To think accountancy isn't a "keyworker" job?

[hannabull]

One of the parents at school is a self employed accountant who works from home, but sending kids into school. The other parent works out of the home (not a key worker) how is this allowed? Claims to be an essential worker (doesn't work for the nhs or anything, just accounts for small businesses)

If schools are really 2/3 full that is a problem, but are they?

Exactly!
Some schools? Yes
All schools? Unlikely

well i'm sure many arent, but some obviously are - my children's school is almost half full - and i've heard of others that are similar (or higher. on the other hand, i know others are being very strict about numbers, as they should be!

I presume you can understand why people who have children at such schools are slightly p*ssed off that they're juggling it, yet others get to keep going into school and carry on as normal (yet spreading the virus, so making lockdown even longer and harder for those at home)?

As a second kick in the teeth, it also means at my kids school, that because of the high number of key worker provision, the offer for homeschooling is incredibly poor as there isn't the resources available to provide it.

Maybe you would be annoyed too in such a situation, or maybe not?

In our area there are lots of doctors, so i understand there will be a high take up of key worker provision. Its not those people I have a problem with as of course they need a place, it's th many who have two parents with "important" but normal office based WFH jobs (like my husband and i ), those who do a couple of hours teaching a week, those who have one sahp etc taking up full time places when they shouldn't be, just because they're on the key worker list!

Until recently i did a job that was on the key worker list, yet I know therefore that it would actually be easier to do that job WFH with kids and homeschooling than my current job, which isn't on the list (as its private sector rather than public sector)...

@Inthelab

doubt many of the posters here have the faintest clue about how financial markets function or what is required to keep them going. Which is fairly shocking as it's the industry that contributes the most tax revenue of all in the UK - this is what pays for a huge chunk of the NHS, social care, education, welfare, etc. And without this work you don't get paid, your furlough or benefits don't go into your account, you cannot withdraw money from your bank, there is no money to fund public services. What is the definition of keyworker if it is not that society doesn't collapse without that industry?

This has to be one of the most patronising speeches on this whole thread, it was fairly polite until you rocked up and told posters they didn’t know who they were talking to.

Some real delusions of grandeur now and superiority combined with an assumption that everyone else is a bit thick and couldn’t possibly understand how very important and busy you are.

I think there will be a clampdown on the interpretation of critical workers soon as schools being 70-80% full is not going to make a dent in the transmission of this new strain.

Right ok then. The comment about who they think they are talking to was precisely because of the patronising nature of many of the posts, the ridiculous moralising and bizarre comments. It's like listening to a Covid holier than though sermon in the Church of C-19. That is what is meant by who do they think they are speaking to. Who is the intended audience for theye pathetic snipes at other people whose jobs people seem to know next to nothing about??

To then react to someone calling out this patronising tone by calling them patronising for doing so is verging on gaslighting and utterly ridiculous.

There are many jobs in lots of sectors that are critical, and many that aren't. I don't think random people who only vaguely know the nature of someone else's job because their children happen to be in the same school are in a position to make these judgements, nor should they be so arrogant as to presume that they are qualified to do so.

@rolliy

I used to work in a private school. Kids lived in million pounds houses, had flash cars, went on holiday. Still needed a safeguarding register.

This. The presumption that money = brilliant home life is one reason that so many children slip through the net.

*PolkadotGiraffe
Tell that to people when the economy collapses and they have no money in the bank, no food to buy in shops even if they had money and have no MHS at all because nobody has paid their tax.
You realise my job is to make sure people pay the right amount of tax...?

So, if I don't advise anyone, they end up paying more tax.

By your logic, maybe I should never work again.

Either the general public doesn't understand what accountants do, or there are a bunch of charlatans on this thread who should be struck off.*

Presumably you are aware that there are a myriad of different roles within finance/ accounting. Some are critical, some are not. Just like many other sectors. Some involve ensuring the treasury gets the maximum tax it can, the opposite of what you do. Some involve making sure people get paid. Some involve maintaining the financial stability, regulation, enforcement etc without which the entire economic system would collapse very quickly. Your role might not be critical but many are. Just like brand managers for a supermarket and checkout staff both work in retail, one is likely to be considered critical and one not. Many NHS admin staff could be managed without whereas clinical staff, not so much. Is it really that hard to understand that whether work is critical to essential functioning of society cannot be defined solely based on the sector someone works in?

