Employment advice

[chillybilly]

I have worked for a large US service company here in the uk in as a Refrigeration engineer ,up until April this year i worked in the supermarket sector ,a fierce buisness which eventually got to much ,12 hr days and 52k miles a year 10 years off .
I moved within the buisness in april to the building services side for the same basic salary as in fridge which is kept low due to the OT requirements but i could handle that as i predominately worked in my home city and enjoyed the variety of the work doing lots of none fridge stuff and spending less time on the motorways .

All was well until i was seconded to a new residential site for 2 months to get it sorted out ,8 hours on site and 2 hours a day travel for free in the company vehicle for which i have to pay the mileage as it is considered personal mileage as the site is residential (UK TAX rules).I decided to get my head down swallow the pill and get the place sorted ,which i have been doing with some sucess with very little support from my company management .More of the buisness side of the contractual responsibility is being piled onto me and ultimately more pressure carried on thinking it is only for another couple of weeks .

Alas it seems i have been stiffed !!!!Looks like i am to be permanent with no increase in my salary and no compensation for the mileage costs (management only ) a victim of my own success it seems .My contract is for a mobile eng position and it appears i am £4k down per annum on the rest of the engineers in the area to boot .

really enjoyed the job before this episode and also had a good relationship with the manager who recruited me ,i now have a bit of a "pudding head" for a boss and have become quite unhappy at work.I know i could make a knee jerk reaction ,just thought i would ask the advice of you lads most of which will have more "life "experience than me .......................

 

[Maryak]

CB,

Sorry to read you are going through a rough patch at work.

IMHO age has a large bearing on how fast and how hard you jump. Despite all the rules and regs about age discrimination it exists with a vengeance. Followed by a lament about skills shortage in the workforce.

1st up develop a good CV/Resume. It helps if you can incorporate all the current jargon such as outcomes rather than targets etc.

Then make up a list of your skills and weaknesses, (non of the weaknesses should be in your resume).

Then ask yourself

Do I want to stay in the same field?
Do I want to work for a large or small company?
Am I prepared to sacrifice salary for security, (public enterprise v private company).
Do I want to branch out on my own?

When you have done the above you will be a fair way down the track to making your decision.

I hope this helps and I hope you find a way forward. Remember as one door closes, another one opens.

Best Regards
Bob

 

[steamer]

I would second Bob's advice...as it is the same course I followed.....

Dave

 

[chillybilly]

thanks fellas ,much food for rthought .Think i am going to have to quit on principle ,just need to work out a plan .I am 35 so still have away to go ,a real shame its gone this way .....i really liked it

 

[Gauge3]

Well, for once I feel I have some useful advice Chillbilly.

Never mind any "Principles" - there is only one principle to stick to here. Stay in paid work!

Find another job first and then tell 'em to stick it!

Regards,

G3

 

[johnthomp]

errr exactly what g3 said
i was rushed off my feet in the building trade as a joiner doing 200 miles plus daily in my own car putting things right after apparent tradesmen older than me had fucked peoples homes up and i was on 2/3 of their wages it sucked so i drilled them for the same money as the others only after i had secured a cimilar job with another firm when i asked for a payrise they said not a chance i then threw at them a few home truths such as whos work i had to keep fixing and what i thought of the new office joey getting a £600 weekly wage and a 25 grand company car with a free fuel card to boot they said since you put it like that well put tour wage up £10 a week so i told them to stick it
when i started at the new firm it lasted just over 2 months then without warning the firm closed overnight now i aint got a job
if its one thing i know now jobs are like women if uve got one theyre easy to get but if ure single you wont get a sniff in
just hope whatever you do it works out for the best in evry sense
john

 

[robwilk]

I am also having problems with my employer although i cant give you much of my life experience as i am younger than you 30 yrs old. We haven't had a pay rise for two years now and apparently there is no money to have one . But in the mean time my boss has Bought a new top off the range Range Rover a new Merc car a second house new fork lift trucks for the company when the others were nearly new .And finally taken on new staff on more money than the 30 long time employees that cant have a pay rise. But i look at it like this in the current climate any job is better than no job and i know this job is secure so i am just waiting it out especially as my partner is having a baby in December.
Any way good luck with what ever you decide

Rob Wilk

 

[chillybilly]

Its certainly a tricky one ,it just takes piss when the big companies give you the big un and expect you to take it !!!!

Kinda got a meeting with the gaffa thurs ,gonna be civil but direct ,i have some questions to which i require answers and am not going to give any indication of any plans i may or may not have . I am lucky i have 3 trades i can use that appear to be in decline in the UK ,so jobs can be found ,but not to say easily .

Just seems that when they clock you kinda happy with your lot some halfwhit sticks a spanner in for you .
If this contract goes pop ,he too will be going down the road ,with an empty man bag however and no laptop to hide behind

Without my "man cave time" making stuff i reckon a desk would have been turned over by now ;D

thanks to all who have advised me ,all points i have taken on board ,its a good forum when you feel you are among your own kind


Will

 

[johnthomp]

hee hee i like the way you put that (man cave time ) my missus keeps commenting on the things i do in my shop saying things like i know when your angry because you start bashing bits with the hammer like some f**king neanderthol i just reply with i gotta get the stress out somewhere
if it wasnt for that place and haveing the creative or destructive freedom it gives i probably would have been sectioned a long time ago PMSL

 

[rake60]

Billy I was a machinist for most of my adult life. All totaled it amounted to about 30 years.
I liked the work and the pay was well above the average blue collar wage for the area.

The company I worked for suffered hard when the economy crashed and I was laid off
with 20 years seniority at the age of 50.

