Im finding it depressing, how many people are taking the pis (in my mind) regarding all the Covid changes.

The husband of friend of my OH is a self employed builder.

He’s furloughed himself and wound his paid work down, and is using the time to continue doing building work, but restricted to properties they own and rent out.

making the most of being furloughed?

Or making the most of the fulough scheme to catch up on responsibilities for his “other business”? (and therefore still working, still adding value to the rental properties, and presumably still collecting rent)

our new neighbors have been sending their kids to school as they are “key workers”, but then taking the time to renovate the house. Piss take?

Still, It’s not exactly a PPE contract i suppose.

You do know that furloughed employees are allowed to take on other jobs don’t you?

Well in the first example, you could argue he’s doing the socially responsible thing. Taking himself out of circulation and minimising risk, assuming these properties he’s working on are empty. The second example – step away from the net curtains. What do you care what people get up to while the kids are at school?

You do know that furloughed employees are allowed to take on other jobs don’t you?

This, you can go and get another full time job whilst furloughed. Your current employer would need to approve (not hard if it is yourself) and new employer would need to be aware you have another job that you may need to return to with minimal notice (agian not an issue if you are selfemployed)
You can be furloughed from multiple employments (providing you meet the criteria)

The husband of friend of my OH is a self employed builder.

how do you furlough yourself if you are self-employed? asking for a friend…

The guy that does my garden lost his business (he worked evenings and weekends to save enough to put his daughter through uni) because his main job said you work you lose all payments.

Yeah, not sure either of those are true p*** taking, there are many doing much, much worse.

I know of at least one firm where pretty much all the staff are on part-time furlough and are working full-time. Just been told to be careful when times they send e-mails and when they use LinkedIn. They’ve been working full-time all the way through and all work from home. I suspect that in that particular industry, they are not alone.

His own rental business will not be eligible for SEISS (furlough equivalent for the self employed, if that is what he is) so he can only claim SEISS for his building work for others none of his rental income. Also the SEISS is quite gappy. Lots of self employed people aren’t eligible, or can only claim a fraction, and even if you claim the max from last year it will still be substantially lower than a year’s pay.

If he’s claiming and not doing paid work wheres the issue?

Can’t really comment on the ‘furlough but working still’ side of things..

But I can understand irritations with regards to schooling…
Myself and my OH have had to bite our tongue a few times over the fact that our respective kids aren’t in school, but LOADS of other parents HAVE sent kids on for ‘very weak’ reasons..

I was offered schooling places for my kids, but my ex isn’t working, so we opted to homeschool (because the schools BEGGED parents not to send in if they didn’t need to). This still emant on teh days I had the kids, I was homeschooling..which is effing tough!!
My OH was still working, but from home… the days she has her kids she was really struggling with home schooling AND having a full time job.. She lives just across the road from her kid’s school, and was appauled at the number of kiddies happily trotting off into school..
When it came up with their parents, it was all manner of reasons..:
“we’re finding home schooling tough” – 2 uneployed parents, BOTH at home
“cos of my work my kids are allowed in.” – dog walker…
“i’m a solicitor..” – solicitor – husband unemplyed, at home

I guess it IS curtain twitching, but it’s upsetting seeung one’s own kids struggle and their education suffer, and the ability for a single mother to home school AND work lead to stress etc, when other parent’s are just happily taking the ‘p’ and sending their kids into school….

anyway, hopefully it’s all over now…

DrP

cos of my work my kids are allowed in.” – dog walker…

If my dog Walker stops working then I can’t go to work, which potentially shuts an airport and stops people getting moved to hospital by helicopter and donor organs getting moved for transplants.

It’s not all as black and white as you think 🙂

You could just not have a dog. That’s black and white.

You could just not have a dog. That’s black and white.

that occurred to me but then I realised – while I’m not a dog person (I don’t like pets, but understand that others do) I think it would be incredibly harsh to have to give away a loved pet (or even have it put down)

You could just choose not to have a dog if you can’t look after it yourself though 😉

I always find the concept of professional dog walkers sort of funny/tragic for some reason. I guess it’s no different to taking kids to playgroup or something.

If my dog Walker stops working then I can’t go to work, which potentially shuts an airport and stops people getting moved to hospital by helicopter and donor organs getting moved for transplants.

