A colleague of mine phoned the office at 06.50 yesterday and announced that she would not be in for her 08.00-20.00 shift due to the ‘hazardous road conditions’.

I tried to reason with her and presented her with two decent suggestions:

1) The guy she would be working with (07.30-19.30 shift) could stop by her house and pick her up.

2) She could book a taxi thereby negating the need to drive herself.

She didn’t seem to listen and kept gobbing on about ‘not being willing to put her life at risk’ (direct quote!) by driving in the snow.
It wasn’t that bad and presumably she was fine with the concept of me and her other colleagues ‘putting OUR lives at risk’ (not that they were).

Then she really took the proverbial by stating that she was also scared that the person relieving her from her shift might not be able to make it to work, in which case she would be stranded. ie: Exactly what she was doing to us!

I’ve just been phoned at home due to another colleague freaking out about driving from Poole to Bournemouth (4 miles). The upshot of this is that I’ll be working the 20.00-08.00 graveyard shift tonight…my sixth night shift in a week.

Doubtless, it’ll come as no surprise to learn that these winter weather averse types are the exact same people who call in sick at the drop of a hat throughout the other seasons of the year too.

Anyway, I’ll have worked 72 hours this week and getting on for 250 this month. These lazy/cowardly bastards are really boosting my income so the question is…..what full suss should I buy?!

Do they know how much you like them at work?

I wouldn’t worry, you seem to relish taking on the role of martyr

Which ever one you buy, ring in sick on the first warm sunny day in spring and go ride guilt free.

I think they have a fair idea of how people perceive them by now!

They’re reapplying for their jobs next year and at this rate a few of them are going to get austerity measured right up. 😈

i’ll be leaving at 6am to give myself 3 hours to drive into work (16 miles, big hills, -9, freezing fog) tomorrow morning.

no 4wd, no winter tyres… just gotta be at work.

luckly the support workers who should be on shift all live within 5 miles of work and normally walk anyway.

if i worked in data entry or something other than nursing then i’d consider taking unpaid leave as there’s a very high chance i wont make it up half the hills on the way to work

it took me 2 hours yesterday to go 7 miles, and i had to abandon my car at my parents and get home by public transport. 7 miles may not sopund much but by the time you’ve realized there’s the only way home is up some hills, which cars cannot get up ( not even very steep ones) getting stuck in traffic, driving in second gear and avoiding stuck cars, believe me it can get nasty.

I left my car at work on Friday to go out for Xmas drinks. My car is still at work. Work is 20 miles away. If I bike in (and make it) I’ll be playing the martyr all the way until Xmas 2011.

I was really cross with colleagues a few weeks ago when we had 5-6inches and most Of the others had 1-2inches and clear main roads but didn’t want to risk it. There is something in employment law about inclement weather and getting to work safely etc but it also says you can forfeit your pay for not be able to turn up too. the news reports don’t help when they say don’t make unnecessary journeys but I’m pretty sure working is a necessity.

Buy that bike and take a summers day off

our work, a very large employer in Cumbria took the decision to close the doors to non essential staff to avoid traffic chaos when the muppets crash trying to get to work. So far I have been away on most of the snow closure days

I noticed at my work,The people that live the closest seem to go home before the first flake has landed.
I live at the highest point locally and always seem to be the last to leave.

earlier in the year when it snowed i got up an hour earlier and cycled in(7.5 miles),people who lived less than 2 miles away phoned in to say they couldnt get in.
Its always the same people and i will agree they are usually the most unreliable and full of excuses.

I used to be a hero and battle in though any conditions. Then I realised the management couldn’t give a fig, so don’t.

Dock her pay or take a days holiday. Stick to your 37.5 hour week and claim over time for the rest. Simple really.

I used to be a hero and battle in though any conditions. Then I realised the management couldn’t give a fig, so don’t.

+1

Well nearly, I still haven’t fully learnt my lessons and always endeavour to get in. One day in Jan this year I ended up walking over 9 miles in wellies to get to work and back through deep snow. Any management thanks ? Na – corking blister though.

The day when only about 10% of the workforce turned up we all got a free chocolate bar as a thank you – I got a snickers – woo hoo!

The truly annoying thing is the lack of a consistent winter weather policy. A week or so before they said that if people didn’t make it in because of bad weather then they would have to use annual leave/flexi time or take unpaid leave. When it came round to it they said because they’d put a message on the website advising car drivers not to come in people who [strike]took the day off[/strike] couldn’t make it in got paid as normal. The thing is the trains and buses were still running, my colleague made it in on public transport, I biked 6 miles in, and they made no allowance for the fact that a lot of those who are normally car drivers drive less than 2 miles

ended up walking over 9 miles in wellies to get to work and back through deep snow

If you are essential staff ie Doctor/Nurse/Fireman then very well commended, other wise I would say learn your lesson and stay at home

There comes a point where it is more dangerous to try and get in, the problem is when the lightweights start calling in because it’s frosty it makes the more resilient of try harder.

Still deciding on the full suss, have just bought a G-9 Slim Fit Baracuta though.

Orange 5

Given the economy it is appalling to see so much waste in the private sector. If we’re going to close the deficit people really should be working harder.