@PolkadotGiraffe no, I thought your post was arrogant and very patronising. You have no clue what anyone does on this thread and yet you see fit to lecture them about your very important job.

That’s not ‘gaslighting’ for goodness sake, that’s calling out rudeness and assumptions. lots of accountants on here have been very nice, very patient and very reasonable.

You inferred that people on here were thick and didn’t know how their benefits and wages arrived in the cash machine .

I am not going to keep coming back to argue about this, I have made my point and I think schools are going to have to be really firm about places.

@ralphi

you seem to believe that the definition of a key worker is someone who works outside the home, and cannot wfh. This is not necessarily the case, as this thread shows, accountants can be key workers.

Yes, I noticed that as well, thanks for highlighting this. Whether someone has to go out to work or can work from home is nothing to do with how critical the work is.

The presumption that money = brilliant home life is one reason that so many children slip through the net.

Exactly!

PolkadotGiraffe

Cognitive dissonance is lacking for many unfortunately.

[quote Pigeonsareclever]@PolkadotGiraffe no, I thought your post was arrogant and very patronising. You have no clue what anyone does on this thread and yet you see fit to lecture them about your very important job.

That’s not ‘gaslighting’ for goodness sake, that’s calling out rudeness and assumptions. lots of accountants on here have been very nice, very patient and very reasonable.

You inferred that people on here were thick and didn’t know how their benefits and wages arrived in the cash machine .

I am not going to keep coming back to argue about this, I have made my point and I think schools are going to have to be really firm about places.[/quote]
I didn't say anything about my job. This thread has nothing to do with me or my job. I don't even have children impacted by school closures, so no, it is not a personal issue, what a silly assumption. I was objecting to the farcical lecturing and the patronising tone taken by people who in many cases have exposed how little knowledge they have of the types of industries they are discussing.

It's absurd to accuse me of being patronising for objecting to other people being patronising and judgemental based on, from what I can see, pretty much zero knowledge of the job of the person the OP described.

Fundamentally I am sick of people attacking others for no reason and using Covid as a cover for their apparently "moral" positions, and I must say your posts have reinforced rather than reduced that objection.

@rolliy

The presumption that money = brilliant home life is one reason that so many children slip through the net.

Exactly!

PolkadotGiraffe

Cognitive dissonance is lacking for many unfortunately.

I remember vividly as a teenager two policemen coming to my very naice house and giving me a card and saying I should call them if I was assaulted at home again and had some evidence to provide them showing who had done it. I hope things have improved a little since then but it's certainly not enough. Prejudice, assumptions and preconceptions still rule so much of what is allowed to happen to children.

Very depressing :(

I’ve probably been one of the most “judgemental” people on this thread and probably wound you up with my “moral stance”

I’m on the leadership team of FTSE100 company and have over 25 years experience across a whole range of finance, accountancy, treasury, tax and regulatory roles. I fully understand how financial markets work and what the role of an accountant is. And I maintain my position that this is not a role that should qualify for critical worker status. And I am impacted my this as I have two primary aged children that we are homeschooling.

@PolkadotGiraffe as I stated hours ago, you were the person who changed the tone of the thread and decided that most people didn’t understand financial services. What a bunch of thickos according to you.

This was despite several accountants explaining that they knew exactly what the job entailed.
Perhaps have a look at how your posts read and if I reinforce your previous stance then that is your problem, not mine.

I have never posted on coronavirus threads before yesterday and your fatigue about the situation is also not my problem.
I have a legitimate concern about the schools being full of children and that where I live 1:30 people are positive. The hospitals can’t cope and I am allowed to express that.

I don’t care about the January tax deadline and I think it’s nonsense to suggest the the country will collapse in three months if accountants don’t access critical worker school places.

