Today I'm neither Angry nor Happy about....

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Looks like you need a 28 week sick note

That thought had crossed my mind.

[TANGODANCER]

The Chiefs and Indians ratio long ago outdistanced any level of common sense and work ethic in any form of industry. What instrument do you get to play in this harmonisiation L.L? I'd go for a harmonica, those double basses and cello's are a barsteward to get on a crowded train.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

The Chiefs and Indians ratio long ago outdistanced any level of common sense and work ethic in any form of industry. What instrument do you get to play in this harmonisiation L.L? I'd go for a harmonica, those double basses and cello's are a barsteward to get on a crowded train.

First violin I think, fiddling while Rome burns.

[bobo the clown]

Harmonisation. In order to cut down on the number of different contracts across all the business units my work has just decided to harmonise us all (key mental images of getting the blender out...).
Marvellous, but what does it mean for me, specifically?
Well, as of the first of January 2014, my annual leave entitlement will be slashed from 30 days down to 20. I will be awarded 5/260th of my salary in compensation, and I can elect to sacrifice at the deducted rate of 1/260th of my salary per day in order to potentially top up my annual leave entitlement to a maximum of 25 days per annum. But I must elect that salary sacrifice within a two week window in October of the prior year and notify my manager which days I will be taking in advance.
Also, my contractual hours will be harmonised to the same standard across the business, which is 37 hours per week. As I currently work a 40 hour week, I will in effect gain three hours per week in extra leisure time. The downside is that I will be paid 7.5% less salary to compensate for my loss of available working time. But, crucially, my contract as it currently stands gives me a dinner hour each day within my 40 hour window, so although I'm at work for 40 hours, I only actually work 35 of those hours. The new contract has me working 37 hours per week, but in addition I must take a half-hour of my own time for lunch each day, so I'll still be at work from 7:30 til 4 (except Fridays, when I'll leave at 3:30), but I'll have only half an hour for lunch, and I lose 7.5% of my salary for this privelege.
On the proper positive side, my sick entitlement goes from 4 weeks full pay and four weeks half pay to a whopping 28 weeks full pay.
Harmonisation - more like bloody rip off.

This can't have come out of the blue LLS ?

Have there been 'consultations' ? If it's been done via negotiation and it's signed off then you're goosed and your beef is with those who signed it as much as those who proposed it.

TUPE doesn't allow for contracts to be simply ripped up .... in fact the balance of that law is rather employee biased.

It is a pain managing multi T&C's ... almost impossible sometimes when people work alongside each other with totally different terms. I don't blame any Company wanting to rationalise it, but generally that works where there's give & take (as you itemise here in some instances). However they can't simply ride roughshod over you.

On the downside, if enough people push back they could decide to terminate all contracts and offer re-instatement on new ones but that's a big strategy and high risk.

Drop me a PM if you need any details discussing.

[Lord Kangana]

Looks like you need a 28 week sick note

The stress caused by his new terms and conditions should do nicely.

Know any quacks, LLS?

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Harmonisation. In order to cut down on the number of different contracts across all the business units my work has just decided to harmonise us all (key mental images of getting the blender out...).
Marvellous, but what does it mean for me, specifically?
Well, as of the first of January 2014, my annual leave entitlement will be slashed from 30 days down to 20. I will be awarded 5/260th of my salary in compensation, and I can elect to sacrifice at the deducted rate of 1/260th of my salary per day in order to potentially top up my annual leave entitlement to a maximum of 25 days per annum. But I must elect that salary sacrifice within a two week window in October of the prior year and notify my manager which days I will be taking in advance.
Also, my contractual hours will be harmonised to the same standard across the business, which is 37 hours per week. As I currently work a 40 hour week, I will in effect gain three hours per week in extra leisure time. The downside is that I will be paid 7.5% less salary to compensate for my loss of available working time. But, crucially, my contract as it currently stands gives me a dinner hour each day within my 40 hour window, so although I'm at work for 40 hours, I only actually work 35 of those hours. The new contract has me working 37 hours per week, but in addition I must take a half-hour of my own time for lunch each day, so I'll still be at work from 7:30 til 4 (except Fridays, when I'll leave at 3:30), but I'll have only half an hour for lunch, and I lose 7.5% of my salary for this privelege.
On the proper positive side, my sick entitlement goes from 4 weeks full pay and four weeks half pay to a whopping 28 weeks full pay.
Harmonisation - more like bloody rip off.

