It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

Floss

ladyholly said:

OP didnt walk out. They handed in their notice due to lack of care from employer and was puton gardening leave. Due to the employers attitude there could be a case for constructive dismissal. Certainly they should be getting legal advice.

So they are still employed & can request in writing that the incident is added to the accident book. 

RobM99

sarahj1986 said:

Doing my online shop, at least 3 things have increased on price since last week. 2 by 5% but my daughters juice has gone up 20%. Absolutely ridiculous now. It’s never ending 

Agreed, it's not just the odd 20p, it seems to be most things - except petrol!

EssexHebridean

Bizarrely we have found one petrol station locally with diesel a good 8p a litre cheaper than anywhere else. it's not that far away, but also not close enough to be on the way to anywhere, it requires a short diversion on the way back from work to visit albeit it IS a diversion we use from time to time if the motorway is bug....troublesome. The online reviews say that it also sometimes goes cash only  so at the moment we've decided that if we're passing, and need fuel, we'll stop and see, but we won't make a special trip. 165.9 a litre diesel would be lovely though! 

sammy_kaye18

Hi All
Back again. 
Took some time off from the interweb in December and just forgot to come back on but I got diagnosed with PCOS just before Christmas so I am busy making diet changes and hoping to start doing more home cooking again rather than quick and easy meals. 
Although I was given a microwave at Christmas by my in laws and I feel like that is beginning to save me so much time with certain things so I am using my oven much less. 

I also did an experiment with the £66 voucher from the government - and since my electric is still not fixed properly , I put it onto my gas meter. The £66 has lasted us more than a month. In fact the new voucher came a few days ago and my son and I went for a walk last night to the shop to put it onto the gas card because I didn't want it to expire and I have literally just put it in the meter and I still had £9.99 on there so it now reads as £76.99 so hopefully that will do us over a month as well. I have had the heating set to come on 3 times a day - an hour in the morning for the kids and husband going to school/college/work, an hour when the kids are getting ready and going to bed so between 8,30 - 9.30 and then an hour in the night about 1-2 to take any chill off. Our thermostat is set to 18-20 degrees. I have blankets on the chairs and we do have an electric fire in the living room that we can do a quick blast with. Also our door is missing from the living room to the kitchen so I hung a curtain there and its surprising how much heat it keeps in. At least I have a rough idea of how much to put on a month and hopefully over the warmer months it will start to add up to cover us for next winter

Apart from that, I am busy looking at my garden and trying to figure out the best way to make it work for me this year. The layout last year was a bit of hit and miss, some beds werent deep enough and I found I grew a lot in pots and vertically so I think
I am going to have a reshuffle when the weather gets a bit drier and focus more on pots, tubs, containers and getting the garden asthetically pleasing to me. I also want to add more flowers etc as well to encourage pollinators and birds. 

Another money saver I am looking into at the minute is raising my own mealworms , not only to feed birds with but also to feed our lizards. 

So thats where Im at at the minute! How was everyone's Christmases? 

Wednesday2000

I've been decluttering a lot the past two or three weeks as we are getting our house decorated this month and I need to streamline and do a deep clean before the decorator arrives.

I am going to try and not visit any charity shops for the whole of January as I do spend far too much money in those places! I am going to put the cash I would normally spend in chazzers into my Christmas box fund. I did boost it by putting £30 in there at the end of last year, but I'm going to see how much more I have in there by February 1st.

I did get the £67 back from Ovo a few days ago which was handy.:)

Longwalker

Just to clarify , yes Im still on the books to friday

There is no accident book. Like I say, H&S is non existent in the factory - none. Only yourself assessing the risk yourself

My job involved lifting 30kg crates all day long, not just one of two, constantly, and whilst I could easily manage at waist hight, I struggled to lift them above that. So I refused to lift them myself and always asked the nearest person to help. Now others did lift them alone , but that was their choice, I chose not to and was told by my boss when I asked him to lift one for me " what do I pay you for?"

