Employment, jobseeking & training

The following links may prove useful in looking for information about Employment and Jobseeking. [MSE INSERT, 15/02/22: Some of these links are now out of date. You can find an updated list on this page of the thread] MSE Fully Researched Guides Low Income Grant Grabbing House and Energy Grant Grabbing Great Grants Hunt…

I'm currently employed in a non-clinical role within the NHS and would like to study for a professional qualification to improve my prospects. I have mentioned it in a few of my annual personal development reviews, but my manager has said there isn't enough money available within the budget to fund the course. They've said…

Would you have a 2 week break in between leaving an old job and starting a new job if you could afford it?

I'm 62 and recently lost my job without any payment and want to claim job seekers allowance. I have paid in enough credits to get a full state pension. By claiming JSA does this affect my future state pension.

I was speaking to a client recently who claims Universal Credit, and is a courier. UC are still using the 45p per mile for business mileage from 6 April 2026. Has this been agreed by HMRC to use the old rate, which seems unfair on those claiming business mileage just because they're on UC.

I have been in my current job for 21 months hgv driving. I have had a new job offer at a local steelworks driving plant machinery better hourly rate and more holidays per year. Only downfall is it’s one week nights and one week days. The days week is Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 12hrs and 8hrs on the Friday. Week 2 is 12hr…

Hello I had a bad motorcycle accident and broke my arm and caused a lot of soft tissue damges which was shown in MRI scan I work as a care worker for a local council and have worked there for 10 years I returned to work after 6 months on a light duty only phased return to work for 4 weeks which has just completed ( this…

I've searched online already at the various calculators as well as my own maths, and can't quite figure this one out….. I've recently seen the replacement advert for a friend who's leaving a post within a fairly reasonable £££m sized firm. The (very inflexible) office hours they work are M-Th 8-5:30 and F is 8-5. So that…

I fell over this week, I was assuming that I tripped over my own feet, as I could not remember, but that may not be the case. Dizziness after standing up is usually a brief drop in blood pressure called orthostatic hypotension, which happens when gravity pulls blood into your legs and your body takes a moment to adjust. I…

Any advice please how to handle the above conversation delivered by your boss at work, you don't appear happy at work and we don't want you to be unhappy....was delivered in the most awkward style and took about 3 iterations to still not directly say what they actually meant as a solution....I guess it was said for me to…

A couple of years ago our MD bought in a policy, that didn't go down well with staff, that we have to pay for any "damage" to company cars. They inspect them monthly, pretty much with a magnifying glass, to see if there's any minor scratches that they can find, then take photos to pass over to HR. Sometimes scratches they…

Hi all would appreciate advice. My previous thread with history is on here for anyone interested in details of background long story short I have a heart condition and have been occupational health assessed as disabled and have a flexible working arrangement in place. Unfortunately my condition has worsened and I am not…

Hi I won a case with employment tribunal with my employer. The court decided that company needs to pay me. Now the judgment has been issued to me and employer but no indication of payments from employer. What to do? thanks.

Hi I have been employed with a structured company for longer than 7 years. From Feb'26 payslip continually until Sep'26 I have been receiving a "Holiday Topup" amount which varies by the month. I checked and found there was a Holiday Top Up paid in my Apr’25 payslip, but nothing from May’25 through to Jan’26. Also checked…

[EDIT…My apologies, i just googled this question and it answers everything…..i just didnt realise how good google is now…….so please ignore this post…(unless you can think of some snaggy situations upcoming from it)…my apologies…….ENDofEDIT] I have just been going for an electronics engineering job via an recruitment…

for a number of reasons i want to change jobs from working at royal mail for nearly 20 years obviously my skills are mainly customer service, i dont know what else to add except having to be organised and generally work relentlessly to get the work done i am here just to ask where to start looking? i am also in a new area…

Morning all, hope you’re good! I’m embracing a change of work situation i.e redundancy. I feel like I’ve been sat in the same career route for the past 14 years (customer service/education) and I’m actually seeing this as the perfect opportunity to change. I want to get back into information and guidance which I did for 2…

The company I work for has recently been taken over. All employees have always been paid weekly (as per our contract) and our new employer intends to implement a monthly pay schedule. He verbally informed some of us of this intention less than three weeks before what will be our final weekly pay date, others haven't been…

Hi All, My son has a question so I am asking on his behalf… …Son is asking employer to reduce his hours by 90 minutes for some shifts (21 shifts in a 9 week pattern). Head of Department (HoD) has said 'no' for 16 of the 21 shifts. HoD has given 3 reasons for why those 16 other shifts were declined but there are numerous…

Do I have any grounds for grievance? Background: I don't drive and there is no public transport available to the office as it sits on a remote farm. I was offered the role and informed them I cant take it due to location. However, it turned out one of the staff lived near me and would be happy to car share. This only half…

Hi, I am getting bad references from a previous employer. How can I remedy this? It concerns a time when BAE (+other defence primes) were putting out power supply projects to British companies just to see if they could actually do them. These companies were going to get payed whether or not the power supplys worked(!!!)…