overall society is better today with a better standard of living and welfare than ever, even for the poor layabouts. there is more money than ever so the whole business suffering thing doesnt really wash does it
Unpaid doesn't mean that there aren't costs to the company which, inevitably, are picked up by others. And taxation comes from taxpayers, aka 'others'.
why dont we just spend a load of money on nuclear bombs and a war or two instead?? Probably much better use of tax than supporting families and small business....
surprised we can have a war with the bombs we got. after all half the bloody workers are off with thier kids when they should be making munitions lol
why don't we do neither of the above ? Tax less, moralise less, interfere less. Is this actually a better country for all the thousands of new laws and regulations applied over the last few decades ? I know some are good but overall are we a happier, healthier, better place to live and bring up a family etc?
If you want to go right down to fundamentals,it goes like this: An Employee sells a period of his/her life to an Employer. The Employer will require the Employee to carry out certain tasks in the time he pays for.(We'll call this,making,"something") The Employee will expect to get paid the agreed rate for the amount of time he sells to his/her Employer.(Lets assume that the Employee makes one,"something",per day) That is the nub of it.Back in the day,that was the case for nearly everybody. And in many countries,this is still the case. All well and good,the Employee works and the Employer pays...everybodys happy,or should be.After all it's not a forced marriage,no-one is doing anything they don't want to do. But here comes the gravy: (1)Lets start with Paid holidays. This means that the Employer pays for more of the Employees time, than the time the Employee actually works.(In our world it's usually 20 days). In essence this means that if an Employee fabricates 20 somethings a month,the Employer is paying for time it takes to make 240 somethings a year,but actually only has 220 to sell.Hence he has to put up the price of each something by one twelfth,in order to cover these costs. (2)Lets add Bank Holidays.(I think there were eight last year?),and many Employees expect them to be paid holidays,although they will not expect to make any somethings on those days. Overall,this will put the overall costs of each something by ,(I guess something like an eighth,maybe 12%,something like that?) As long as the Customer thinks the somethings are worth the money,all well and good. So lets add some more gravy: Paternity/maternity leave is going to cost the Employer an amount of money. He might have to pay the Employee,or he might have to pay for a substitute,(who will cost extra and be less productive,because he/she has no long term interest in the Employer),or he might just have to accept that he will have 220 somethings less to sell than he did last year. If he sold 1100 somethings last year,and he now can only sell 880,the price of each something will have to go up,because his rent/rates etc will stay the same So in a nutshell,anything apart from the basic,"agreed payment for time worked",is going to add to the cost of the something produced. It may be great for Phil,because he wants to spend time with his new nippers. As no doubt will many of his colleagues But it won't be great for his Employers customers,because they will be initially paying for it,just like they'll soon be paying towards the new Employers pension contributions.(more Gravy!). All of the above are good ideas,don't get me wrong. But,someone is going to have to FINALLY pay for them. And that will be the buyer of the something If he/she/they don't mind paying the extra,no problems. But if they start buying Chinese substitutes,then the Employee may well be having more leave than he/she requested Apologies for being so wordy btw)
Its a tough balance, and I am a firm believer in social responsibility. And what I mean by that is an employer should behave as such to help the local community by employing as many as they can, paying a fair wage and ensuring fair terms for those people. Paid holidays etc are part of that fairness, as without appropriate breaks sickness will rise as people do not manage to stave off overwork and have a personal life
I doubt that any Company,(apart from charities and those that are funded by the taxpayer),employ as many people as they can,just for the hell of it. UK company law states that the Company must be run,"for the benefit of it's shareholders".This means maximising the profits in order to enrich the shareholders.End of story. Like many other small companies,I started as a self-employed Individual. Being self-employed meant that: I could work every hour that I wanted,for whom that I wanted,and could set my own rate for the work I did,(not guaranteed to have that rate accepted though) It also means no paid holidays,no private pension unless I pay it all myself,and being able to claim the cost of my tools and work travel against my tax bill. My Income tax and N.I stamp still had to be paid for,just like any person earning a living in this country. The money I put by, by working endless seven day weeks/at lot of the time away in Europe/taking no holidays whatsoever,paid for my first vehicle.I have worked more Christmas Days standing behind a mixing console than I can remember,because I wanted a better standard of living for my wife and I than I could provide working for someone else My business has grown because of customer demand,nothing else. I didn't set out to employ anyone but myself,but my lads and I do such a good job that we keep being offered more work: To such an extent I may have to double the size of the business in the next twelve months Please don't assume that being self-employed or a businessman is in some way not as honourable as working for someone else,or that it's done to avoid taxes/whatever. Btw,You might be surprised to find that the vast majority of Employees in this country work for small businesses like mine. So us little firms must be doing something right....
