WEST LONDON MEET-UP THREAD - JANUARY 2007 - from Acton to Sunbury everybody welcome

[MrsBigD]

Time for a new general chat thread

HAPPY NEW YEAR

ps: thanks re: The Czar. Good job Tuesday is my day off.

i'm very busy Pud.

very very very busy!

I have over 130 unread emails, 12 of them in "Large Messages" and my system admin tell me my mailbox is oversize which is ominous...........

so wish it was my MALEbox oversize but you can't have everything.

now i MUST go and read some work emails - especially as half my projects had no warning i was going on holiday!!!

Whaaa Haaaa Haaaaaa

maybe i should steal some of dh's meds....

just found this thread

Thanks Paddle - I knew I could rely on you !

I'm back to work on Monday

I think SMP should be paid at a higher rate for a shorter period. Who in the world can support a baby (let alone themselves) on £105 per week? They should pay the whole lot in one lump sum and you go back to work when it runs out. So give pregnant women 90% for 6 weeks plus £2000. It would make the difference to a lot of people between 3 and 6 months of maternity leave.

And, my big gripe, give men equal paternity pay. 90% for six weeks! Only when this happen will men start taking leave. And only when men start takin gleave will women cease to suffer from sexual discrimination in the work place.

i so agree with father paid leave, my husband is a freelance contractor so it did not apply, he only took a week most of which was spent with us in hospital. later when i got back to work he was dd's main carer for 4months which he loved.
i like the lump sum and idea too, my company were quite good since i barely felt the drop in money, at most i was down £500 which was ok, was able to budget for the 6 months extra without pay.

Paddle - hope you are taking notes!

Anyone about?

Guess not

Oh well, dh off to do the shopping & I'm going to get myself a glass of wine

yep foxie, taking lots of notes.

i've been asked to go along on tuesday to meet the deputy czar with a few others. am taking dd with me so should be interesting!

they've taken notes on what i already told the reporter which was pretty much the SMP issue and lack of standardisation across employers.

also the lack of clear and easy to understand documentation that returning mothers can use to establish exactly what they are entitled to.

i suggested that employers be encouraged to attain a certain standard or certification that might include having HR staff specifically specialising in maternity/paternity issues.

something like the approved breastfeeding thing that hospitals can attain.

i also suggested that young mothers are being discrimated against for their age. things are typically aimed at older, perhaps more educated mothers with more life experience. those that are more able to "fight their corner" as it were

women are more expected to start families later. young mothers are criticised for having babies too young (don't even go there on the single mother issue). i think they get less support from the whole system especially with bf and returning to work.

i'm also interested in comparing our (lack) of funding/support/flexibility/encouragement for paternity leave with other EU countries such as Sweden.

best i take my soapbox along!

uwila - I cannot complain my dh got full pay during his paternity leave, and this is standard practice. I had dd2 at weekend before half-term, so my dh was off during half-term and also got two weeks of paternity week off afterwards. His employers were very accomodating, we were lucky as a friend of ours who works in a similar position did not get this and also got a lot of flak.

The economy will always take priority for this Government over everything else whether it is family life or the environment. I never would have thought that 10 years ago!

these are all good issues Paddle and everyone but i also think it starts much earlier with a sorry lack of education about parenting issues and child development.
i agree that mothers and fathers should be able to choose whether they want to go back to work (and how) or not and shared parenting i it's fullest sense should be encouraged and promoted.
honestly i just think there are still generations to go until we have anything like equality
oh better stop now

Paddle - they are excellent points and great constructive ideas for a way forward. I like the idea about HR people being certificated.

My gripe is this: Women are now being encouraged to BF for 1 year (yippee) but statutory and employer enhanced maternity pay is only for 6 months (after all who can live on the stat pay of £100 per week?) so most women have to return after about 6 months - so HTF can they breastfeed for a year anyway???

I like your point about paternity leave Paddle, in Sweden,. either the man or woman can take the full pay that's offered.

Also, Sweden provides a free place in state nursery for every 1 year old. Whereas we have the most expensive child care in Europe, thus preventing many women from returning to work at all

hmmm..feel better now

I'm glad you're going along on Tuesday Paddle - should be interesting.

My friend you spoke with has decided to join MN so she should hopefully join us on this thread for a gossip soon

the thing about Sweden et al is that those are socialist countries with high taxes. i don't see this happening here anytime soon.
amusingly enough Cameron finally uttered the T word on Today this morning, surprise surprise.

don't get me started on childcare cost and women being discriminated against ... it's not just young women... trying to find a 'decent' I very often don't hear back as soon as I mention that I have 2 young children. I always have to smile at reports in the german parenting magazine I get. They lament the cost of kindergarten for younger children... in reality... I fork out in a week what they pay in a month for a full-time place they don't know how good they've got it.