Seriously there was scant regard for anyone who couldn't keep up

Im thinking long and hard about reporting it to HSE myself. I know they will be down like a tonne of bricks and his lack of records are enough to have him put on an immediate improvement order, with the factory forced to close till the improvements made, and him getting a huge fine. All of which he deserves, but my (ex) colleagues dont deserve to lose their jobs, which will happen because our customers all rely on what we produce and they will be forced to try find someone else within hours, or stop production themselves - what we send out on a Monday is in store on Wednesday , or a restaurant plate on a Tuesday, no one holds stock

Its not any easy choice and whilst I know I SHOULD report it, my concern is that he will go down the pan and 10 others lose their jobs , its not easy to sit with that in such a small community.

EssexHebridean

Argh that's such a tough decision. I guess the devil's advocate flipside is that the alternative to an HSE report and people losing their jobs is that it sounds like it could feasibly not be all that long before someone loses their life - or at the very least suffers a life changing injury. The quandary comes in weighing off a near certainty (job loss) with a possibility (a serious accident occurring).  By the sound of it he'll continue as he is until he either does face an accident - in which case he could well  end up in prison - or gets a random inspection, which could happen. It certainly used to be that the HSE's first step was to issue an improvement notice but it would only be in exceptional circumstances where there was perceived as an immediate danger  that they would issue a prohibition notice, but that may have changed. 

Personally whatever else I did I'd still go with the written report and the request that it is inserted into the accident book - that such a book might be non-existent is largely irrelevant in whether you should follow the correct protocol on it IMO. If there were to be an accident down the line, that report could end up forming part of further evidence against your boss, too, if they went down the route of contacting former employees. I'd also suggest that you include in that report that the lack of H&S in the business has lead you to the decision that your resignation is your only option. Send by "signed for" and keep a copy of both the letter and the tracking confirmation that it has been received. 

Longwalker

EssexHebridean said:

Argh that's such a tough decision. I guess the devil's advocate flipside is that the alternative to an HSE report and people losing their jobs is that it sounds like it could feasibly not be all that long before someone loses their life - or at the very least suffers a life changing injury. The quandary comes in weighing off a near certainty (job loss) with a possibility (a serious accident occurring).  By the sound of it he'll continue as he is until he either does face an accident - in which case he could well  end up in prison - or gets a random inspection, which could happen. It certainly used to be that the HSE's first step was to issue an improvement notice but it would only be in exceptional circumstances where there was perceived as an immediate danger  that they would issue a prohibition notice, but that may have changed. 

Personally whatever else I did I'd still go with the written report and the request that it is inserted into the accident book - that such a book might be non-existent is largely irrelevant in whether you should follow the correct protocol on it IMO. If there were to be an accident down the line, that report could end up forming part of further evidence against your boss, too, if they went down the route of contacting former employees. I'd also suggest that you include in that report that the lack of H&S in the business has lead you to the decision that your resignation is your only option. Send by "signed for" and keep a copy of both the letter and the tracking confirmation that it has been received. 

Its a nightmare knowing what to do for the best

So many people have said - sue, report, blah blah blah, but its so easy to say that, when its not you having to make the decision and go through with it. At the same time though I do have that niggle that its not long before someone has a life changing injury or worse. Im not vengeful, Im happy enough to be gone

I think I will write the letter for the ( non existent ) accident report book and send it in. Im sure if its dated before my notice is up it will still count?

It might make him think on about the conditions his staff work in

London_1

timehastoldme said:

Just wanted to briefly update for everyone who wished my mum well, we found out today she is officially in remission. Cancer free for 2023 ☺️

Fantastic news I know how you feel I am in hospital at the moment and have been for the past fortnight ,but the best news for me was when the blood tests came back to say although I'm obviously not well, the cancer hasn't returned ,which when youve had it twice as I have, is the first thing you think when you become ill. Just hearing thos words Its not cancer the bloods are clear made me feel so much more relxed and both my DDs sighed with relief. If I could have done I would have danced a jig around the ward Well done give your Mum my best ever wishes and onwards and upwards for you all in 2023 
JackieO xx

Florenceem

Gas statement has arrived - not bad.
Ordered 3 books - secondhand as I found that I had 1 book in my stash of a saga and wanted the complete set.