Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

Thank you @Floss and @WelshmansDaughter. It went okay - they have such a high rate of sickness that there is pressure to resolve it but as mine is clearly traceable back to a work event, I think I will have it a little easier than the others. My manager is going to see what's available elsewhere in the employer in an effort for me not to loose my continuity of service. I'm going to have a think about what fields I might work in and let her know what I think. Another meeting next week, by which time I'll have had my GP appointment and have more idea of the way forward, health-wise.

I also picked over half a kilo of blackberries and washed some towels - both of which I prefer to going to meetings!

I'm yawning now: it's all catching up with me.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £6.12.

Cherryfudge

I woke up a bit, later in the evening, and decided to do some finances. They are only a bit done as I discovered there's a lot more in my pay packet than expected. I can't make head nor tail of how they've worked out my sick pay so I need to compare payslips and try to find some information about how it's done. I thought I would be on roughly three quarters of normal pay but it looks about right for full pay (I went off sick half way through a month and after six months it's reduced to half pay, if that makes sense? So half of August is on half pay, hence about three quarters pay expected). DH thinks it's paid in areas so won't show up till next month but honestly I've been with them so long I don't remember.

I had a look back through my absence records and discovered they have my first sickness day as 7th February, so that needs to change - it was18th, with annual leave of Bank holidays in lieu on 16th and 17th. I can't change that so I need to email management.

And then DH has been restless so I woke up and here I am... better try to get some more sleep soon...

Floss

It maybe SSP on top of your half pay that is making the figures look wrong. It is paid for 28 weeks.

badmemory

Could your full pay be based on weeks rather than months & holiday pay?

Cherryfudge

Floss said:

It maybe SSP on top of your half pay that is making the figures look wrong. It is paid for 28 weeks.

SSP is in there, paid then contra-paid, which I suppose makes sense as my employer pays the full amount for six months, which is only just up.

I've emailed the manager with a load of bits of info, hoping she can make sense of it!

badmemory said:

Could your full pay be based on weeks rather than months & holiday pay?

It's paid monthly, and no holiday can be taken when I'm off sick, so no, not in this case. When I say holiday can't be taken, it can - but annual leave can't.

I have a colossal amount of leave owing to me - roughly five weeks I think. No wonder they want me to move on before I accrue any more!

Cherryfudge

It's been an interesting day: after getting as far as I could with the pay situation, I went to do the hoovering at church and watered some plants despite last night's rain. There's a warm, sunny forecast for the next week.

On the way home I remembered to get pectin so I can have another go at getting the marrow jam to set, then went to L!dl for a few ingredients. While there I got a phone call offering me the relief post! Of course I have various thing to consider as relief won't be enough in the long term, so I explained I could ring her back when I got home. It was about half past two and I'd not had lunch so I grabbed a bite to eat and rang the union rep to ask what position it would put me in. His advice was to ask about average hours in the past, and that it's likely my employer would count it as redeployment, thus not giving me access to the talent pool once I start, but he could also see that it's important for me to move on mentally and to have a job is valuable in terms of my mental health.

We discussed it a bit but in the end I rang back and accepted. I know I have a buffer of a few weeks as I'm still under a sick note, have leave to take and have to wait for references and clearances to go through, and in that time I'll still be looking for other work. It's really nice to have this to aim for, though. I've texted a couple of colleagues to let them know.

I also got some baking done as DH is helping with a cake stall tomorrow. Other than that, yesterday's tea was the rest of the chickpea tikka from the freezer, and today's was 'chicken and' pie, using up some bits of veg, bacon and red wine. I bought pastry (not MS, I know, but pastry isn't my thing) so there's some left over for another project or two.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £4.25

Floss

Congratulations on the new role 😊

You may be able to get some of your leave paid as you've been off for over 6 months, ask your union rep about it & check the ACAS site. I'm carrying a week of mine over next March as I won't be able to use the 26 days I will have, even with 2 holidays & the Christmas break.

Hope you have a relaxing weekend x

Cherryfudge

Thanks @Floss. They might even ask me to accept it as payment and free up my role so they can advertise it - after all, I've been off so long I'm not exactly in need of a holiday. I think for now I will hang on to it while I look for regular contracted hours as it could affect my continuity of service, which gives me some legal rights. But I know I'm entitled to it and I need to make sure I get it one way or another!

I had a bit of a lie-in this morning as DH went down to set up the cake stall. He will be there on and off much of the day but is back now and offered to go to the car boot sale. I'm still in pyjamas and he's having a busy day so we're staying at home. No particular plans. I did spot a post I'd like to look at more closely, so I could do that.

Cherryfudge

H'mmm... above-mentioned post looks nice in the job advert but the job description is a bit scary. I've asked DH to help me look further as two heads are better than one.

It's been nice and sunny today and into the twenties, temperature-wise. DH got home earlier than expected from the fundraiser as they sold out of cakes, but they did make a goodly sum for charity.  In the afternoon we went for a walk to make the most of the sunshine, and I've done some tidying in the garden as the ivy and brambles are re-growing
I also found some more knitting needles in a drawer - how they are still there when I've long since sorted through and paired up loads of inherited pairs, I don't know. There are three pairs and four odd ones, so I'm going to have a quick look in Grandma's knitting bag where the misfits live.   (Worth doing, I've paired up all but one).

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £12.09 plus whatever Dh spent this morning on fruit.

MS:
Blackberry picking again. Walking locally not from a car ride.

Cherryfudge

Another lovely warm, sunny day. Nothing spent, either.

I helped with the pre-schoolers at church this morning - it was really quiet which is probably the pre-going-back-to-school lull.

Salmon for lunch with various veg. Delicious.

I spent a chunk of the afternoon rearranging a town I built in an on-line game, then decided that was a waste so I've had a tidy up in the house while DH got his weekend favourite walk to a village nearby. Later we had a local walk, and ended up helping someone hunt for an escaped dog. It was found quite quickly, a lovely little Beddlington terrier that had seen a cat and the hunting instinct took over. (Cat is fine).

This evening I did some more work on the garden. It felt like being abroad with the warm air under the trees. I've picked yet more blackberries and cut back the spent branches, and also got a bowl of damsons.