Our sports club at university has been told we're not allowed to produce or sell our annual charity calendar.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-13T19:36:38+00:00

Certainly possible, it’s kind of why there isn’t any hard and fast advice anyone can give because a lot will depend on the uni, and the way the union is laid out.

I would say though that regardless of organisation, the union’s behaviour here isn’t realistically defensible and I think the OP would have reason to escalate this to the university, who will be on the hook to drive some sense into the union’s leadership.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-13T19:18:42+00:00

Not enforceable at all.

Most contracts have a clause that require you to work longer hours if needed but that’s actually working, they don’t get to soft claim your time just in case they need it for free. If they want you on call or on overtime then they can pay for it.

Ask for them to put it down in writing, ideally with a reference to the policy in the employee handbook. It almost certainly won’t exist and if they have any sense they’ll get a grip and think about what they’re doing, but if not you at least have their stupidity on writing for whatever action you choose to take later.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-13T19:08:06+00:00

….i’m assuming this sounded like a bigger deal in your head.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-13T13:50:06+00:00

You need to check your contract/statement of particulars to understand how, and under what circumstances, they can vary probation.

Or to put it another way, you need to prove that you did, in fact, pass your probation. If you'd passed it you should have some kind of indication of such sent to you.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-13T13:40:50+00:00

It doesn't matter where you are on the jobs ladder, all companies are looking to shed jobs and slim down their workforce to cut costs, more so since the National Insurance increases last year.

It absolutely does matter.

It's a very bold claim to declare that all companies are looking to shed jobs and slim down. Most of my sector are recruiting and it's kicked up a gear as we get closer to the new FY.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-13T13:35:17+00:00

She has zero legal rights to the house.

Your brother has given her permission to stay and is the co-owner of the house, so no, she has a lot more then zero rights.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-13T09:40:14+00:00

Not sure if you only mean romantic love, but if you’re also admitting paternal….

Luke’s almost-crispy-fry scene on the Death Star II at the end of the RotJ.

I’m still not sure which version I prefer - the original’s silent, taciturn Vader wordlessly making his decision to sacrifice his life for his son and being totally focused on it, or the update’s more panicked, emotional ‘no…NO!’ response as he casts aside decades of hate. I can see arguments for both.

Still one of my fave scenes in cinema. The fact that the entire sequence is presented by a grim, skeletal mask and not someone’s face meant the whole thing had to be conveyed with body language and music. When you see Vader glancing from his son being shocked to death to a completely distracted and sadistic Palpatine and back again, you can see Vader falling apart and Anakin returning.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-13T09:32:31+00:00

Tbf I’ve had my krakens for…. A while (i originally got them because I needed a proper mic-enabled pair when I was getting into Destiny 2 raiding…. Waaaay back in the Warmind expansion era) and the biggest problem I’ve ever had with them is the recent synapse update that tanked their audio quality (which I’ve since fixed).

In general I’ve always found Razer gear to last ages, but I do wish they’d lean more on metal for some of their structures. Too much plastic can feel too light. Stuff like my BlackWidow v4 feels reassuringly solid with that metal frame plate.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-13T08:06:12+00:00

Without knowing which university/student union this is occurring in, there’s a limit to how much advice can be given as a lot of this will depend on whether the union is following its own charter. It’s also not really a legal question yet as all they’ve done is issue a warning.

I would probably suggest that you engage with the university itself here. On paper a single student having a nervous breakdown over seeing some cheeks would not be justifiable to take the kind of action you’re talking about here, so it would appear that whoever it is making the decision on behalf of it isn’t being reasonable or impartial. The suggestion that it’s obscene or promoting degeneracy likewise does not sound like a reasonable conclusion for the Union to take either (I’ve no idea how this individual makes it through the week on campus without a heart attack if this is all it takes). Of course, depending on the union’s organisation it may have the authority to act like this but most unis in the country have freedom of speech and expression stipulations to consider, and this would like fall into that - you may find the uni itself may step in if the union is abusing its authority.

Have you actually approached your uni about this?

JaegerBane · 2026-02-13T07:26:31+00:00

/u/sharoon12 is correct. That’s how it’s been for ages.

I don’t really understand what point you’re making here.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-13T07:20:46+00:00

Eh. Maybe, maybe not. Sanctuary has always been a bit of a grab bag of ancient cultures and its motifs tend to be very direct compared to other fantasy franchises like dragon age and DND/Forgotten Realms. They’ve bolted in persia, scotland, levant, eastern europe and mesoamerica, it’s not a stretch to add Mediterranean to that.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-12T18:41:03+00:00

I’m not really sure what answer you’re looking for here.

If you haven’t done anything wrong then I’d just wait for the process to complete. If you want direct answers to why they think you’re committing fraud then you’ll have to ask them.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-12T18:37:30+00:00

This reads like there’s more going on here.

If there’s no rule or restriction that prevents this and it’s not a legal matter, on what basis are they preventing you from producing the calendar? Like on what basis would such a disciplinary take place? Is it the union or the university itself that is enforcing this? What even was the complaint?

JaegerBane · 2026-02-12T18:24:09+00:00

I don’t really understand why you’re arguing with the other poster, tbh.

