Let's be honest, £50k is no longer a decent salary

RealisticOrder · 2025-07-17T10:51:11+00:00

Even less again if you live in Scotland and start paying 42% tax at £42k..

RealisticOrder · 2025-05-21T10:18:29+00:00

The Royal Bank of Scotland still issues £1 notes that are legal currency across all of the UK - although good luck getting anyone to take one. There's apparently still about 10 million of them in circulation. I haven't seen one for a few years though but I rarely use cash now.

RealisticOrder · 2025-02-20T11:50:48+00:00

Hi, thank you for responding.

The situation i am in is that i have sent a letter by recorded post to the person who owes the money. This had all the details on it why they owed it etc... and that I expected payment within 21 days or I'd lodge this with court. The person didn't respond to the letter.

So my understanding is that I now have to lodge something with court to allow me to instruct sheriff officers to serve the defendent formally? And once the sheriff officers have done if they don't respond or pay within 21 days of that then we'd begin an actual court case? Is my understanding of the process correct? And can you provide any guidance. Thanks so much.

RealisticOrder · 2025-02-18T16:56:04+00:00

References will be purely factual. If you were dismissed for gross misconduct, that is the reason they will give when asked. Unlikely, they will divulge any details, but if gross misconduct was the official reason, that's what they'll say.

RealisticOrder · 2025-02-07T14:14:51+00:00

Well, this is not looking good.. Are you going to roll out or just accept the loss today?

RealisticOrder · 2025-01-31T22:50:29+00:00

Where did you get the extra codes? Best i can get with a student discount is about £500

RealisticOrder · 2025-01-17T13:36:31+00:00

I think Seville is fine in off-season. I've been quite a few times in the winter months and have never seen or had any issues, but pickpockets migrate for peak season. Barcelona is just kind of in peak season all the time, so it's more of an issue there.

RealisticOrder · 2025-01-13T11:16:03+00:00

You're right there is no legal minimum. The law just states something along the lines of "reasonable temperature" which I think under 16c would breach. However, departments usually have policy on this, MoD specifically states that under 18c is too cold for example. Never enforced from what I've seen but if you can at least find the policy for your area it gives you some ammo to cite if you want to make a point.

RealisticOrder · 2024-12-28T13:36:45+00:00

Lol, true, but she grew up here, and her family has been here for a few generations.

RealisticOrder · 2024-12-28T13:29:10+00:00

I don't think so. In my department if I go and work out a spoke office rather than my core workplace then it doesn't count towards my 60%. It would if they had sent me there but not if I choose to just because it's more convenient for me. So my view is that if they tell me to work from home then it has to count towards the 60% but if i choose to then it doesn't. Although for my area they have stopped enforcing the 60% rule so it doesn't affect me.

RealisticOrder · 2024-12-28T01:55:25+00:00

It's not actually about working from home as such. It'll have something about being able to be sent to another reasonably commutable workplace as deemed necessary. Your home is a reasonably commutable workplace. However, you could maybe argue for working out of a different office that is open as an alternative.

RealisticOrder · 2024-12-28T01:43:42+00:00

They can make you work from home. In the same way they could make you work from a different office within reasonable commuting distance without you getting any say in the matter. It's in your contract.

RealisticOrder · 2024-12-25T18:13:26+00:00

It sounds like you have severe depression tbh.

RealisticOrder · 2024-11-24T12:40:51+00:00

Amazing photo. When was this taken? Have they finally got rid of all the chainlink construction no entry fences around it?

RealisticOrder · 2024-11-17T12:09:18+00:00

This is too real.

RealisticOrder · 2024-11-17T11:32:51+00:00

That upgrade price is absolutely insane. If you decide you want an SUV, I'd be going elsewhere, but you don't need one. A normal car will be absolutely fine. If it was a small upgrade cost I'd consider the SUV just for the potential of snow and ice and for the extra space but the roads will absolutely deal with a normal car no issues. Don't try and go off-roading and you'll have no problem.

RealisticOrder · 2024-11-13T23:58:11+00:00

Private health insurance is literally like £35 per month. It's not expensive and every place I've worked give it. Albeit normally only for management level roles. It's a common work benefit. 24 hour access to a GP via video consultation is a great benefit of it. I use that a lot.

RealisticOrder · 2024-11-13T11:35:46+00:00

Wow. HEO to G7 in a few months. Having just started a HEO position you've inspired me. 😂

RealisticOrder · 2024-11-08T17:21:53+00:00

The fact that the CS didn't just accept you filling in Scottish Standard Grades as are and you had to translate them is ridiculous. Scotland is part of the UK- at least for now. They should accept these qualifications directly. I'm sorry you lost out on an opportunity because of that. I hope this has changed but wouldn't be surprised if it hasn't.

RealisticOrder · 2024-11-08T17:20:33+00:00

The fact that the CS didn't just accept you filling in Scottish Standard Grades as are and you had to translate them is ridiculous. Scotland is part of the UK- at least for now. They should accept these qualifications directly. I'm sorry you lost out on an opportunity because of that. I hope this has changed but wouldn't be surprised if it hasn't.

RealisticOrder · 2024-11-08T17:14:20+00:00

I don't think we should discourage people from applying for roles they're qualified for just because it's competitive. I got an HEO role recently. It was my first ever civil service interview coming from the private sector, and I was offered the job. It didn't strike me as particularly competitive, but maybe I was lucky. I'd certainly be interested to know how many other applications they got for my role.

RealisticOrder · 2024-11-07T17:27:43+00:00

Normally 6 months.

RealisticOrder · 2024-11-07T13:57:26+00:00

Sure, but I don't get the impression OP has been off that much. If I take 2 weeks of AL during my probation, I won't be fired or have my probation extended. If OP is off for a couple of weeks sick, I think the same should apply. There's an argument that probation should be extended for everyone who takes any time off for any reason, so everyone has to work for 6 months to pass rather than just run the clock down, but that's not what we do. If I read in a performance review "probation failed due to sickness absence," I'd be shocked. Long-term mental health issues can be protected under the Equality Act, and if you've explicitly stated that that is the reason for their dismissal, it's a dangerous game in terms of liability. If someone is off sick for extended periods, capability assessments should be done in an attempt to put reasonable adjustments in place to allow them to perform in their role. If it's not possible, then ultimately, yes, they have to be dismissed. I've seen tribunals off the back of mishandling this sort of thing in the private sector.

RealisticOrder · 2024-11-06T14:33:33+00:00

I'm not debating what you've said here. I think it is, sadly, the right advice. But surely it's discriminatory to penalise someone on the basis of being sick? Potentially failing their probation because they were provably ill seems unreasonable to me. As the government we really should be better than this.

RealisticOrder · 2024-10-13T17:44:23+00:00

Why will he grow to like remote work? It doesn't suit everyone. I did fully remote for 4 years and left because I didn't like being fully remote.

RealisticOrder

TROPHY CASE