This can't have come out of the blue LLS ?

Have there been 'consultations' ? If it's been done via negotiation and it's signed off then you're goosed and your beef is with those who signed it as much as those who proposed it.

TUPE doesn't allow for contracts to be simply ripped up .... in fact the balance of that law is rather employee biased.

It is a pain managing multi T&C's ... almost impossible sometimes when people work alongside each other with totally different terms. I don't blame any Company wanting to rationalise it, but generally that works where there's give & take (as you itemise here in some instances). However they can't simply ride roughshod over you.

On the downside, if enough people push back they could decide to terminate all contracts and offer re-instatement on new ones but that's a big strategy and high risk.

Drop me a PM if you need any details discussing.

It's not out of the blue, it's been hatching for quite a while, and "we've" been represented by a workplace council. As I said to malc, if I was running the place, I'd have done exactly what they've done. In my team alone, working in the same office on the same jobs, booking the same work onto the same timesheets, I have seven people with four different contractual arrangements among them. Some start at 7:30 and go home at 4, some start at 8 and go home at 5, some come in 9 til 5, and some have a 40 hour week and can do flexi-time across a 6am to 6pm range.
To be fair, they have tried to compensate where 'sacrifices' have been made, and the overall package if you were a new starter is fine: it's just because the loss of holidays and the in effect 7.5% wage cut, feels a little raw at the moment - but I can see that as it only affects me and six other people* out of nearly three hundred within my business unit alone, whereas over two hundred have much better terms and conditions, and about a hundred are already on the new standard T&Cs, there wasn't a lot of lee-way for negotiation for us*.
*we being the tiny original remnants of a small cutting edge avant garde measurement systems firm that had 80 employees when we were bought out in 2008.
But thanks for the offer of help anyway. At least I've still got a job, and despite the upcoming wage cut, a relatively well paid one at that, and a work place within ten minutes of where I live. Blessings can be counted - hence why I posted here rather than the angry thread.

[bobo the clown]

OK, so not a hideous, unfeeling, rip-off ... just that you fall within the 'loser' category in the group. Not 'cost cutting and ripping off' but sensible enough changes which hit you a bit more than others.

It's horrid when management are always absolute bastards, don't you think ?

If you do need to discuss anything specific drop me a line.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

OK, so not a hideous, unfeeling, rip-off ... just that you fall within the 'loser' category in the group. Not 'cost cutting and ripping off' but sensible enough changes which hit you a bit more than others.

It's horrid when management are always absolute bastards, don't you think ?

If you do need to discuss anything specific drop me a line.

LLS "loser"

Thanks, you've cheered me up no end, .

Honestly, it's all pretty crystal clear, but thanks anyway.

[bobo the clown]

OK, so not a hideous, unfeeling, rip-off ... just that you fall within the 'loser' category in the group. Not 'cost cutting and ripping off' but sensible enough changes which hit you a bit more than others.

It's horrid when management are always absolute bastards, don't you think ?

If you do need to discuss anything specific drop me a line.

LLS "loser"

Thanks, you've cheered me up no end, .

Honestly, it's all pretty crystal clear, but thanks anyway.

You needed to be told. I have always believed in being cruel to be cruel. Otherwise where are the laughs ?

