Hello all,

Every now and then we have a hour and a half meeting which covers 12:30pm-2pm. After the meeting I went to lunch as I usually take my lunch at 12:30 which I couldn’t this time due to the meeting.

I had a message from my manager when I came back stating that the meeting is considered a work lunch and that’s why food is served during that meeting, so I was not supposed to go on lunch after the meeting ended.

Could someone confirm if this is legal and if I should get in touch with ACAS?

I was speaking to a colleague a few days ago who was lamenting the lack of junior roles in our office. Looking around everyone we work with is late-30s+ and typical a mid-career professional.

However, I then had a meeting on Teams with a group of new hires in India. All were friendly, articulate, fresh out of Masters programmes and typically in the mid-20s.

On here, we read a lot about how there are few opportunities for young people. However, the Fcompany I work for is a relatively large employer (4000 people+) and has plenty of young people working for it, but most are in low-cost markets like India, the Philippines, and Mexico.

And we should always remember that the 25-year-olds your company employs now are the leaders in 25b years' time

The technology that has made this all possible is the Internet. It's created a situation where work can be done anywhere around the world, but it's taken this long for everyone to work out a way to do it.

So AI isn't the tool to be fearful of. It's MS Teams, because it's made employers question why we should bother employing people here.

I'm half heartedly applying for new jobs, and found one that seemed vaguely related to my current role so thought I'd take a punt and apply. This was the rejection email, the notes are clearly not meant to be included. Wonder why its so confidential?

Being fired? New round of redundancies and creating adjacent roles to replace them? Put notice in but for some reason needs to be kept hush hush? Internal person already in mind?

I'm intrigued...

I'm talking, your current job was crap pay. You couldn't find a better paying job so you were just like. Eh I'll apply for this £60-100k when I'm on £20k a year and see what happens.

Only to actually get an interview and land the job?

I've been at my company now for 7 years (age 19-26) and I've moved from Warehouseman > Export Controller and I'm now currently in the Supply Chain (All within the same company)

Decent company but people are being made redundant left right and centre and I want to try and secure my future with another job. But I'm on okay pay. I'm on £36k a year and I'm not finding many jobs in the Supply chain sector on this amount. Other than Senior and manger.

I don't have that experience yet. But I do have 7 years of experience dealing with inventory management, customers, suppliers, problem solving, meeting critical deadlines etc etc.

I'm half tempted to just throw myself at expensive jobs and just see what may happen.

So Glassdoor, which is meant to provide transparency on employers, is now owned by Indeed, who are funded by employers. I wonder how long we get before it becomes curated and just another enshitification of the internet.

I got wind from my manager/good friend last week that my name was dropped as potential for redundancy

Company is 30ish employees, few directors ) turnover last year circa £8m

HR (one of the owners) got me in today, essentially I’m being made redundant, and do I want to settle financially.

I said I’m happy to come to/negotiate an agreement, the offer comes back, PILON, (one month) entitled holidays remaining, and 3 week statutory redundancy pay.

FWIW I’m not interested in protracting it out too long, but I do want to make them have to pay to do this kind of thing, I don’t believe they should be able to do and pay the minimum.

Any advice welcome

I’ve been there 3 years, I’m 38 years old.

Hello. I've been working for a London-based company for over 2 years now as an admin assistant, and lately I've been really tired of the schedule I have. I work from 8:00am to 5:30pm. No designated time for lunch so I usually take it at 12:00 noon.

By the afternoon, I'm exhausted and no longer able to function that well and will often space out. I don't get to interact much now since most people are already working remote but sometimes I'll wonder if people are still busy by 2PM. I see some of the teams' meeting schedules but not everyone goes on meetings and are just supposed to be desk working.

I'm not sure if I'm just burnt out at work but I wanted to ask if my fellow 8-5ers have any energy still at work or if you also start disassociating after 3PM.

I finally got authorisation to hire a junior/support role (graduate) for my team which I have needed for a very long time because I am literally drowning. However, I am dreading it. I know how bad the market is and I really want to give somebody an opportunity, but the thought of having to let loads of applicants down and just choose one is already stressing me out.

