twobears

It seems that it can work well for some people in that case but I'm not convinced it is beneficial for most people, although I can see it is always a boon for employers. In theory it would be fine to have several zero hours contracts simultaneously but what if you have young children/elderly parents/disabled relatives to care for and have to turn down work? I guess you would quickly find out that your ZHC meant just that and you would be offered no work in the future? If we assume that people are either working or dossing around then ZHCs don't seem too much of a problem but if people have families and mortgages or other unavoidable responsibilities then the picture doesn't look quite so rosy.

docwra, that all sounds great but are all zero hours contacts the same? I will admit to having no hands-on experience of them, only what I have read in the broadsheets (take a Tory and a Liberal one for balance ) and most people are described as on minimum wage rather than £18 ph and upwards. I am willing to learn but I am not sure that your recruitment company is typical is it?

Ethel is fine and dandy thank you Payco Oddly, she hasn't been in the neighbour's garden once since I posted on here so maybe she's hooked the coop up to my broadband somehow? I took a photo of her but can't find the cable to link my camera to the computer or I would post it in the pet thread re zero hours contracts, I think it is wrong to view them as starter jobs or something that only the long term unemployed, lazy and/or feckless end up with. From what I understand more and more jobs are now created as zero hours contracts and it is affecting people with families not just students or ne'er do wells. Like most people who pay taxes I don't relish the thought of paying out any more for social security bills but if it has to be done then I see it as a necessary evil, unless universal credit (not the one proposed by the government, the one where everyone gets given a basic 'wage') is introduced. As for living in the real world, I do, really I do. As an employer myself I would love to employ staff on zero hours contracts from a business point of view but my innate sense of justice won't allow me to. I have experience in many forms of employment from local government to global businesses, as well as my own humble embroidery and printing firm so I don't believe I am naive. I simply have a sense of social justice and can't bear to see people taken advantage of

I think you are being disingenuous Ekona to frame the question as if I am advocating taking bread from the mouths of the poor. I have no political axe to grind and am, in fact, completely apolitical because I have never found a politician of any hue that I can trust. To me, the fact that some people's only choice of employment is this precarious i.e. zero hours contract is plain wrong. It is easy to demonise the poor, to ostracise 'the other' be they 'foreigners' or of a lower educational standard than oneself but why shouldn't everyone be treated fairly? Zero hours contracts are NOT fair and I believe they should be outlawed and employers forced to create real jobs. Zero hours contracts mirror the situation during the great depression when unskilled labourers were forced to turn up to the docks or factories every day to see if they were chosen to work that day.

Ekona, you have admitted that you wouldn't like to be subjected to a zero hours contract so why do you think it is alright for others?

I don't know much about zero hours contracts but I think they sound appalling. How can anyone plan their life around them? Fine for employers but terrible for employees. I feel sorry for anyone who cannot find a job with regular guaranteed hours.

Oh shush now you attention seeker

GMballlistic, like I said, genuine illness sufferers have my full sympathy. I've got a medical issue too which is serious but that I don't tell anyone about because I don't want to whinge about my problems. It can be difficult when you feel rotten but look ok, like I do at the moment because I am on a high dose of steroids To hear someone banging on about their 'bloated stomach' when I can see it and it is actually as flat as a washboard does grate on me though. I've got loads of empathy for people who are ill and they can moan about their problems to me all they like if it helps but the ones with invented problems can go and whine on elsewhere I'm afraid.

Your friend is obviously genuinely suffering coldel and I have sympathy for her because I have to confess that I am the same. It's really embarrassing to be asked when your baby is due I hate milk anyway but if I have to have it in food I just use the lacto free version so no-one is any the wiser about my 'syndrome'

Humpy, how slowly did you drive the removal van?

Am I the only one who is getting increasingly frustrated with people who claim to have intolerances or 'syndromes'. How come everyone and their wife/husband/partner is now intolerant of gluten/wheat/dairy or whatever? If you dare question these people you get accused of not understanding them and their dreadful problems and yet their intolerances can be switched on and off at will it seems or else how can someone who is gluten/dairy intolerant eat a bloomin' pizza whenever it suits them? This link made me laugh but might also get me arrested by the PC police As for people who have generalised anxiety disorder and the like, er, I'm the biggest worrier in the world but I don't want or need a label to make me feel special. Heaven help me if I upset one of this brigade because they are very possessive of their self-diagnosed 'syndromes'. Needless to say I feel sorry for anyone who is genuinely ill whether it is a physical or mental problem but claiming you are bi-polar because you feel happy some days and not so happy other days is ridiculous. I think the main problem that most of these people have is ASD or attention seeking disorder. Wonder how long that one takes to get into the DSM that these people are so fond of quoting?

Congratulations on selling and buying your lovely new home I hate moving house but I love it as well. The run up to it is so stressful and moving day isn't exactly fun but once you've unpacked and got the beds up for the children, found the kettle etc it all starts to seem worthwhile!

Congratulations to you both

Thanks Veilside I've managed to negotiate carpets throughout the new house with the builder but free carpet does sound like a good incentive if the sofas are nice

Thanks Lyndzzz She is really excited to be moving and I'm almost as excited to be getting my house back to myself, ha ha

It's a cloth sofa and the credit terms are very affordable For those who are wondering about the financial arrangements, you are quite right, our daughter can't afford to run a house by herself but there's no reason why she can't choose and buy some of her own furniture

Thanks everyone Overall they don't sound too bad then. Daughter wants to buy it herself and is on a limited budget. I could step in but we're already buying the house so I think we've been generous enough

No, my question is not, "Do DFS have a sale on"? I'm just trying to find out if their sofas are worth purchasing? I'm buying my daughter a house and she's seen a sofa in DFS that she likes but I am not sure if their things are good enough quality, having never bought anything from them? Any opinions?

The quality of light is very strange and rather beautiful but only one of us has a welding mask to look through and it's not me

Flex, no way am I looking at that. I've no idea what it is but I am certain it is not something I want to see on my screen

Ah, ok, I see. No, better not use that move on her 'cos I like her really

I've no idea what that means and I daren't Google it in case it's something I don't want to know about?

I actually laughed at that last one Keyser I feel really guilty now as my neighbour has just been round for a chat and the first thing she said was, "I've not come round to talk about Ethel" We had a good old natter but I still know she's going to ring me again as soon as she sees a flash of yellow wing gracing her field.

Back away from the thread slowly Payco

Just how many chicken related puns are there in the world I wonder?