(but you knew what I meant, of course)

[bwfcdan94]

Harmonisation. In order to cut down on the number of different contracts across all the business units my work has just decided to harmonise us all (key mental images of getting the blender out...).
Marvellous, but what does it mean for me, specifically?
Well, as of the first of January 2014, my annual leave entitlement will be slashed from 30 days down to 20. I will be awarded 5/260th of my salary in compensation, and I can elect to sacrifice at the deducted rate of 1/260th of my salary per day in order to potentially top up my annual leave entitlement to a maximum of 25 days per annum. But I must elect that salary sacrifice within a two week window in October of the prior year and notify my manager which days I will be taking in advance.
Also, my contractual hours will be harmonised to the same standard across the business, which is 37 hours per week. As I currently work a 40 hour week, I will in effect gain three hours per week in extra leisure time. The downside is that I will be paid 7.5% less salary to compensate for my loss of available working time. But, crucially, my contract as it currently stands gives me a dinner hour each day within my 40 hour window, so although I'm at work for 40 hours, I only actually work 35 of those hours. The new contract has me working 37 hours per week, but in addition I must take a half-hour of my own time for lunch each day, so I'll still be at work from 7:30 til 4 (except Fridays, when I'll leave at 3:30), but I'll have only half an hour for lunch, and I lose 7.5% of my salary for this privelege.
On the proper positive side, my sick entitlement goes from 4 weeks full pay and four weeks half pay to a whopping 28 weeks full pay.
Harmonisation - more like bloody rip off.

This can't have come out of the blue LLS ?

Have there been 'consultations' ? If it's been done via negotiation and it's signed off then you're goosed and your beef is with those who signed it as much as those who proposed it.

TUPE doesn't allow for contracts to be simply ripped up .... in fact the balance of that law is rather employee biased.

It is a pain managing multi T&C's ... almost impossible sometimes when people work alongside each other with totally different terms. I don't blame any Company wanting to rationalise it, but generally that works where there's give & take (as you itemise here in some instances). However they can't simply ride roughshod over you.

On the downside, if enough people push back they could decide to terminate all contracts and offer re-instatement on new ones but that's a big strategy and high risk.

Drop me a PM if you need any details discussing.

It's not out of the blue, it's been hatching for quite a while, and "we've" been represented by a workplace council. As I said to malc, if I was running the place, I'd have done exactly what they've done. In my team alone, working in the same office on the same jobs, booking the same work onto the same timesheets, I have seven people with four different contractual arrangements among them. Some start at 7:30 and go home at 4, some start at 8 and go home at 5, some come in 9 til 5, and some have a 40 hour week and can do flexi-time across a 6am to 6pm range.
To be fair, they have tried to compensate where 'sacrifices' have been made, and the overall package if you were a new starter is fine: it's just because the loss of holidays and the in effect 7.5% wage cut, feels a little raw at the moment - but I can see that as it only affects me and six other people* out of nearly three hundred within my business unit alone, whereas over two hundred have much better terms and conditions, and about a hundred are already on the new standard T&Cs, there wasn't a lot of lee-way for negotiation for us*.
*we being the tiny original remnants of a small cutting edge avant garde measurement systems firm that had 80 employees when we were bought out in 2008.
But thanks for the offer of help anyway. At least I've still got a job, and despite the upcoming wage cut, a relatively well paid one at that, and a work place within ten minutes of where I live. Blessings can be counted - hence why I posted here rather than the angry thread.

That doesn't sound like a very good idea to me surely you could end up with people working 12 hours Monday - Friday, coming in for the morning on Thursday and then disappearing for 3 and a halve days. It must be chaotic.

[boltonboris]

Normally, you can only take a minimal number of "flexi-days". Missus' place says 1 a month and any "flexi balance" that is left over gets paid as overtime, but there's a maximum amount of that, so people don't hammer it.

[bobo the clown]

Normally, you can only take a minimal number of "flexi-days". Missus' place says 1 a month and any "flexi balance" that is left over gets paid as overtime, but there's a maximum amount of that, so people don't hammer it.

Correct.

Though it leads to all sorts of stroke pulling and clock watching ... even at senior levels.

It would offer LLS a means of rebuilding that holiday entitlement and still working similar actual hours as now.

So long as he's not on 28 weeks sickie of course !!

[Bijou Bob]

Might I suggest LLS that you quietly withdraw a commensurate percentage of effort as a first response, until such time as you have worked out a way to fiddle the new system?