I’ve told my boss that even though we will be using internal talent acquisition, I need to have good control over the process because I have interviewed loads of juniors over the year and I know what I’m looking for. And the most recent junior hire for our team has been a major disappointment and I cannot go through that again. In particular I would like to try and hire somebody who comes from a lower socio economic background, which isn’t very common in the kind of work that I do.

I hate conducting interviews, I’ll be honest, but it is what it is. What else can I do to maximise the possibility of finding somebody good, and capable with potential, not necessarily from a well to do background, and not make the process unnecessarily onerous for those applying?

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I need some advice. I've currently got a job as a Mobile Rig Operator. Consists of going to various sites of the UK and maintaining these rigs, you're left alone to manage it.

It pays very well and I've been lucky as they have been sending me to the same site each week doing Monday to Friday 12 hour shifts and the work is easy, I get paid travel, hotel and £25 a night expenses for food. I'm travelling 1 way from my home to this particular site (1 hour 50 min drive sometimes 2) and then back on Friday.

I've just been offered a job which is a 20 minute drive from my house with a varied shift pattern which is for example 2 days 2 night shifts then 3 days off. 2 days 3 nights and 4 days off then 3 days and 2 nights 5 days off repeat. £35k + potential overtime and there is room for progression.

I'm currently weighing up the odds as my current place may continue to send me to the same site each week. Though one week I was working Monday to Saturday.

(I don't find out what I'm working on until Thursdays, so I can't plan ahead)

And it could change they could start sending me somewhere else which is a longer commute time. And potentially a longer period away from home.

I'm trying to weigh up the odds as the average 60 hour week I'm making about £1051.58 a week and then OT is 1.5x on Saturdays, 2x on Sundays. Which they rota you in for some weeks and some they don't

It truly is the dream job, but my only issue is I don't get much of a home life.

With the current site they've been sending me too, I've made do keeping myself busy, I've gone to the gym, there's bouldering, I've found a few badminton clubs, I've been to the cinema a few times on my own and I've explore the countryside and enjoyed the pubs.

But with a job closer to home I can enjoy more of that and have more of a home life and go to the clubs in my area more regularly.

To add, I have just bought a house, unfurnished with lots of work to do so the extra money may come a bit handy.

I just want a second opinion, as currently I can make a decent amount of cash working my current job. Or go back to a regular sort of salary.

I very recently started work in a care home, have worked in one before but only for about a month and it was YEARS ago. I haven’t been given any thorough training and was asked to shadow someone who told me they “hate” being shadowed and pretty much disappeared on me the entire shift. This also happened in the last care home! And the last 2 jobs i had which were not related to social care at all. It just leaves you open to being gurned at for making mistakes or standing around, but if you ask to be given tasks they say theres nothing for you to do. Whats going on? This is more of a rant than anything but would also like to know if anyone else has had the same experience or the opposite?

Becoming the norm for me these days. I don't know why I bother. My criteria isn't even incredibly narrow.

I work in a relatively junior position at an arms-length body. I work in a team of 4, of which one is part-time. One of the others is due to go on maternity leave next year.

Originally, it was suggested I would backfill her position, temporarily going up to her grade (one above mine, quite a significant salary jump), and then gain the skills to get a permanent position through the experience in that role.

Now, the organisation has announced a headcount freeze to cut budget, which apparently includes internal openings and temporary roles. I am being asked to cover this role and her responsibilities while my colleague is on mat leave without the temporary promotion.

My instinct is to say no, but it would still be useful to gain the additional experience. What should I do?

I've been working 2 years as a trainee accountant, and did my degre in Cyber Security.

I've heard junior roles are really competitive at the moment so I'm wondering just how viable the switch is?

I'm teaching myself, with the main areas I want to learn being -

- SQL

- Excel (Use this every day at work, but in more depth)

- Power BI, building dashboards

- Python

And eventually building a portfolio for interviews.

Whether this is a viable plan / anyy tips would be hugely appreciated.

I am looking to get into Private Banking/Wealth Management/Financial Planning in the UK, and I was advised by a number of colleagues to do this qualification. Those with experience, could you guide me as to whether it would be worth it?

I am eligible for the Level 7 directly, with an exemption for one exam as well, so I wanted to know about that too.