of course when most of that companies trading partners are also playing the same rules it levels out doesnt it. a good employer will forsee production issues in advance and cater for them. as parental leave is booked in advance by mutual agreement - these issues can be forseen and accomodated and worked around. by paying overtime (from the wages im not getting paid - as my leave is unpaid) the fact is lots of employers want you to sell your soul to the devil to make them rich. most are inflexible and dont care much and mostly its take take take. thankfully some governments have a vision for a better fairer future what applies equally to managers and directors as foot soldiers alike irrespective of gender for the benefit of a better society
it also wasnt that far back these same companies were paying ~3 quid an hour and said the minimum wage would put them out of business. and they were wrong about that too.
You must have noticed that a good deal of the things that you buy,(once manufactured in this country),are now made in places like China,india and so forth? These are not Trading partners:these are ruthless competititors whose work forces enjoy very little of the benefits that that the Western economies take for granted,and therefore will continue to take manufacturing jobs away from our,"advanced",economies. While you might wish that this was not so,it is one of the reasons why this Country,and much of Europe,has painted itself into a financial corner. (Germany is different:Unions and Businesses understand that without each other,neither will benefit.They have the benefit of fairly recent history to remind them of what life was like without that mutual understanding) Foreseeing production issues does not make the cost of them disappear. Maybe there are lots of employers who are not very good at looking after their workforces:if yours is one of those,why not try somewhere else that might suit you better? And being the Owner of a business does not necessarily lead to excessive wealth. Being in business,or working for a business,is not a battle:it's about people trying to make a success of their lives
when i was 6 years old the same matchbox cars I played with were made in taiwan and PRC as they are today the same gap exists now as it did then and those people are enslaved and exploited by us because their governments are too weak to raise standards for their peoples welfare. i see your into haulage. you know too well the working time directive benefits you as before that you had continental drivers doing longer hours at faster speeds than us brits and we were losing out. now its a level playing field with the EU unification of drivers hours. same hours. same speeds all over eu your last sentence - thats exactly what im doing. success for me and my kids.
What about them that don't take up the option the same ones that don't smoke for 10 mins 6 times a day 5 days a week……………shouldn't they get something else as compensation…..
Phill,I'm glad you're doing your best for you and your kids,but try to look at the big picture.You seem to hold a grudge against your bosses because they have the right to tell you whats what.They have that because it's their name on the door,they took a chance and invested their money to start the business,you choose to work there.You can't expect to treat the place like a holiday camp,because you chose to have kids,buddy.I gotta say mate,if you take that attitude with you when you ask for your parental rights,I wouldn't be surprised if they are looking to show you the way out.It works both ways:if you want the best from your Employer,you have to give him the best of youI've been an employee,and now I'm an employer....I'm still the same bloke
I think that's a very high risk strategy in this economic climate, when you drift back in to the office after your 8 weeks leave next year you might find that the restructure that was planned in your absence perhaps didn't include you, and you might not end up as a higher rate tax payer in 2014.
Lets not jump on the guys back. Larger companies are not in the same place as SME ones, with deeper reserves and more resources, equally more benefits. Working for a large business I expect more from my employer because its likely they weren't the ones who took the risk, they are the current management team so where do you guys sit with living wage then?
jeezuz you'd think I was a druggy robbing peoples houses and sponging for a living. knocking kids out and letting the state look after the problem jaw hit the floor - well yes and I doubt it would have been the same response if I was an office girl. jaw hit the floor because like so many bosses they have stereotypical outdated attitudes and need to get with the times that are changing for the better. stereotypical because like so many bosses they presume when a kid is ill or a school or nursrey is closed at short notice (snow anyone) that your wife should take the hit and do it all and call off work and they go on like its not a mans responsibility just look at some of the comments here... ive been told to reconsider my job and perhaps i shouldnt be doing it. ive been told to expect to get sacked or let go. ive been told I'm getting paid when im not. some really havent a clue about the legislation are are very ill informed. shame on you... some of you seem really unhappy with your lot and jealous of others desire to grow up with thier kids..