After 16 months of being unemployed, I took a job totally unrelated to machining as a
maintenance technician at a local manufacturing plant. The job involves maintenance and
repair of the electronic and computer end of the plant's automated production machines.

I absolutely love the new job!
I actually look forward to going to work everyday for the first time in a lot of years.
I did like the machinist career, but I was burning out.
I was getting too old to be splitting hairs in eighths every day for a living.

I certainly don't regret my career change.

Rick

 

[student123]

All was well until i was seconded to a new residential site for 2 months to get it sorted out ,8 hours on site and 2 hours a day travel for free in the company vehicle for which i have to pay the mileage as it is considered personal mileage as the site is residential (UK TAX rules).

Do you mean you're travelling to/from your home to the new site each day or residing at the site then driving to jobs from there?

If the latter, its business mileage, so you should be ok. If the former then yes the uk tax rules say that travel to from home to work is private mileage , so any company provided fuel is taxable.

If travelling from home to local head office then picking up a pool car to go to that site is an option & not all of your work is at that one site, a claim for business mileage may be possible. If poss, see if you can get some advice from the company accountant to see if theres a legal work around.

None of this is professional advice you understand, just a couple of thoughts you might get over a beer. Hope your meeting goes well for you.

 

[chillybilly]

Yeh the travel is from home to site ,so i get caught by the tax .Big meet by the gaffers Monday to decide what is occuring ,i have not been asked at all what my wishes may be .
Should it be deemed that i stay the only last thing i have left is my contract that states "mobile field service eng "so i could have a push down that flank .
Dont think anything will help to be honest ,best weapon is my orig manager who wants me back on his patch .

If that is the case ,i reckon best plan for me is to remain for the winter get fully clued then bail out next spring and have the time off when the weather is better taking the knowledge with me !!Guess i will have to swallow the pillon the money for as long as i can .
As to changing careers i did my apprenticeship in eng then moved into fridge at 22 as engineering in the Uk was not looking too good for the long run .
All will be clear by Monday evening i guess .................watch this space

 

[Babba]

I used to be a senior manager & somewhere under me was responsibility for 300+ field engineers (although not refrigeration).

Sounds pretty clear to me that you've been stiffed.

These middle managers like to make themselve's look good (& ultimately increase their own prospects) by stiffing the little guy.

I'm ashamed to say that it works.

If you have the wits & balls then call their bluff, you're obviously skilled & experienced in your chosen trade & therefore a very valuable assett to any business in that field. You don't know this, which is why they feel they can get away with treating you like they do.

Do you know just how desperate the UK marketplace for skilled refrigeration & air con engineers is?

Please disregard the Jobcentre adverts at £20k pa. They exist at best to confuse you & at worst to attract you between jobs so they can make lots of money off your back.

Use the job, don't let the job use you. At the same time don't start thinking you can call all the shots & start taking the piss. When you can realise you're own worth to the business you'll realise you are far, far more valuable than any middle manager can ever hope to aspire to.

Off the cuff I reckon you're worth £30-£40k pa with a fully expensed vehicle (it doesn't need to be a van does it?) Unsociable hours may be required but they should be shared out on a strict & fair rota basis.

Personally I'd barge into such a meeting, not necessarily wanting to throw my existing job away, yet safe in the knowledge that I'd be working again within 24hrs if it all went tits up.

 

[johnthomp]

babba
thats exactly what i did in the end but had another job lined up it did go tits up coz i used the argument point that i knew i was putting things right for customers who had the last straw and were proceeding legal actionagainst the company they told me where to go so i went for the other job
how thwe hell was i to know the new job was with a firm already going down the pan :'(
but on the other note the old firm i was working for is now being sued for £1 milion for a joiner who was one of the regulars on my list to put right his work coz he built a tank stand in someones mansion loft wich couldnt take the weight of the 200 gallon header water tank that was sat on top pf it and in the middle of the night took out all the ceilings and oak floors not to mention all the furnature that got ruined :fan:
i hear tell that its gonna finnish the firm off once and for all i guess they laid off the wrong man eh *club*
thats how i learned what im worth in the joinery trade and i wont be working back in that trade for less than £150 a day the same as any other decent joiner expects
untill that day comes they can all kiss my ass lol Thm:

 

[chillybilly]

i certainly know what money is available in my trade ,been there had a taste ,believe me it aint for free ,the hours are a killer .not many fellas are still married believe me ,then you need the money .trapped! Do enjoy this job more than i care to admit good variety of work .just dont want to be forced into a one site job having my wings clipped .will know more by this eve .all advice \oppinion appreciated

 

[John S]

Billys main problem being limited to one site is that he can't pop in for a coffee and drop me packets of hobnobs off

Billy, Your firm got an office in Nottingham ?
If you book going to there as private mileage then the Notts office to Leicester trip is a business expense.

.

 

[chillybilly]

Billys main problem being limited to one site is that he can't pop in for a coffee and drop me packets of hobnobs off

good point JS ,it is all part of the "big society " previously known as "care in the community "

As to an office in Notts ,Na thankfully ,one of the big probs is none of them are serviceing my sites so if i do get out on remand i going to have a big hill to climb !!!
Ah well ....................

 

[chillybilly]

Hot news ............

i am to remain resident at site until end of Aug ,then hand the site to the current apprentice whom will come out of his time by then,remaining as first support for any issues .

Not the best but should be able to get through winter ,did request Aug off on unpaid leave as per the company "belt tightening"memo ,but as yet no reply .................................... well you gotta try

 

[John S]

No hobnobs then unless you get August off ?

 

[chillybilly]

yep ,seems like you blown it ................ could post ya some? Dont reckon they gonna swallow the August thing ...but you gotta try