[bobo the clown]

Might I suggest LLS that you quietly withdraw a commensurate percentage of effort as a first response, until such time as you have worked out a way to fiddle the new system?

Or ... as an alternative ... just a suggestion, like ... suck it up & get on with it ?

It's not the public sector Bob.

[Bruce Rioja]

Might I suggest LLS that you quietly withdraw a commensurate percentage of effort as a first response, until such time as you have worked out a way to fiddle the new system?

Or ... as an alternative ... just a suggestion, like ... suck it up & get on with it ?

It's not the public sector Bob.

Hmm, wasn't Bob crushingly uneasy about sitting around doing feck all whilst being overwhelmed by helpful gadgetry the other week?

[Bijou Bob]

Might I suggest LLS that you quietly withdraw a commensurate percentage of effort as a first response, until such time as you have worked out a way to fiddle the new system?

Or ... as an alternative ... just a suggestion, like ... suck it up & get on with it ?

It's not the public sector Bob.

Hmm, wasn't Bob crushingly uneasy about sitting around doing feck all whilst being overwhelmed by helpful gadgetry the other week?

I was indeed, but on reflection I realised that it enabled me to work from Home 2 days a week. I have therefore, reluctantly reconciled myself with it

[Lost Leopard Spot]

I could do with more helpful gadgetry. That or a slave or two.

[CrazyHorse]

My two pence worth....
Find another job then burn your bridges at the current place by telling them exactly what you think of them and that they can shove their job right up their arse.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

My two pence worth....
Find another job then burn your bridges at the current place by telling them exactly what you think of them and that they can shove their job right up their arse.

If you need an agent, editor and proof reader for your book "Hoss's Guide to Workplace Relationships" I'm your man.

[Worthy4England]

Harmonisation. In order to cut down on the number of different contracts across all the business units my work has just decided to harmonise us all (key mental images of getting the blender out...).
Marvellous, but what does it mean for me, specifically?
Well, as of the first of January 2014, my annual leave entitlement will be slashed from 30 days down to 20. I will be awarded 5/260th of my salary in compensation, and I can elect to sacrifice at the deducted rate of 1/260th of my salary per day in order to potentially top up my annual leave entitlement to a maximum of 25 days per annum. But I must elect that salary sacrifice within a two week window in October of the prior year and notify my manager which days I will be taking in advance.
Also, my contractual hours will be harmonised to the same standard across the business, which is 37 hours per week. As I currently work a 40 hour week, I will in effect gain three hours per week in extra leisure time. The downside is that I will be paid 7.5% less salary to compensate for my loss of available working time. But, crucially, my contract as it currently stands gives me a dinner hour each day within my 40 hour window, so although I'm at work for 40 hours, I only actually work 35 of those hours. The new contract has me working 37 hours per week, but in addition I must take a half-hour of my own time for lunch each day, so I'll still be at work from 7:30 til 4 (except Fridays, when I'll leave at 3:30), but I'll have only half an hour for lunch, and I lose 7.5% of my salary for this privelege.
On the proper positive side, my sick entitlement goes from 4 weeks full pay and four weeks half pay to a whopping 28 weeks full pay.
Harmonisation - more like bloody rip off.

This can't have come out of the blue LLS ?

Have there been 'consultations' ? If it's been done via negotiation and it's signed off then you're goosed and your beef is with those who signed it as much as those who proposed it.

TUPE doesn't allow for contracts to be simply ripped up .... in fact the balance of that law is rather employee biased.

It is a pain managing multi T&C's ... almost impossible sometimes when people work alongside each other with totally different terms. I don't blame any Company wanting to rationalise it, but generally that works where there's give & take (as you itemise here in some instances). However they can't simply ride roughshod over you.

On the downside, if enough people push back they could decide to terminate all contracts and offer re-instatement on new ones but that's a big strategy and high risk.

Drop me a PM if you need any details discussing.

Not that high risk if they lob all the DB Support to Bangalore.