Italy bonds reach 8% now

Old_Slaphead

StevieJ wrote: »

Is it not the same for all workers who previously contracted out? Presumably the other side of the coin is a lower public/private sector pension, have I got that right?

I was under the impression that if you contracted out you got basic state benefits - but if you were cotracted in, you paid a bit more (ie +1.6%) but got an additional small S2P.

Seems the public sector who are contracted out will also get some extra state pension ??

yotmon

My partner has just been told that all her company are being given redundancy notices and they will have to apply for their jobs - this is the 4th time in 3 years - getting the hang of it now ! Under the old '85 year rule' on public pensions, she was promised a pension at 53 + 32 years of service. This would have given her a modest pension, 7 years prior to normal pension age. The rules were changed and she will now have to wait until she is 66. Her redundancy package is worth £9500 and obviously a reduced pension when she reaches retirement age. The goal posts were moved for all, not just new ones joining the pension scheme. What you have to consider is how employees have managed their lives, being loyal to the same company for 32 years, only to find that their future has been totally changed, by no fault of their own.

heathcote123

Heyman wrote: »

What would you like to see the UK government do with the money saved by doing this? Pay down the defecit? Lower taxes? Then what?

Yes & yes. And then lower taxes a bit more.

Going4TheDream

Jack_Johnson_the_acorn wrote: »

Flexi time is nice, although it's generally used for business needs, so if we are busy staff stay behind to help out, then on less busy days they can go home early.... You aren't generally allowed to come and go as you wish..... Although I do. :j

My daughter works for the Legal Services in the Civil Service...core hours are 10 till 4 for her department which they have to work. Other parts of her department have no restrictions and can go in any time between 7 and 7 but have to do a minimum 6 hrs.

The rest is flexible..... they are contracted to a 35 hour a week and at the end of each period which I believe is 4 weeks must have accrued no more than 2 days over and no more than 2 days under in hours. If they have accrued extra time they can take the time off and if under they need to make it up.

When she was telling me I thought she was taking the p!ss as it seemed unreal.....

oldvicar

Flexi is great isn't it. In addition to weekends, you get your usual 30=35 days holiday, and 8 Bank holidays (9 next year). Then on top by going in early to read your newspaperyou can build up an extra 24 days a year (must be taken as 2 days a month or 4 every other month) holiday. Then your 'Whitley' days (sick leave entitlement) say 10 days, plus time off for medical appointments ...

Never actually met anyone who does this, so they may be as rare as Unicorns.

Going4TheDream

oldvicar wrote: »

Flexi is great isn't it. In addition to weekends, you get your usual 30=35 days holiday, and 8 Bank holidays (9 next year). Then on top by going in early to read your newspaperyou can build up an extra 24 days a year (must be taken as 2 days a month or 4 every other month) holiday. Then your 'Whitley' days (sick leave entitlement) say 10 days, plus time off for medical appointments ...

Never actually met anyone who does this, so they may be as rare as Unicorns.

I think they must where my daughter works. She tends to go in for 8.30 and work until 5pm... it was only when she was told you have accrued a lot of hours she realised what the situation was.....and now tries to do her hrs and maybe accrue some to take a friday off now and then. People have negotiated to work at home one day a week, so on certain days she says the office is down to bare bones.... she came from the private sector so finds it as amazing as me....

the mad thing was that it didnt seem to be managed very well and she said she was asked to do overtime on a saturday regularly, double time due to a back log...she said that there were more people working in the office on a saturday at 7.30 than on a weekday...ironically she said many of those were vastly under their contractual hours... which seems very wasteful financially for the tax payers???

not sure about the 35 days holiday though believe it is 25 or 28 and unsure about the sickness policy.....

Norfolk_Jim

The_White_Horse wrote: »

if you don't like it, or don't think you are paid enough, quit and get a better paid job elsewhere.

if not, stop moaning.

the point is, your job is not needed. it is an indulgence and luxury. these cretins should be left to their own devices. if they get a job, great. if not, they can starve or go to prison.

if they starve, who will pick up and dispose of the bodies? If they go to prison, who will be staffing it so they don't just break out?

Your ingrained bigotry has fuddled your brains White Horse? You have such a blanket loathing of public sector workers that you can't or won't make a distinction between those who make a positive contribution to the nation as a whole and those who are genuinely a luxury the nation can no longer afford.
I'm saving the nation money and the successes you so freely poo-poo end up contributing to the economy rather than being a drain on it.
What should be concentrated on is establishing a link between work and welfare. Most people should be giving something in return for benefits recieved. As things stand now, breeding can be a rewarding career - so why not advance some well thought out ideas for welfare reform rather than persisting in being the living embodiment of the Daily Mail

Left to their own devices the "cretins" will no doubt establish Croydon and Tottenham as permanent fixtures - they won't just lie down and die quietly - though no doubt you would like the army to hurry them on their way...oh, I forgot, there isn't any army is there? They're an indulgence and a luxury.

kabayiri

I think the government will increasingly look to offload sections of the public sector onto the private via outsourcing. Some of the ministers' pals in the likes of Capita will be salivating at this prospect.

They will trot out the usual justifications about efficiency etc, but I don't think service levels will improve, and long term I reckon the outsource companies will wedge the price up. You can see this with government IT provision.

ruggedtoast

The_White_Horse wrote: »

the public sector should all be sacked and forced to reapply for their jobs. at least 60% are not needed. we really must make a distinction between "nice to have" and "need to have".

And where would you sit on that continuum exactly?

yotmon

kabayiri wrote: »

I think the government will increasingly look to offload sections of the public sector onto the private via outsourcing. Some of the ministers' pals in the likes of Capita will be salivating at this prospect.

They will trot out the usual justifications about efficiency etc, but I don't think service levels will improve, and long term I reckon the outsource companies will wedge the price up. You can see this with government IT provision.

I used to work in an office with social services and a lot of the social workers were on sick leave claiming that their demanding work load caused them stress. So 'agency' workers would be utilised - costing around £55,000 p.a. rather than £25,000 for a regual worker (who would still be on full pay). Once the regulars saw how much agency workers were earning (now classed as self-employed), quite a few left the public sector on a Friday and were literally back on the following Monday as an agency worker. This is costing the tax payer millions, but nobody bats an eye lid !
Only last week I was told that a colleague was on maternity leave and even though their work load had dropped dramatically, an agency worker had been enrolled to cover the 6 months absence. Most other places i have worked normally carry maternity leave between other workers until they return - not in social services it seems.