And I have no clue about the money=brilliant home life and how that relates to accountants being classified as critical workers? Unless it’s a cheap shot to suggest that they are all in school due to domestic violence.

Because @PolkadotGiraffe was responding to a post I made in relation to the below post

I know my classes parents well enough to know the position of many - i know where they live, what they do, how much technology they have (because my kids play games with them on various devices), where they go on holiday, what car they drive etc.

Good for you. Based on what you've said about your experience I'm confident I have at least an equal range on knowledge on these subjects as you do and I absolutely maintain that what I've said (which is that some roles in accountancy and finance are critical to keep things functioning) is correct. There are very few sectors where none of the workers are critical, so sector is not a basis for identifying who the critical works are. Some are obvious to everyone, some are not but they'd certainly notice if they stopped doing their jobs. I find it quite disturbing that someone could get to a senior leadership position in a FTSE 100 company and not grasp that basic point. Although I suppose it depends on which one and what their governance is like, as there is still enormous variance in that unfortunately!

You are right op, I’m a tax accountant-it’s bloody difficult juggling it at this time of year and home schooling but I’m not a key worker! Just crack on with it.Bet these twats are the same people berating others for not wearing masks even though they have issues with mental health or people who walked their dog twice a day.

Are usually so unpleasant in real life or just on a screen? Why can’t you make your point without being insulting?

There is a different between being an important job, and a job that is “Critical to the COVID response” and therefore requiring a school place.

And our governance is gold standard, thanks for asking.

I'm being less courteous because of the nature of your own responses and the insults and insinuations you've thrown around.

It seems from your final comment that perhaps we are talking at cross purposes: "critical workers" is defined (deliberately) to capture all of those whose roles are vital to keeping society functioning in the short term. Not just those who are vital to the Covid response, which is a subset of the essential roles.

@Pigeonsareclever

And I have no clue about the money=brilliant home life and how that relates to accountants being classified as critical workers? Unless it’s a cheap shot to suggest that they are all in school due to domestic violence.

Wow.

@rolliy

Because *@PolkadotGiraffe* was responding to a post I made in relation to the below post

I know my classes parents well enough to know the position of many - i know where they live, what they do, how much technology they have (because my kids play games with them on various devices), where they go on holiday, what car they drive etc.

Thank you for clarifying for those who are focusing on personal attacks rather than reading the thread.

@PolkadotGiraffe you are extremely rude and keep blaming this in other people. You are responsible for how you come across online, you call people thick, big yourself up constantly and talk down to people.

I hope you are as clever as you imply because you won’t have got your super important job with those social skills.

Not engaging anymore, it’s pointless and I am lowering myself to your level.

I find it quite disturbing that someone could get to a senior leadership position in a FTSE 100 company and not grasp that basic point. Although I suppose it depends on which one and what their governance is like, grin as there is still enormous variance in that unfortunately!

No personal attacks to be seen here, the irony.
I am hiding this thread now, it’s such a shame that a couple of posters made it so unpleasant.

[quote Pigeonsareclever]@PolkadotGiraffe you are extremely rude and keep blaming this in other people. You are responsible for how you come across online, you call people thick, big yourself up constantly and talk down to people.

I hope you are as clever as you imply because you won’t have got your super important job with those social skills.

Not engaging anymore, it’s pointless and I am lowering myself to your level.[/quote]
I did not call anyone thick, say I have an important job or say anything alluding to my own level of intelligence in any respect. It's weird to make up all of these accusations when the entire thread is there for people to read to establish that it is all false.

@Pigeonsareclever

I find it quite disturbing that someone could get to a senior leadership position in a FTSE 100 company and not grasp that basic point. Although I suppose it depends on which one and what their governance is like, grin as there is still enormous variance in that unfortunately!

No personal attacks to be seen here, the irony.
I am hiding this thread now, it’s such a shame that a couple of posters made it so unpleasant.

I am hiding this thread now, it’s such a shame that a couple of posters made it so unpleasant.

No irony to see here, at all.