Redundancy
There is a big fuss in the papers this morning about the amount of redundancy paid by the NHS in recent months. It’s here in the Telegraph. Here’s an extract.
Nearly 1,000 health workers have received six-figure exit deals in the past year, with 157 managers and other senior staff receiving more than £200,000 — a 50 per cent rise on the previous year.
Some officials have received golden goodbyes of £600,000 as part of the Government’s ongoing restructuring of the NHS.
i’ve always believed, as someone who has generally been self-employed or has worked in a company I’ve part-owned, that if you earn over a certain amount, then you are not entitled to redundancy and perhaps only get the same legal minimum that say a secretary would get. Surely, if you’re making a six-figure sum a year, you should be able to make provision for if the worst happens.
It may be hard, but it will encourage people to perform.
A Bail-Out Too Far
The Sunday Times is reporting that because of the big fire at Daw Mill, UK Coal is close to collapse. The story is also here in the Newcastle Journal.
For many decades now, I’ve been against the mining of coal and its use as a fuel. My objection probably stems more from the dangers of mining, the bad disasters of my childhood years and recollections of a few former miners, that I’ve met, and not from any political reasons. When global warming became known, it just reinforced my views that we should get rid of this dangerous and polluting fuel.
If we don’t put UK Coal out of its misery this time, we’ll only be delaying the inevitable for a few years, as some other problem will come along.
A Low-Powered Bank
Banks can’t even get their electricity right!
I took these pictures of Lloyds TSB at The Angel.
They were suggesting you went to their branch in Kings Cross. But there must have been six operating cash machines and four banks within crawling distance of this branch.
Perhaps the episode shows how little we miss a particular branch. After all, there wasn’t a queue of angry customers outside, waiting to cash cheques.
So perhaps, if the branch closed permanently, it wouldn’t be missed. except of course, by the staff who work there.
The Duchess Wows Them In A £38 TopShop Dress
This is another story from the Standard. Here’s the intro.
The Duchess of Cambridge has got great legs and she’s not afraid to show
them. Nor is she afraid of a hefty spring breeze. This morning, attending a
tour of the studios at which the Harry Potter films were created, she wore a
thigh skimming polka-dot dress from high-street retailer Topshop.
One of the pictures on the site, shows Lady Verulam meeting the Duke and Duchess. I suspect, that her father in-law was the guy who gave me my first real job at Enfield Rolling Mills. As the company was my father’s biggest client, he just phoned up the Earl and asked if they had a suitable job for a sixteen-year-old. My father was a great believer in the old maxim, that if you don’t ask nicely, you don’t get!
Do You Get As Much Free Bamboo As You Can Eat?
This story from the Sun is about testing the new panda-cams at Edinburgh Zoo.
I suppose it’s one of those jobs, that is in that category of tough ones, that someone has to do.
You can actually see the pandas using this link.
Yahoo’s CEO’s Stupid Work Ideas
Marrisa Mayer the new relatively new CEO of Yahoo, has decreed that employees can’t work from home any more. I think it is stupid, but just read this article on CNN.
I think that any dictatorial employment policy is bad.
It would be just as bad to say that everybody worked at home as to say that everybody had to work in the office.
Admittedly, I’ve worked at home since about 1970 and in that time, I like to think, I’ve done some world-class work, so perhaps I’m biased one way.
On the other hand a few years ago, I remember meeting a lady, who used to analyse failure reports from government agencies and companies from around the world. Each analysis run took days on the fastest computers available and she used three PC’s on a network at home. The work she did was truly world-class and very important. All of these unusual arrangements were with the total agreement of her boss and the company she worked for. Then the company was taken over and they said that all employees must work in the office. She resigned immediately and I have a feeling that the work is now no longer done with the same thoroughness.
Getting the arrangements right, is all a question of good management.
With some employees home is the right place and with others it is the office.
Increasingly though, it strikes me that more and more people are combining the best of both work places. How many people for instance, check their e-mails before they go to work, so they can deal immediately with anything that is urgent? Are Yahoo going to ban employees from answering e-mails outside of office hours? Now that would be really stupid! On a related point, are they going to stop employees making personal phone calls or e-mails, when they are in the office?
I suspect if you look at really successful people and companies, they will have working arrangements that are not cast in stone.
Politicians And Conservative Thinking
This article about Ed Miliband and his tax policies, shows everything that is wrong with politicians. Obviously, the 10p tax rate brought in by Gordon Brown didn’t work, as why would he later have abolished it. Politicians of all parties just can’t get it into their head, that when old ideas fail, it is time to give up conservative thinking and try new ideas.
You could argue, that a Mansion Tax is a good idea, but it is just another variation of the politics of envy.
I feel it would make housing problems worse, as from what I’ve read, it would be better for tax purposes to own six £700,000 houses, rather than one worth £4,000,000 or so.
Thus, those with pots of money would take houses out of the available pool, which let’s face it is too small at all levels.
I wouldn’t be hit by a Mansion Tax, as my house is probably worth just over a million, although I paid a lot less for it, just two years ago. But it is in an area, where prices are rising quite fast, due to the improvements in public transport. In a few years, it’ll probably be within the Mansion Tax rate. So why should I pay more, just because I made a good decision?
I would raise money from housing in other ways. The Mansion Tax would be paid on any property, where the owner doesn’t live in it. And the starting point would be a £1,000,000.
This would mean second houses would pay the Mansion Tax, as you couldn’t be registered in two places. I’ve lived in two houses at the same time in the past and it’s a pain and very inefficient.
So let’s ditch all of the consevative ideas and get really radical with ideas, that create more houses and generate more jobs and wealth.
Poles In Britain
Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s in London, there were large numbers of Poles. Every class at school had a few children, who were either Polish or had a Polish father. I also worked with a couple of Polish engineers, who had been part of the large numbers of their countrymen, who had come because of the Second World War.
Last week, I was relating this and other stories to a Pole, who manages my local restaurant. She had no knowledge of what I said, as under the Soviet influence, this important part of Polish and British history was not taught in schools.
Religion In The Workplace
I think yesterday’s judgement on the cases brought at the European Court of Human Rights is a sound one.
I think it is fair to say, that if you do a desk job, crosses, head scarves, turbans and other symbols are more of less irrelevant.
But when health and safety might be involved it’s another matter. So for instance a nurse shouldn’t wear a big dangly necklace, whether it is a cross or not!
I remember that when I started in industry, quite a few scientists and engineers used to wear bow ties, as a normal tie might get in the way of what they were doing. It probably isn’t so common now, but then jobs are more keyboard-based.
I know that has nothing to do with religion, but the same principle of safety should apply.
As to people ending up in jobs that are against their religious beliefs, like the Registrar, who wouldn’t officiate in civil partnerships, then the law is the law and unfortunately for them, they must either change their employment or come to an accommodation with their employers.
Britain Surges Ahead Of The US In Job Creation
This is said in this article in The Sunday Times.
The truth and the actual figures should be revealed later in the week.
The Anonymous Widower 