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)

Clearly my title wasn't very well worded! @Catrina123 sums up what I actually meant to say. Obviously I know accountants do an important job, I just don't think they should be sending their kids in when they are working from home (FWIW I know the family pretty well and they are going into school because the dc like going to school, and parent prefers to wfh in peace, not because of any underlying issues)

If you don't wish to be paid, be put on furlough, keep your job when your company goes under because it got heavily fined by HMRC for not submitting their tax returns, get benefits/Pensions that you are entitled to then keep arguing that accountants aren't key workers.

It would help if the government told businesses to close so that they could get financial help so that most of the workers could go on furlough and not then need to send their children into school. The downside is that if you are on furlough then you are often in the firing line if redundancies are to be made.

Not rtwt however... everybody's a bloody key worker it seems.

Oh, people need to move, oh people need to buy energy, oh people need sky TV installed.

And they sit and wonder why we're now at over 1000 daily deaths

YANBU.

All jobs are essential for someone but in no way should an accountant be treated as a key worker or essential worker.

God, whats wrong with people. My partner heads up an IT department for a charity. Is he an essential worker too because without it the charity can't function?? Get a grip people. It's not essential.

Accountants to key sectors are key workers.
One cannot just delay invoicing and banking till when the pandemic is over.
So you need this people to move the money.

They sound like a very creative account.

Get a grip people. It's not essential.

You don't mind not getting paid this month or your employer going bankrupt then?

I depends I think..I was surprised that our friend who works in mortgages classed as one last time but I hadn't thought about the mortgage holidays etc. Oh works in IT which again isn't an immediate one but he does major infrastructures for key services so kinda needed. We qualify for a place but only send them when we are both physically unable to have them which works out as 1 day a week.

@nomorename

Not rtwt however... everybody's a bloody key worker it seems.

Oh, people need to move, oh people need to buy energy, oh people need sky TV installed.

And they sit and wonder why we're now at over 1000 daily deaths

How are you on mumsnet if you're not buying any energy? Magic?

Accountants to key sectors are key workers.
One cannot just delay invoicing and banking till when the pandemic is over.
So you need this people to move the money.

Exactly, I wonder how long the care workers and nurses etc would keep going to work if they stopped getting paid?

It is on the list. Along with solicitors

But no one is suggesting the work doesn’t need to be done. It does. But it can be done from home with your kids at your ankles like the rest of us.

@Bunnybigears

*Accountants to key sectors are key workers. One cannot just delay invoicing and banking till when the pandemic is over. So you need this people to move the money.*

Exactly, I wonder how long the care workers and nurses etc would keep going to work if they stopped getting paid?

They wouldn't not get paid can they... because these people can work from home!!!! That's the whole point!!!

You can't judge on this one thing. You don't know if they qualify in another way too. We tick about 4 or 5 boxes!

@Pikoty I already have it... not essential for me to switch is it

It’s not like you’re a key worker or you might as well just stop working

But no one is suggesting the work doesn’t need to be done. It does. But it can be done from home with your kids at your ankles like the rest of us.

Not necessarily a lot of accountancy firms are hugely paper based still! As far as I am aware GDPR regulations haven't been relaxed so paper files going home isn't appropriate.

@fromdownwest

I tell you what OP - How about us 'non key workers' cease working.

Then I am sure that the world will just keep ticking along nicely.

How long until HMRC start to wonder why no money is going into the pot to pay the 'KEY WORKERS'

Everyone's job is key to someone, and this hero worhshiping of NHS based Key workers drives me mad.

I agree 100%. Our whole economy is interconnected. Everyone's job is important. Everyone pays taxes!

I am not a key worker by any stretch of the imagination, but I work in the legal field. I have deadlines I can't miss. If I screw up my deadlines and lose clients, I risk losing my job. If this happens to my colleagues, the entire company will lose money and go under.

If noone can work, what payroll is there to run? What taxes are there to process? Who pays for the NHS staff if all the 'non-essential' , 'non-key' workers lose their jobs and can't pay tax?

Yeah, accountants have important jobs. But they can do it from home just like every other office worker and every other person who deals with private sensitive data and confidential information.

And if accountants have kids to homeschool...well, so be it. So do most other people, most people are finding it a hellish experience and everyone is doing their best to keep the economy afloat.

@Bunnybigears

But no one is suggesting the work doesn’t need to be done. It does. But it can be done from home with your kids at your ankles like the rest of us.

Not necessarily a lot of accountancy firms are hugely paper based still! As far as I am aware GDPR regulations haven't been relaxed so paper files going home isn't appropriate.

So did they go into the office during the last lockdown then?

GDPR regs don't just apply to accountants!

It can't be done with the children at your ankles just as I cannot do work with small children around as a lawyer. If I did I might put one word in the wrong place and lose a client millions. I need total silence when I work for hours and hours.

@MamaTookMyEyebrows

But no one is suggesting the work doesn’t need to be done. It does. But it can be done from home with your kids at your ankles like the rest of us.

Not always it can't. I still have clients who I have to visit because their book-keeping and payroll systems aren't using online systems. 20 years ago I hardly spent any time in my own office as my diary was a succession of visits to clients to do their book-keeping, VAT and payroll. I've spent 20 years converting as many as possible to cloud systems which I can access remotely, but there are still some using old legacy systems or industry specific systems which don't allow for online access, so I still have to visit them to do my work. I also have some book-keeping clients where I have to visit for other practical reasons, such as counting/banking their takings, writing their cheques and getting the owners' signatures etc. Yes, granted, very few these days, but just pointing out that even accountants "working from home" often can't do everything at home.

Accountants are, right now, ensuring businesses get all they're entitled to in Covid relief in order to avoid bankruptcy, and with it, job losses and lost tax/increased benefit bills. I'd call that fairly essential. Covid's not the only killer - poverty's not great for the nation's health either.

GDPR regs don't just apply to accountants! I didnt say they did if other companies are choosing to ignore them to allow people to work from home thats their problem. My company is not.

Well nobody will be working if people keep on dying.... petty arguments over who's a critical worker and who isn't would be futile.

I blame Bojo.... there should be clear guidelines on what's classed as critical and what's not. This is getting ridiculous now. The roads are busier than ever these last few days.... Wildly different to the last lockdown. Says it all.