I’m in work today, due to not being able to get in since Thursday (loads of trucks stuck) Car is sat outside in 8″/10″ inch of snow with a big shovel in the boot 😀

I set off half an hour earler this morning at 6:15 for a 9 mile commute. rear hub froze so i walked home and dug the car out. Still got in on time. I suppose I should have mtfu’d and pee’d on it. i would probably walk it if it got too bad to drive but wouldn’t start out before 6 so the 7:30 start would get missed. Where’s the bulldog spirit ? During the war …….

last year was well handled (IMHO) where I work. About 60% made it in, after the kerfuffle, official communications and thanks/senior management walkround saying they all appreciated the effort in difficult conditions. Cue lots of gloating spongers who thought they got away with it, until they read the last sentence in the formal email, something like ‘And to avoid further inconveniece to those who couldn’t make it in we’ve automatically allocated the time off against holiday allowance’

ok Grim, you out did me with that one 😀

I guess a lot of people are listening to the media that is constantly telling us don’t travel unless absolutely necessary

A couple of weeks back we had one guy ring in to say he couldn’t work due to the weather – He works from home

He said that he needed to dig his drive & paths out & that would likely take him all day
When I told him that it wasn’t really an acceptable reason not to work & that he wouldn’t be paid & it would also be referred to HR as a possible disciplinary issue, he couldn’t believe I was serious.

people are listening to the media

… who are advised by the emergency services?

Last Feb when we had a pasting up here in the NE I commuted 35 miles into work using public transport each way. Got there after about 2 hrs each way. A guy I work with 20 stone 6′ 6″ and 28 yr old rang in an said he wouldn’t be in and was working from home.

He lived along the quayside in Newcastle and walks to work – about 1/2 mile walk each way.

He is a contractor but becasue permies work from home he made his own rules up – due to his words – “slippy pavements”

Being self employed, its not an option to stay off work, however I now work from home.
In the past I’ve cycled and walked in deep snow (so has hubby in really cold temperatures) to get to work.

Another thing we’ve noticed, is that the young drivers aren’t coping too well. They should be taught in driving school to cope with this conditions. We helped a teenager yesterday, he was just wheel spinning every where, not realising how to use his gears, he was a lovely lad though and very grateful for the advice and the big push we gave to get him on his way.
Another 17 year old driver crashed into my friend’s mother’s car yesterday, while going too fast in snow.

Enjoy your new bike bravohotel9er

Hard times bring out the truth in people I guess…

Working at the Edinburgh Hospitals they did have some guidance on the Intranet. Staff were requested to try to get in in if they could safely, those who make an effort but can’t make it will bwe paid but you were expected to walk up to 3 miles.

Most staff made it in OK

Me .- Drive 32 miles to work, get there for 7am , took nearly twice as long . Worked till 3.30 , drove home and got there about 4.30.
Lazy staff in the office 2 out of 3 no shows , and the lad who lives 500 meters away ‘stuggled in ‘ for 0930 , organised a massive piss up at the local, and left at 11.50 to go to the pub .
Its the total lack of thanks from sales guy plus management that grates. £4k of stock available / sold because we risked a prang by driving to work . Now they are sorting out a rota so they dont all work over chrimbo and i bet it doesnt use thier holiday allowance up

Well I won’t be in the office tomorrow as I’ve got another night in Kiev thanks to the weather.

I agree that in general people should be much more resilient and less wimpy when it comes to getting to work.

I don’t think the 24hr rolling news coverage thing (and the newspapers as well) helps though- if you took what you hear through the media at face value the whole time you’d think that it’s too dangerous to leave your house at times.

Everyone I work with in the slack over-pensioned pubic sector has made it to work last year and this, we’re all in it together, remember.

I did feel particularly sorry for the family stranded at Heathrow as they were attempting to get on their family holiday to Bali. 😈 sense the irony.

FFS there are children in poverty in this country – homeless folk freezing to death but dont worry I’m sure you will get on your family xmas holiday. Morons.

so they are going to loose their jobs soon and you wonder why they are not overly comitted to the organisation.

Junkyard – Member

so they are going to loose their jobs soon and you wonder why they are not overly comitted to the organisation.

That’s an interesting deliberate misreading of my post.

They’re having to reapply/reinterview for their jobs (as I and others have this year and last), those who have proven to be lazy and unreliable are more likely to get P45s than their harder working counterparts.

Reasonable, no?

Last year a guy I worked with (a know shyster) claimed he couldn’t get in because the trains from his stop weren’t running
Unaware another guy who got the same train was working happily at his desk…

Most people in my office make it in. I thought I was doing well and got the usual comments about the 6 or 7 miles I ride in. That is until the fell runner in our office turned up. Apparently public transport had been cancelled from his village so he had run the 10 miles in. Fair play, he ran 10 miles home too.

I might be stuck at Heathrow tonight carbon337. Should be flying to Sydney and I’m a bit upset. Still it is my honeymoon as well as my first chance at a family Christmas for 10 years, so I feel sad. Nevermind, Xmas on the beach will be AWESOME, even if I’m a bit late 🙂