Thank you for your time and guidance.

Since working my way up the career ladder, I have less and less opportunities than I did before.

Maybe this is common and I’m actually naive?

I’m a senior executive assistant - I’ve been in this field for 10 years and the last 5-6 years I’ve moved up to mid-senior level. I’m currently supporting c-suite level leaders, but I could still move up a bit to founder support etc.

I always thought that the higher up I go the more opportunities I’d get, recruiters and businesses would be throwing themselves at me with all my experience, I could be picky and fussy about which job I accept etc.

Big fat no. I know the market is rough, but I’ve been applying since January (not always for step-up jobs, sometimes like for like) and pretty much it’s been crickets. Had a couple of recruiters contact me and turned out to be wasting my time with jobs that had either already been filled or I wasn’t actually suitable for.

Being an EA is a thankless job at the best of times and definitely not what I ever planned to be doing. Maybe it’s time to move into a different field, but I feel like this is all I’ve ever known.

Apologies in advance for the lengthy backstory.

I'm currently on long term sick following an accident which occurred whilst I was at work, however my boss is being very negligent in his lack of care for me and I wanted to get some genuine advice and opinions from people who may have been in my position or might be able to offer constructive advice.

I work as a commercial transport driver driving 3.5t vehicles up and down the country on a daily basis, because we're 3.5t there are no TACO's which means I'm effectively driving 10+ hours a day to get to and from places in order to deliver goods to various sites and businesses. We're given a 30 minute unpaid break a day and allowed to stop for the toilet as and when we need it, but are expected to work 10 hours a day as standard. The company is very small, with only 5 drivers and 2 office staff but has been running for 25+ years and as a result of it being very small it doesn't have and has never had what I would consider to be any form of HR or structure that you would expect from the likes of another company, and as such has outsourced his (the owner) HR to an external company.

Because the business is small my manager has it written into my contract that age old line of "you may be asked from time to time to perform tasks that help to aid the needs of the business" however in the 2.5 years of me working there these tasks have included: cutting his grass, washing his cars, taking his cars to be refuelled, picking up his prescription, taking his cars for repair, weeding his garden, cleaning his garage & collect his girlfriend from the train station, to name a few. I would class these as personal errands and not within the job description of a delivery driver, but I could be wrong?

The vans he has us drive are in an awful condition, often being purchased on eBay or Facebay at the lowest possible amount and then driven into the ground. They constantly fail their MOT's and are repaired by cowboys in order to falsely pass their MOT's for another year and just unsafe all round. We perform daily vehicle checks whereby we flag issues with the vans but are usually met with hostility unless a part of the van is literally falling off, then it gets repaired.

My boss also expects us to pay for our own parking tickets if we incur them: for example delivering in central London and finding somewhere to load, if we get slapped with a ticket this can be in excess of £100 per ticket, for context we're paid 12p more than minimum wage a day meaning we're effectively then working for £30 a day. In addition to this he has also started capping our wages at a day rate of £135, however on days where we work more than 10 hours this then takes our hourly rate below that of minimum wage, is that even legal? Speaking of legal I also reversed a van down a pot hole and caused damage to a car when it bounced down, resulting in damage to the car, my boss who was reluctant to go through insurance expected me to pay the £500 excess myself towards the damage, and as I couldn't agreed to take 4 days of my annual leave from me to balance out the cost, that's not legal right?

The accident in question that has meant I am off work is in relation to him asking me to pick up his girlfriend from the train station. I used my own vehicle to do so and in doing so I was driven into on a roundabout and my car was written off. I broke my finger and had to take time off due to severe anxiety. As a result of the accident I had a mental breakdown and now have crippling anxiety about driving. I have trouble sleeping and now have panic attacks regularly. I am medicated for the anxiety but unable to even contemplate daily driving in excess of 10 hours a day.

During the last 6 months of being absent from work my boss has been in contact with me maybe 4 times? And only began to contact me when I enquired about SSP (the first 2 months were fully funded by me from savings). At month 3 he sent me a 20 question questionnaire asking me to fully outline everything that was wrong with me and whilst intrusive I did not hold back and told him exactly what had happened re: the accident doing something I did not consider to be work appropriate. One of the questions asked if I would allow an occupational health worker to assess me, which I agreed to, however following his receipt of my answers no action was taken. It has taken me chasing him for an occupational health assessment to get this arranged now 3 months later, so we're at the 6 month mark. Is this a coincidence now my SSP has run out?

