To expect people ill with Covid stay home?

Your numbers are way out.

Average teacher salary is £52.8k (https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/life-as-a-teacher/pay-and-benefits/teacher-pay)

Average midwife salary £40k+ (https://www.nurses.co.uk/blog/pay/midwife-pay-salary-guide)

I wouldn’t consider a graphics designer a high skilled job but as you do: average c£40k+.

Clearly if you choose starting salaries they’re on the lower end but that’s missing the point (particularly as in 2 of your examples, individuals get paid more year on year purely as a result of continuing to work ie not performance related)

You’re so ignorant

Of course they can and do!

No-one will lose their job from taking sick leave when they are sick…. Stop with the wild hyperbole. It’s literally what sick leave is for. Most employers would prefer sick employees not to infect others. Productivity goes down when everyone is sick.

Why are you happy to be corrected by others when they answer your questions, yet refuse to answer theirs and refuse to accept when you’re wrong?

So it’s good idea to infect your team? I don’t quite understand this logic. Wouldn’t your work load increase if illness spreads and you have more people off?

I got long Covid from a very mild Covid infection. Previous to this I was of the opinion the Covid was just a cold. I was super fit and healthy and had had it a few times before with zero issues

Every single infection increases your chance of long Covid (which is already at around 10%) so people do need to start doing the maths here. Many children have long Covid and the age group most affected is women aged around 45-55.

So no it’s not like a cold and we should take it more seriously. I do understand that work policies force people in so that needs to change. If you can work from home with an infectious illness you should. I never understand why workplaces think it’s a great idea to spread illness around the entire office! Surely a false economy.

It’s very selfish (and pretty stupid) to go to an exercise class with Covid so I agree completely about that.

On the whole we need to change our views about infection control in this country. But invariably the amount of people with Long Covid and pot viral issues will keep growing and growing so that one day maybe people and the government will take viruses and infection control a little more seriously.

Not to mention by her logic those with immune system issues don’t have to be responsible for themselves, everyone else should be responsible for them instead. Why is it one rule for one and one for another?
why is it that poor, hard working people are the ones penalised but others can do nothing but rely on others? It can’t work both ways

This also doesn’t include those who work incredibly hard with on the job skills that are paid very low. Such as nursery nurses, bin men, cleaners, care workers

You cant have it both ways you cant expect people to be resonsible for themselves
Whilst at the same time going off work every time they feel under the weather
Yet somehow for planning all of this and managing to feed their children and pay thrir rent
Fresh air doesnt feed hungry children.

Graphic designer - average starting salary £28k
Nurse/midwife - £32k
Graduate secondary school teacher - £31k.

all high skilled and below UK median of £37k. Coupled with children and bills to pay these are low paid jobs.

Bollocks If someone lost their job because of the suggestions you are making you would be the first to moan about them claiming benefits.

I was including myself in the ‘not very bright’ cohort, in case that wasn’t clear.

I haven’t written myself off but I am realistic about my earning potential. I have been ‘applying myself’ for the past thirty years but haven’t managed to achieve much or earn much.

It can be easy to change industry in lower paid jobs, yes. So then we swap one lower paid job for another one. You were the one who suggested changing industry and I was trying to work out how that helps us low earners.

No. Just expect people to be responsible for themselves and considerate of others. Not a lot to ask for.

And yet ive seen you on other threads moaning about ppl being on benefits. Now you are expecting posters to risk their jobs and possibly end up in the very situation you have previously whinged about. Your posting history proves beyond all doubt that you are just being goady.

It generally does. Money goes to where value is created and skills are what generates value.

Why would a high skilled individual sell their services for low pay? It makes zero sense. If they choose to do so, great, but they then shouldn’t plead poverty.

Happy to be corrected if you can list a few highly skilled low paid jobs?

Good grief, what on earth makes you think that's possible for everyone?

There are regions in the UK where it is near impossible to find work above NMW unless you have some sort of professional skill/qualification and experience. The public sector, which used to provide entry level clerical and admin jobs, has been shedding jobs to make savings and a lot of these roles no longer exist, so competition for them is fierce. Retail work is NMW or a few pence above, and now requires people to work weekends, when childcare is hard to find. If you're in a rural area, you have the added difficulty of getting to work: there are villages a few miles from me that have no public transport at all and plenty where there are only 3 buses a day and none at weekends. And this is in the SE, the most densely populated region outside of London.

When you couple low pay with higher than average rents, invariably below the amount UC will pay, it's easy to see why, for some people, the loss of a few days pay will tip them into financial hardship.

Lower paid doesn’t automatically mean less skilled.

its really poor to effectively write off the “not very bright”. There’s different forms of intelligence and most of those I know who have generated their own wealth wouldn’t be considered typically “bright”.

The other factor was, despite some misfortune (poverty, homelessness, loss of parents at young age, medical issues), it wasn’t enough to tip me over the edge.

I’m not saying in special, my point is the opposite. Most people can and should be able to get ahead and provide for themselves if they just apply themselves.

I don’t understand your point re. changing industry. It’s surely easier to change industry in lower paid and thus less skilled and specialised roles.

@ExpectMore Kindly, go and be present with your children if you have taken 6 weeks off to spend time with them?

This

Best of luck with that one. In the meantime, maybe start a fund or something.

No idea what your last sentence means.

How easy is it to change industry do you think? To speak plainly, some of us aren’t particularly bright, and finding a well paying job is quite a lot more difficult if you aren’t particularly bright. Not being very bright is just bad luck.

Speaking of luck, I thought it was interesting that you said your being comfortable was achieved ‘to an extent’ by hard work and perseverance. That sounds like an acknowledgment that hard work alone is not always enough. I wonder what the other factors involved were that made up the full extent.

@ExpectMore Absolutely relevant. Some of us have had to manage on one wage alone with no additional support whatsoever.
I can imagine your views on single parents...

The fact people need incentivised to do the right thing is shocking and one reason our country is going down the drain. A set of decent morals and ethics is all we need to get back on the right path