Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[flyer 0712]

Any one watching yet another benefits series...no wonder the country is in such a mess....my god what is happening to our benefits system..supposed to go to those in real need..not those with pure greed and who are just pure lazy..

[tunnie]

Benefits should be on a sliding scale, fine to help when needed. But on a constant decline, makes you want to get a job.

Too many people get more money on benefits, than via a job. 

[tigers_gonads]

My lads got a zero hour contract at Sports Direct.
He is on minimum wage (£5.15)
He gets anywhere from 4 to 16 hours a week.
If he works less then 16 hours, dole top up his money to the JSA mark and not one penny more.
He still has to sign on every week which cost him money and attend other so called workshops at the job centre on demand.
Obviously it cost him to get to work too which he receives not one penny towards his travel.

Last week, he had to cancel a shift at work because dole sent him on a course on how to write a friggin CV.
When he explained that he had to go into work, they told him that if he didn't attend the course, he would be sanctioned and loose his benefits for 2 weeks.
When he rang his boss and explained what was happening, his boss spat his dummy out and cancelled the rest of his shifts that week 


He would be better off NOT working and sponging off the state 

The world is oppsing mad 

 

[Gaffers]

Shocking

I have, in my youth, been on various zero-hour contracts and know the pitfalls well.  In his contract there must be wording to the effect of minimum notification times, methods of notification and if the employer has to give a reason for cancelling a shift.  Also if his shifts are always a specific time and day or within an envelope then it would fall under the inappropriate use of the zero-hour framework under government guidance.

There is also the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act which prohibits an employer who uses zero hour from having exclusivity clauses:

"An employer must allow the individual to take work elsewhere in order to earn an income if they themselves do not offer sufficient hours.

If an employer includes an exclusivity clause in a zero hours contract, the individual cannot be bound by it, the law states the individual can ignore it.

An employer must not attempt to avoid the exclusivity ban by, for example, stipulating that the individual must seek their permission to look for or accept work elsewhere."

The use of cancelling shifts, as long as work was available for someone and not because there was a lack of demand (this is crucial, did someone else work his shift and can he prove it?) as 'punishment' can be interpreted as a breech of the SBEE Act.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

In my experience, the problem with employment law is that it is very often unenforceable from the employees point of view.
It all looks well & good on paper, but in reality, if you rock the boat you get thrown overboard.
This is particularily true in low paid / low skill jobs as there is a huge over supply of cheap labour for these types of jobs.
I feel sorry for TG,s son. Sounds like an honest lad who isn't playing the system, and that can make life difficult.
If you have young kids and don't mind bending the truth a bit, it will often take a very well paid job to tempt you away from benefits.
My opinion is that the welfare state should provide food, shelter and warmth for the genuinely needy by way of vouchers, no cash involved.
Anything over and above that should only come from gainful employment. No harm in dreaming I suppose.

[Terbs]

I hate to say this, but this country wants a flippin' revolution.
They push and push, and people can only take so much, then that gives the rioting mob an excuse, then we all suffer !!!
Sports direct manager was in the wrong, as was the Job Centre, who, surely, could have looked at the situation in the correct way.
They shout that they want people in work, then stop them in their tracks.
Oh I wish, I wish, both parties could be taken to task....but that takes money !!!!! If you have all the correct facts TG, go to the press Its the only way to combat these numpties. Feel sorry for the lad

[Gaffers]

Ultimately he should try and find better employment elsewhere, although I understand that this is easier said than done especially in the NE.

I do a lot of recruitment and tender lots of applications for contracts, if you want me to give his CV a once-over when he has completed it just ask

[STEMO]

I watched this programme last night, and many similar before it. There are always those who are workshy and take pride in fiddling the system, but most of these folk come across as miserable and defeated. Their only defence mechanism is to state that they are having the life of Riley and wouldn't want to have to get up and go to work in the morning.
The sad truth is that they would be incapable of working. They have spent the whole of their young lives lying in bed and stuffing their faces. You can get angry at the system, but I feel quite sorry for some of these miserable souls.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

WORKING tax credits will soon be a thing of the past. This is good and bad. They help WORKING people on a low income but sadly encourage poor employers to pay piss poor wages in the first instance.This is because shabby employers are well aware that  the government (the taxpayer) will top up the pittance they pay to their staff.

[STEMO]

It's all well and truly f***ed up, and I can't even begin to see an answer.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I really don't think it is the responsibility of the taxpayer to subsidize poor employers.

If we have a business that is unable to pay a decent wage to it's staff without government help then that business is not viable.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

One thing that pisses me off is the train operators.

Last year we the taxpayers subsidised these PRIVATE companies to the tune of four billion pounds.

Still, look on the bright side, at least this allowed them to pay large dividends to their shareholders.

[STEMO]

One thing that pisses me off is the train operators.

Last year we the taxpayers subsidised these PRIVATE companies to the tune of four billion pounds.

Still, look on the bright side, at least this allowed them to pay large dividends to their shareholders.

Public ownership is not the answer, Jeremy. 

[Sir Tigger KC]

I really don't think it is the responsibility of the taxpayer to subsidize poor employers.

If we have a business that is unable to pay a decent wage to it's staff without government help then that business is not viable.

That's quite Right Wing stuff from you M'lud!     

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

One thing that pisses me off is the train operators.

Last year we the taxpayers subsidised these PRIVATE companies to the tune of four billion pounds.

Still, look on the bright side, at least this allowed them to pay large dividends to their shareholders.

Public ownership is not the answer, Jeremy. 

Probably not.....but we were told that British Rail was flabby and wasteful and that private train operators would be lean and mean and not a burden on the taxpayer.

So what went wrong?