonable adjustments that may be necessary).
You are on much more shaky ground if you have 'found out about' a medical condition in any other way, and put this in their file. If this is the case I would suggest a chat with the employee explaining how you got the information, and asking if they want it recorded in case of future need, and then accepting their decision on the issue.

Stephen - if you are required to attend, you should either be paid for any extra time or offered time off in lieu. That is after all still cheaper than holding the course over two days if it goes over normal working hours.
If you are providing your own lunch it will be difficult to claim expenses for it. Going out to a cafe or whatever is easier to claim.
Extra travel should be refunded - so if your usual journey is about the same milage, no claim, but train tickets or extra miles driving should be claimed.

Requirement is to update your licence if your personal details change.
The Photocard Licence must also be renewed every ten years - with a new photo - or when stated on the licence if it is a medical renewal.
Medical renewals are free unless the photo is changed.

My Doctor was inquiring into my work journey - the implication clearly being that if I had a long walk, I was not fit, if I didn't I was, following Achilles Tendon problems.
So it is no longer an assessment of just me and my health, but also where I work and how I get there.

Plus if they are applying for a new licence with no changes to details (ie to remove spent convictions) it costs £20 to get a replacement licence.

I know I'm biased, being a civil servant, but a pay freeze ain't going to save the nation.
The most common (median) salary of a Civil servant as at 31st March 2009 was £22.1 k per year. (See the National Statistics website). The vast majority of civil servants earn under £30k per year.
I'm all in favour of cutting back on the Senior Civil Service (which has increased in size when lower levels of the organisation have reduced), but a pay freeze will only hurt the majority - not the elite who earn more than enough already.

No question about the legality of the TV Licence fee, but the methodology is now out of date and needs a serious re-think.
One central licencing body which deals with all broadcasting issues - TV, Internet, Music broadcasting rights [apparently a licence is needed to play music to workers] is needed.

Part-time staff should get official bank holidays in proportion to their hours - so if you work 25% of the time (assuming a normal 40-hour week), you get 25% of bank holidays added to your leave allowance, and then the hours you usually work are deducted from that allowance each Bank Holiday.
If they are giving other staff an extra day's paid holiday as well as the bank holiday, then you should receive a proportionate increase in your holiday - 25% of normal hours, or 2 hours for an 8-hour day.

A good follow-up to the floods. How come we just can't get water sorted out? There is either too much or too little.

So 74% of men and 65% of women have 'pulled a sickie'. How on earth does this translate into half sick leave being fake? Even if half the sick leave these people took was fake, with women that means just one third of sick leave was fake, and with men under 50% was fake.