I wouldn't mind living in a socialist country where taxes are higher if it means I get better and affordable childcare Whereas here taxes/fares etc. just go up (anybody heard the whole thing about new road tax proposal? WTF!?!) and nothing seems to come off it.

Shall now shuffle off and hide my soapbox and get some sleep.

Hmmm rereading this I think pmt has started

What did Cameron say about T? (Assuming T is for tax)

I don't actually think that a specialised HR department is a great idea. I think it will add more beaurocracy and expense to running a business, and perhaps criple small businesses. However, I am all for the comments about clear information (though I do think the information is available if you look for it).

I am adomately opposed to a high tax socialist state. The government is incompetant at running the medical system and the state school system, so why on earth would I want to trust them with childcare, too? No thank you.

I do think the cost of childcare is literally crippling in this country and it is high time the government start qcknowledging the true cost of nurseries and childminders in greater London. Do they or don't they want people to have children, go back to work, and own a house.

Yes, MrsBigD, that road tax just might push me over the edge, out of the car and onto public transport. Affordable traintravel anyone??? Not in this country.

YEs, I like that in Sweden the parental leave can be taken by either parent. I would like to a system where mum got say 4 weeks at 90%, dad got say 4 weeks at 90%, so 8 weeks for both of them, and they can divide as they see fit. But, they probably won't go for this because it would cost more. Not only is it adding two weeks of 90%, but men make more money than women so this would cost a fair amount more. But, to not do only feeds the system of sexual discrimination...

I could go on and on, but I really must do some work....

MrsBigD, have you given up on the job hunt?

In Germany the Healthcare and schools do work though

Not given up on jobsearch as such. Just having a break until we've moved so I can get to know the area and can work out what's feasible

all good points.

as far as the HR issue, I was thinking perhaps certain individuals with specific maternity/paternity training which would suit small and large companies alike.

i hope we've all signed the petition against this new road use tax thing. i tried twice but it's not sending me the email link to activate - funny that!

Uwila, you are right, intrinsicially british government is incompetent. regardless of which party is in power. we are living with the legacy of the Thatcher years IMO. That women couldn't have done less for women in general never mind the UK in terms of manufacturing and production.

there needs to be massive and sweeping change across the whole social/welfare spectrum. health, schools, childcare etc.

MrsB, yes you're right there is discrimination across the board in terms of working mothers. However, I think young mums have additional prejudice to battle and often they aren't able to.

Documentation is available however it's not necessarily easy to understand and can be contradictory depending on where you look. ACAS are notoriously hard to get hold of as well.

My employer doesn't allow me to speak to HR directly, my line manager has no clue what my entitlements are. HR don't have web access so can't read the links I have forwarded and refuse to accept the information I am trying to communicate to them.

Oooh look, there's a brick wall I must got and bang my head against..........

Paddle

You're so right about the Thatcher years. I am old enough to remember them and was heavily involved in polotics during that time. Thatcher systematically cut funding to education, the police and the NHS and absoluteley decimated them and Labour is still trying to repair the damage but unfortunately haven't the competetance to do so. At least with Labour the will is there, - but not the skill LOL!

Thatcher was brilliant at what she did, and one thing she wanted was to eradicate the welfare state.....

I work for a large company and HR use solicitors advice for each and every action they take - must cost them a bloody fortune. It would be much cheaper to have staff who knew the law within the team.

Paddle, you've got us all started now ...

uwila - yes i did mean tax, i find it annoying that the tories have gone all coy on tax, as in oh no we will not cut funding on NHS etc, free at point of delivery bla bla. but they need to make their tax position clear when they really are ideologically in favour of low taxes / small state they should just make that clear and set out their differences / plans and stop the wishy washy down the middle nonsense
i need to see some convictions, for me this government has been a shambles and a disappointment to say the least.

Has everyone put their names down for the meal on 20th yet? Its on the other thread but we only seem ta have about 5 people so far.....

foxie / paddle isn't that the role of the unions? you know understating the rights make them clear and fight for them (that is another 80's casualty) and housing where to start on housing and blinking house ownwership

sfx - unions were decimated too (by Thatcher and New Labour), so most staff aren't members and they are run by volunteers within companies anyway.

They're OK to step in if you need support, but don't generally have great advice on new legislation. I found the Maternity Alliance were great for advice, but sadly they no longer exist...

yes the unions i know a fair bit of what happened in the UK on that subject, when i first started working here ('92)i remember there was a real stigma about unions even mentioning them. it was interesting to see what happened to the language too it really facilitated thought, and it continued with this government with the 'bogus asylum seekers' thing

oh must stop, don't talk politics don't talk religion