Turns out my belief of recovering from the virus was unfounded. I’m still mostly in bed. Apart from covid, I don’t recall a virus knocking me out for best part of two weeks.

I registered for /NoTV license the other day. I simply just don't have telly, an aerial or watch anything live unless I'm at my mum's house. I haven't for several years, so just based on that I signed up to not pay the license.

At the same time, I do support the existence BBC. Not their news, their news is shite. But their quality educational and kids programming is something of a treasure.

(Yes I know, I should just pay for the license then if I feel so positive about them)

It's amazing how many of us our living on year-to-year or month-to-month contracts. What a world

There are several flus going around right now, so hopefully you've got them all out of the way.

Stubborn old men are painful to deal with. I have a colleague who has to keep flying to Romania every other week to convince his father to not scream at the day nurse and to take his pills. The man literally cannot accept that he is old, and with his wife gone he cannot accept that he can't just demand things like food and cleanliness

bed by circumstance? ❌
bed by choice? ✅

Working night shift 8-8 over Christmas so will have a proper Christmas Day with my wife and daughter (+bf) on Sunday.
Pain in the arse but… triple time so January pay will be nice.
Had an early Christmas down at my brother’s which was bloody great. Don’t get to see him as often as I’d like so every time is special.
Gonna make the usual favourite of Brazil nut roast en croute. Piece of piss to make but delicious and really fits the occasion. Also: cabbage in a “cheese” and peanut sauce, red cabbage, sprouts, carrots, roast parsnips and one million crunchy roast potatoes. Can not wait!

Hope you all had a great Christmas!

Thanks Cyber. Loving the eye test proposal as I only did one in the summer and claimed (along with £60 towards the glasses) but wonder if it's per calendar year! :)

That's exactly along the lines I was thinking! - any little advantage to take before I get notice of redundancy, and also after I get notice.

As others have said - check your contract, but, also ask them for a copy of your contract... (and from reading other comments, maybe keep this for the 2nd meeting to delay until a 3rd?)

I was quite surprised when I changed roles a few years ago that the (large, global) company had only a single piece of paper with my NI details on. Nothing else.

If their copy is different, of course check the dates - I'm not a lawyer - but you might be able to pick the "better" version...

If you have things like overtime, then maybe you'll be able to take advantage of that to claim more income whilst you close out actions... or... dunno... get an eye test and claim it back...?

Not great, was hoping early next year that my job would be safe for a bit longer due to a buy out that seems to have fallen flat so redundancy looks to be on the cards.

Still, I appear to have made it into the next calendar year so Christmas is saved! :)

Have a lovely one and thanks for asking.

John Smith, we meet again! :)

Thanks so much for taking the time to cover that as I had no idea that I could in some way stall things and that could be quite helpful as I anticipate the enhanced redundancy will be something close to £100k so it would really benefit me to delay payout into next FY (even factoring in the tax free portion).

I'll have to get some awkward questions ready to drip feed! Thanks again

Haha, to be fair there's no hard feelings - I've had a great run and they've been a good employer.

Will do, I know I have one printed out somewhere and I recall a clause (something like 1 months notice if I quit but 2 months if they pull the trigger) that a colleague said was abnormal. To the extent that they may try paying off against something different.

Thanks so much, you're right - I'll get on it as I'd planned to do things when they happen but being inevitable it makes sense to do it sooner rather than later.

I'm sorry to hear about your situation.

Separate to contractual or redundancy factors, please update your CV now whilst your efforts and achievements are fresh in your mind. Yes, this could be seen as part of the LinkedIn thing but is also worth thinking about well before you've left.

Heck, if you have a manager or colleagues you respect, even get them to read it over; you'd be surprised how much little credit you can give yourself. Of course as part of this, ask about references too.

Nice one!

Clown reference: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-49708570

Sorry to hear that, not a nice place to be suspecting a chop after Christmas.

Nighed already mentioned reading through your contract, which is very important. You should also learn about your statutory rights in case of redundancy. In the UK after two years of employment your rights increase. Your statutory redundancy pay is also dependent on the length of service. As I’m not an employment lawyer I will not write specifics here is case I get some of it wrong. You better find out yourself.

Beyond the legal minimum, some companies offer enhancements on top to “soften the blow”. There might be enhanced redundancy pay on the table, support in finding a new job, training etc.

The company cannot just announce redundancies. They are required by law to consult about the redundancies, seeking measures to avoid them or mitigate their impact. If they do not consult in good faith with the affected people they are breaching the law leaving them open to compensation claims.

Each individual in scope should expect to have at least two consultation meetings. First meeting is to explain rationale why the individual role is at risk and offer the individual an opportunity to ask questions and make proposals to avoid the redundancy. Nighed mentioned “support clown” which I think refers to a support person one can take to redundancy consultation meetings. Second and any subsequent individual consultation meetings are to answer questions and proposals, and to make new ones if something new comes up.

A way to be awkward, should one wish to be, would be to have several questions and proposals to avoid redundancy in back pocket and drip-feed them over several individual consultation meetings to prolong the process and make it uncomfortable for the people managing the process as possible. All consultation meetings must be minuted in writing, by the way.

A redundancy becomes effective only once the individual consultation has concluded, and all questions have been answered and proposals considered. This is the point from which the notice period in the employment contract starts ticking.

Some things might be negotiable during the consultation. Examples would be whether one needs to work their notice period or can people get paid in lieu of the notice period. The points to try and negotiate about should be about avoiding the redundancies or mitigating their impact.

You might want to think what to ask and what to propose should it come to a redundancy consultation. For example, you might want to propose that they must pay for extra training and job seeking support. They must consider all questions and proposals and provide meaningful and reasoned answers.

But importantly, I’m not an expert, just somebody who’s been through that shitshow a few times.

Good luck!

Find your emotional support clown to take to the meeting.

On a practical note, read through your contract and understand your notice period and the rules around it. Do they require you to work notice, can they pay you off to not work it (check what they say about benefits in that situation). What does it say about unused holiday etc.

Do they offer training/certifications? Book/expense certification exams now, then you can learn the content between jobs/during notice.

I got one with a massive reservoir on the back, but only boils one cup at a time.

I think it's great, less electricity, fewer refills, press the button and it'll pour out the water for me when it boils.

Wouldn't go back to a regular kettle now.

Would be less useful if making multiple drinks at the same time though.

Buy a metal hull one anyway. The fear of micro plastics and the issues they cause in the world and in your body are probably not worth it. Holy crap. I just saw the price of Smeg kettles. 😱

Bought a Dualit Architect last year because it was on offer at Costco (UK). It’s really good and pours with a laminar flow, made in the UK, but kinda expensive.

My VonShef kettle is a good mix of firm plastic handle with keep-warm and temperature settings built in, and robust metal hull.

It's survived 5 different moves and going strong 10 years.

This is not the exact model, but it's similar to this:

If you brew coffee and/or green tea, one with an adjustable thermostat and a keep hot function. Otherwise the cheapest and most powerful one. Gooseneck is nice too.

Best source for kettles, the telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/recommended/home/kitchen/best-kettles/

Maybe gives you some ideas though. I prefer to stay away from plastic ones and ones with dials and other bells and whistles

American that has visited and worked in the UK here, if that qualifies me lol - I love my OXO goose kettle.

Better. I managed to overcome some of the stress. Has helped that its been quiet and my boss recognised they were partly the cause and have chiled out