Final bit of info, I did speak to ACAS who gave good advice at the 3 month mark, but they advised a grievance once he organised an occupational health assessment but that has only just been arranged, and with it being unlikely he can make reasonable adjustments for me to get back to work I'm left in a difficult position: do I just accept he won't be able to make a reasonable adjustment to me and quit? Or should I raise a grievance/go to a tribunal for all the shady things he's done since I've been there? ACAS advised that if he cannot make a reasonable adjustment for me he has to offer me some form of severance payout as he cannot legally dismiss me if I am on long term sick for an accident at work.

Apologies for the length of this post, I'm just in a difficult position where I don't know what to do and I so desperately want to get back into work I just can't see him being fair in making reasonable adjustment to get me back to work and don't know if it's financially worth me hanging on. Final bit of character context: I have never been out for what I can get but I can understand some people may see me as waiting for some payout that may never come, just want some advice from people who may have been in my shoes before.

Thanks in advance!

I'm currently in a situation where my manager is not checking things properly and telling me to work on tasks I'm already working on.

Telling me things aren't done in front of the group chat when he's not even looking at the right files or domains.

I've started to call it out. An example is him asking why a website hasn't been published without a review, stating, "I can't see you ever asking me to review." My response being "The changes aren't finished, I didn't want you to review unfinished work."

The catch is it was finished and ready for review, and that was stated. It feels like their trying to catch me out, but I'm always two steps ahead.

How do I handle this situation, giving I'm the only person he's managing, and as much as I'd love to call things out in full, I want to keep my job.

I have a conditional offer with a fixed autumn intake. My current contract requires a month's notice. If the formal offer arrives late, I may not be able to complete the entire notice period before the start date.

My manager seems supportive. He said he'd just leave without finishing the notice if necessary. It also involves moving across the country.

Has anyone left a UK job before completing their contractual notice to meet a fixed start date? Did your previous employer pursue it, mention it in a reference, or contact your new employer?

Title. What, in your experience are the telltale signs that a job posting is fake? I have a hunch on 1or 2 possible ones, like a vacancy being open for like 2 months or something. But I worry so much about this, especially when I encounter a role that so nicely fits my experience and skills.

Would like to hear your thoughts on this!

Applying to a new job, it is listed as an 'Advanced Apprenticeship' with no mention of what qualifications they are seeking/expecting.

As someone who earned a degree a few years ago, is it something I should mention in my application or omit?

I am thinking that if I mention it, it will hurt my chances, but I am unsure.

Would be grateful for some perspective if possible.

Hey, i was just wondering if anybody could help. My manager keeps giving me shifts over my contracted hours. I am contracted for 30 hours a week, and my contract states I must "Work flexibly." Can I tell her that I won't do it as its over my hours, and how do I go about doing that?

Tia

Hello, I’m trying to find a graduate job but I’m having some difficulties.

I’m originally from another country, but I moved to the uk for university.
When I apply for a graduate job they often ask me for UCAS points, A-levels, and GCSE. Unfortunately there’s not an official translation from marks in my home country.
I just received a rejection email saying I don’t meet the academic requirements.
They were also asking for a 2:1 degree minimum.
I have a 2:1 undergrad degree obtained in the uk and I’m about to finish a master as well (still in the uk, still 2:1. I also do not need any visa sponsorship).
So I’m not understanding how I do not meet the minimum requirements, is that important how I did in high school? How can I stop being penalised just for that?

I had a final interview two weeks ago and was told the feedback was very positive, but they still had another candidate to interview last week.

I followed up today and the recruiter replied saying “ sorry for the delay they’ve now finished all second-stage interviews and do have an update and I wondered if you might be free for a quick call tomorrow morning since all our communications have been on teams or email. “

All my previous rejections/ offers have come by email. Would you take this as a positive sign, or do recruiters also call to reject final-stage candidates?

Trying to brace myself as I really wanted the job!