At every landing on the way up, there's the bottom of another set of stairs...

[caddyman]

I have just had a long and useful chat with one of our team who has already survived the job applications process at a higher grade and who volunteered to read and give feedback on the ‘evidence’ we have to assemble for our forms.

It was a very useful chat and brought out a number of points that I now have to try and integrate as much of this input as possible to ensure that my application is as good as I can make it.

I confess that I am heartily sick of the process and simply wish to see it ended, now. Nonetheless, I have given myself plenty of time to adapt and redraft what I already have, so I can continue to feel optimistic and there are no reasons to panic. I just need to grit my teeth and set about redrafting chunks of my application.

It could be worse, I could work for Shropshire Council, who have just sacked 6,500 staff effective from 30 September, with the promise that they will rehire them on 1 October at 5% lower pay rates. I’m not sure about the legality of that, but the irony is that if the staff stood together and said ‘bring it on’, the council wouldn’t be able to deliver a single statutory service and it would probably cost them more than the money they are trying to save back filling all the posts. Sadly, the reality is that most people will look at their mortgages etc and just lie back and think of England.

http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2011/07/05/dismissal-letters-sent-to-6500-shropshire-council-staff/

Comments

[mathcathy]

If they sack them I think they legally have to offer redundancy payment or prove that they are being dismissed for misconduct or some such.

Would be interesting to know how they are spinning this to make it sound legal.

[agentinfinity.livejournal.com]

We could have gone through a similar process had collective bargaining/consultation failed on renegotiation of terms and conditions - although they weren't planning to lower pay, but other stuff with sick leave and whatnot, some of which is still going ahead, but watered down a bit. It's technically not sacking because they change the terms of your job so that (and this is how it was explained to us) your original job no longer exists and therefore you have to be re-employed under the new contract. Which, apparently, makes it completely legal.

Don't it make you feel all warm and squishy.

Although the legality does not stop collective action of some kind, but as you say, when your job is on the line it's difficult for people to make that stand.

[irdm.livejournal.com]

"If it lies like a duck and it cheats like a duck ...."

[ladkyis.livejournal.com]

This means that if then offer you redundancy in the future they count your time from the start of the new contract. The thing to do is to refuse to sign the new contract because the terms are not acceptable - causes no end of panic up there in the higher echelons