It’s not all as black and white as you think

Oh i get this…!!
But…
Dog walker…really???? where does it stop?! THat particular dog walker, for example, could still home school children, and walk a lesser number of dogs during the lunch break.

I struggle to see how a dog walker can be classed AT ALL as a key worker!

I guess my point was, a LOT of people have seen COVID as an opportunity to deny they should suffer any sort of hardship… EVERYONE is finding it hard..

DrP

All the way through this I’ve tried not to judge. Can’t help the emotions bubbling up now and again but as far as people’s conduct during all of the restrictions, sticking to the guidance re socialising, schooling etc etc etc. Otherwise it just turns into one big Witch Hunt. Yep some people will take the mick. Others will stick to the rules rigidly. I like to think we’ve stuck to the rules but even then have we always…? Maybe not. So best not to judge.

I agree, and we’ve chatted about it loads…
I guess at the start of COVID and homeschooling, we knew it would be hard, and tried our best to simply focus on the ‘us’ – doing the best for our mental health and our kid’s education.
But several month’s in it’s REALLY hard.. I’m just knackered as still working a busy job, and home schooling on my time off… she’s REALLY struggling to do any sort of work when she has the kids, so has to basically pull a ‘double shift’ teh weeks she doesn’t have them (to catch up). All of this is because our kids aren’t at school.

And when you’re under that level of stress, it’s really hard NOT to moan or cast judgement over a yoga teacher who’s convinced the school to let her kids in 4 days a week….

Meh… breathe Dr P…!!

DrP

Dog walker…really???? where does it stop?!

Yes, it’s the circle of life. There’s many things that make the world go round, and while a lot of them won’t affect you directly it doesn’t mean that they’re not there.

You could just not have a dog. That’s black and white.

I got my dog long before anyone expected the world to shut down.

You could just choose not to have a dog if you can’t look after it yourself though 😉

FWIW we use the dog walker very little, having a dog fits in very well with our shifts and my wife working part time.

I was just using it to make a point.

Yes it’s annoying that some people take the piss but sometimes it’s a lot less stressful to do your thing, let others do theirs and not worry about them.

Dog walkers don’t make the world go round. They just walk dogs for people who shouldn’t have dogs.

If my dog Walker stops working then I can’t go to work, which potentially shuts an airport and stops people getting moved to hospital by helicopter and donor organs getting moved for transplants.

Wow!
What happens if you’re ill (serious Q)

Wow!
What happens if you’re ill (serious Q)

Unfortunately due to staffing levels occasionally airports shut, usually for 30 to 60 minutes. Most of the time it can be managed around the traffic, occasionally stuff gets delayed.

At my place we haven’t done it for a quite a long time now, at least the last couple of years as far as I’m aware.

It was an extreme example, but isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.

And before me not going to work I’d take the dog with me and leave him in the camper in the carpark and go and walk him on my breaks, but that would probably enrage b230 even more.

I don’t actually think Phil is saying he relies 100% on a dog walker, but more to make a point..

However, I guess the premise of the ‘key worker’ status was that there IS/HAS TO BE a threshold for a cut off..

Because, as you’ve said – the ‘circle of life’ is infinite… Taxi drivers are needed to take nurses to work.. haridressers are needed to keep GPs presentable to patients… massage therapists are needed to help the sore ambulance driver’s shoulder…. journalists are needed to ensure the nation follows instructions…

But not ALL those vocations are key workers, and as such a journalist who can work from home should also be expected to home school… a massage parlour has been shut all through lockdown… etc etc..

DrP

haridressers are needed to keep GPs presentable to patients…

Really? 🙂

Edit: just realised you were probably joking. Never mind. For some reason an amusing image popped into my head of every GP in the land looking like Ken Barlow.

I don’t actually think Phil is saying he relies 100% on a dog walker, but more to make a point..

although I’m not sure what that was, because he (melodramatically) said no dog walker, no transplants, then backtracked and said actually he’d just take the dog to work anyway. So I guess he’s saying that dog-walkers are convenient but shouldn’t actually make the “key-worker” cut? Which I’d agree with 🤣

Edit: just realised you were probably joking. Never mind. For some reason an amusing image popped into my head of every GP in the land looking like Ken Barlow

!!!

One of my staff is a dab hand with clippers,so I’m looking ‘buzz fresh’… but a mate of mine is a GP in dorset, and his hair is a COMPLETE MESS!!!!