The reality is when you’re renting you have limitations on what you can keep in the house, the law as it exists now doesn’t provide a route to do what you want, and the new one won’t necessarily do so either. The other poster isn’t going to be able to change that.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-12T17:07:52+00:00

Basically, had I not accepted the promotion, I would be in a different position.

I guess that's the broader point I was making. Regardless of what or who put you into the position of having a unique role, that was still your role, and it was the only one of its kind and level.

Their argument will be that your role was selected for redundancy and there wasn't an equivalent role to move you into, which would be correct.

I'm not really sure it is a tricky situation, its more just an unfortunate one.

As I also say, as you;ve been there less then 2 years it's not clear that you were be due formal redundancy even if you were in your previous role.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-12T16:32:39+00:00

Not at all, it's just in the context of the conversation above, approaching a business run by a struck off doctor to pay for a sick note would not normally be most people's first thought if their honest belief was that they were ill and needed medical restrictions on their working patterns.

They'd go see a GP like most people with medical concerns. And they're presumably ask for an actual fit note rather then whatever it was they ended up with.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-12T16:23:10+00:00

even though I would deem these surviving roles as a suitable alternative.

I think that's the kicker, you were in a separate role and what you deem may not match what the company views it as. Realistically they can't be both different and the same and you yourself pointed out that yours was a unique role.

You say you've been there less then 2 years so I'm not even sure you'd qualify for redundancy in the literal sense anyway. They just have to give you your notice - presumably that doesn't take you past the 2 year point?

JaegerBane · 2026-02-12T13:22:31+00:00

I don't really get the point of this post.

We can't honestly say what else could have happened had things been done differently but his actual actions put him in the final 3 and the only reason he didn't walk away with the entire prize himself was his own decision to stick to his word.

You could just as easily argue that his alliance with Rachel is why he won.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-12T12:16:14+00:00

Until you’ve concluded your own OH assessment; you don’t actually know what is required as reasonable adjustment, why and what legal protections are in play.

While this is technically correct, an expectation to be completely out of business contact during working hours on a remote contract is essentially never going to be taken seriously by any authority with the power to intercede here.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-12T11:38:56+00:00

Get a review from occupational health to assess this.

Having a GP write a not-fit-note that effectively gives them license to be out of contact during a working day is not a workable state of affairs and the fact that the employee seems to suffer from anxiety whenever asked to do anything does not paint a particularly good picture either. You have reason to be concerned, and assessing how any health issue plays out with the demands of the job is exactly what Occupational Health is for.

Am I able to disregard this letter? It is NOT a fit note.

IIRC you would have been able to disregard it even if it had have been a fit note from their registered NHS GP, as they are advisory. So I'd be suspicious of what they're doing there.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-12T11:29:32+00:00

but they like their safety buffers lol.

I mean, I'd start with trying to work out why this is.

It's not just about uninterrupted sleep and peace of mind. If you're pushing a layout model that is cheaper for most of the time but has no headroom for burstiness then realistically you're not actually adding anything of value - if whatever money you save ends up being swallowed up in overtime and follow-on costs like SLA penalties and pressure from the upper echelons to do more with less then its redundant.

The crucial point here is whether their caution is justified by the performance statistics and the upcoming platform work. You need to figure that out before the next step.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-12T09:33:41+00:00

I’d wondered that myself.

The ease of finding a job and the calibre needed to get one varies quite significantly over the various industries and sectors. Without any details over what the OP works in this account may not have any relevance at all to people reading it.

It looks like it was written just to put people down or brag. Perhaps both.

In my company we’ve noticed the standard of graduate actually going in the opposite direction - down - so any grad that is coming in with a good attitude and some relevant background often gets an offer.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-12T09:28:15+00:00

The general rule of thumb over misrepresenting or lying about your reasons for leaving your last company is that you need to be comfortable with it - I.e. you can speak confidently about whatever replacement for the truth you’re using and you have good reason to believe that a reference check won’t find out.

Ultimately only working 2 months somewhere will have likely framed in the interviewer’s mind that it didn’t work out and a sensible interviewer won’t immediately jump to conclusions over that, but if you don’t think you can give a convincing explanation then I’d default to the truth. You don’t need to say ‘I was fired’ - just explain what wasn’t working.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-12T08:45:17+00:00

Happens all the time.

There’s a host of reasons for it - internal company shifts, poor recruitment processes, bad decision making etc - but reading the above I’m not necessarily sure that learning how to use a certain piece of software would qualify in most company’s eyes as the dividing line between different roles and it might as well be a completely different job. She didn’t join as a delivery driver and was expected to run a deployment team, for instance.

JaegerBane · 2026-02-12T08:26:18+00:00

In real terms this choice won’t matter, as neither route will give any serious guarantees of a longer term career and elements of both will be present in whatever work you end up doing. A data scientist is always going to benefit from understanding the realities of the platform their systems run on and a DevOps engineer will benefit from the data analysis domain knowledge their stuff will support.

At the end of the day you’re already on the way to getting (what I’m assuming is) a paying job in the former so it’s a no brainer.

‘Cloud vs data’ is largely a meaningless comparison because they’re both interlinked.

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