DrP

I struggle to see how a dog walker can be classed AT ALL as a key worker!

You don’t need to be a “key Worker” to get a school place for a child (at least not at my lads school)
Just that you can’t work from home.

actually he’d just take the dog to work anyway.

Not everyone has a camper they can pop their dog in and somewhere safe to park though.

I don’t think they are key workers, but arguably quite important to allow some people to go to their essential and key worker jobs.

You could just not have a dog. That’s black and white.

A golden retriever?

There will be a furlough question on most mortgage and loan questionnaires soon. It’s likely to make you a higher default risk so there are consequences to accepting furlough.

so there are consequences to accepting furlough.

you make it sound like a choice…

Phil5556, where are you at?

Me and my other half both work staggered shifts as “key workers” and haven’t used it as a reason to send our daughter to school. One if us is always at home. TBF I’ve enjoyed spending loads of time with her but also glad she’s back today.

Other colleague’s in the exact same situation as us have sent they’re kids to school under the key workers umbrella. I’ve no opinion either way.

Furlough is a whole different kettle of fish. I’ve seen bitterness when people think they’ve not had they’re fair share. I just don’t want to go down that rabbit hole of misery and resentment so have just decided to accept it for what it is an focus on positive stuff. Like riding bikes.

The topic is taking advantage of furlough rather than having to take it Jambo

you make it sound like a choice…

It is a choice. The alternative might be no job and universal credit though.

So some people take the piss on furlough

To be fair most of us are probably taking the piss from work posting on here during the day

Anyway with a third of the population at least first dosed shouldn’t we be back to normal now? The vulnerable and over 70 must be sorted by now and they are the ones we’re supposed to be protecting

After juggling work and home schooling our 7 year old (with Autism – but not at a level to have an EHCP), it was very frustrating to get him to engage. The school had him in on a Monday and Friday for the last 2 weeks of lockdown to get him used to it ready for today.
The wife was commenting on who’s kids were in there , and recognised a lot of the parents are not keyworkers ( she knows several are hairdressers, beauticians etc).
So there could be other reasons why the kids are in ( approx 20 of his 30 strong class )

If he’s a landlord..then a bit of furlough dodginess is hardly the worst thing he’s up to.

DrP the problem is you are making value judgements on other people’s situations. Sadly the pots and pan clanging has really fed this mentality that there are people in society who are heroes and the rest.

“we’re finding home schooling tough” – 2 uneployed parents, BOTH at home

did you think they would say, “well actually out children are on the vulnerable list – Social Work told us to send them to school”.

“cos of my work my kids are allowed in.” – dog walker…

we’ve already seen plenty of debate about this; e.g. should Dr’s and Nurses not be allowed to keep dogs in case their is a crisis and their dog walker is unavailable? I doubt the economics of Dog Walking make it viable for a small number of dogs at the lunch break. I believe most will pick up/drop off, and use a van for this so may not be able to take more than 1 kid with them.

“i’m a solicitor..” – solicitor – husband unemplyed, at home

presumably if you found yourself accused of a crime, or in a custody battle over your kids you’d still want legal representation? who knows why the husband isn’t working – but unless you know them really well there could be physical or mental health issues which mean they really aren’t best placed to be doing home schooling.

I guess it IS curtain twitching, but it’s upsetting seeung one’s own kids struggle and their education suffer, and the ability for a single mother to home school AND work lead to stress etc, when other parent’s are just happily taking the ‘p’ and sending their kids into school….

First, don’t kid yourself for a moment that kids going into schools whilst their classmates are learning at home are getting a much better level of education. In reality they aren’t – they are working to the same lessons, probably don’t have their own class teacher in the room and unless the parents are actually neglecting them or not particularly bright themselves its unlikely that the standard of learning is that different. The difference is the social interaction for the kids.

The wife was commenting on who’s kids were in there , and recognised a lot of the parents are not keyworkers ( she knows several are hairdressers, beauticians etc).

As I mentioned earlier, there is no requirement to be a “keyworker” just that you cant work from home.

A friend and his wife cant operate their normal business because of restrictions, and they are both out every day delivering for Amazon to pay the bills.

The other parents at their school probably think they are playing the system and sitting at home every day watching Netflix using the school as free childcare ?

Judgmental bingo!