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So, what happened today?

So Sunday….
Went to Spurs
Brought a caravan on the way there (on the phone)
Watched the game with my nephew
Then went to ally pally to see Sam Fender and Gang of Youths in an immense gig
Got in at 1.30 am pretty smashed having spent the best part of £200 on beer for my nephew (his belated 18th … he is 20 in a few weeks), my niece and the wife

really enjoyed every moment of it
 
Doesn't surprise me.

I've had some dealings with challenger banks lately and amateur hour would be a compliment.
I have dealt with setting up new banks from scratch. Cards, Accounts, card and account administration system, Internet bank, fraud prevention, anti-money laundry etc.
I've also been amazed at the level of incompetence they've shown, and the total lack of understanding of how the financial and Bank systems works.
We employed VISA fast-track, which makes it possible to go from 0 to fully operational with cards and everything, in less than 4 weeks.
Many of them thought that was way to long!!!
 
This is defo the future !!

The online bank Atom Bank has introduced a four-day work week for its 430 staff without cutting their pay.

Employees now work 34 hours over four days and get Monday or Friday off, when previously they clocked up 37.5 hours across the whole week.

Boss Mark Mullen told the BBC it was inspired by the pandemic and would help improve wellbeing and retain staff.

However, employees will have to work longer hours on the days that they are in.

"Before Covid, the conventional wisdom was you had to commute in, sit at a desk all day and repeat that process when you commuted home," said Mr Mullen, who has led the Durham-based bank since 2014.

"Covid showed us that it wasn't necessary…I think doing 9-5, Monday to Friday is a pretty old fashioned way of working."

Atom was one of the UK's first digital challenger banks and had £2.7bn of loans on its books in the last financial year. Its new working arrangements kicked in on 1 November after a review found they would not affect customer service or productivity.

Mr Mullen said the new arrangement was voluntary, but strongly reflected his staff's preferences for more flexible working.

"Everyone is expected to stick to it," he added. "I can't be sending my staff emails on a Friday, I can't expect to them to respond to them."

_121759642_rivergreenabove-3.jpg
IMAGE SOURCE,ATOM BANK
Image caption,
The bank's headquarters in Durham
Working patterns have changed over time. In the 19th Century most British workers worked six day weeks, but in the 1930s Henry Ford in the US and pharmacy chain Boots in the UK popularised the two-day weekend as a way of boosting wellbeing and productivity.

Now, calls for a four-day work week are growing amid similar claims that it could improve people's lives.

Recent research found trials of a four-day week among public sector workers in Iceland were an "overwhelming success" and helped reduce stress and burnout.

And Microsoft Japan said sales had been boosted by nearly 40% during an experiment in which staff worked a four-day week on full pay back in 2019.

However, some employers believe it's not the right thing to do.

In 2019, UK science research foundation the Wellcome Trust scrapped plans to trial a four-day week for its 800 head office staff, saying it would be "too operationally complex".

The decision followed a three-month study which found compressing work into a Monday to Thursday window could negatively affect the wellbeing of some workers and harm productivity.

'Increased exposure to stress'
"It is undoubtedly a positive move for employers to seek to reduce people's working hours without compromising pay," Ben Willmott, head of public policy at the Chartered Institute of Professional Development, told the BBC.

"However, I think the challenge of simply reducing people's working hours without other changes is that you can increase exposure to stress, which is already one of the main causes of working time lost to sickness absence."

Atom is asking its staff to compress their hours into a shorter period, and proportionally their hours have not been cut by a whole day. But Mr Mullen said workers would still get paid the same and enjoy a "three day weekend in perpetuity".

Media caption,
Would a four-day week boost productivity?
He also hopes it will help attract talent at time when staff attrition at the bank is "unusually" high due to the pandemic.

"With Covid-19 causing vast numbers of people to reconsider how they want to live their lives, anything that leads to more productive, healthier, and, crucially, happier colleagues, is a win for everyone," he added.

My place has done something similar, every fornight you can work your hours for the 10 days in 9 days and take the Friday off. Been nice having the extra day, definitely makes a difference but guess you'll get used to it in time and it won't feel as new.
 
Changing the workday ratio from 5:2 to 4:3 is absolutely ENORMOUS news. I pray it happens in my working life.
Usually on the weekend you spend 1 to 1.5 days doing necessary chores like shopping and gardening and seeing hateful relatives, leaving you with F-all free time.

So that extra day is enormous. It isn't an increase of 33% of days off, more like "tripling the amount of time spent doing whatever the F you want without chores or family commitments"
 
Changing the workday ratio from 5:2 to 4:3 is absolutely ENORMOUS news. I pray it happens in my working life.
Usually on the weekend you spend 1 to 1.5 days doing necessary chores like shopping and gardening and seeing hateful relatives, leaving you with F-all free time.

So that extra day is enormous. It isn't an increase of 33% of days off, more like "tripling the amount of time spent doing whatever the F you want without chores or family commitments"

Yes! Weekends. Sigh. Chores and family commitments. Imagine an extra day off on Monday, would be absolutely grand.
 
Wouldn't it just be extremely stressful for most people if they have to get everything done between Mon-Thurs (or whichever 4 days) and end up working late and like crazy? Or would we all adjust and just expect less lol
 
Note. I still dream of retiring early and not working for much longer so it won't apply to me haha
 
Wouldn't it just be extremely stressful for most people if they have to get everything done between Mon-Thurs (or whichever 4 days) and end up working late and like crazy? Or would we all adjust and just expect less lol
That's the problem. I could do my work in four days and just be on the end of a phone for the fifth, but I wouldn't see my family for the four days and would be too exhausted to do anything for the fifth one.

If people prefer to do four 10-15 hr days rather than five 8-12 hr ones then great. But I think what the plebs understand as a four day week is getting paid the same money for doing 32 hours.
 
That's the problem. I could do my work in four days and just be on the end of a phone for the fifth, but I wouldn't see my family for the four days and would be too exhausted to do anything for the fifth one.

If people prefer to do four 10-15 hr days rather than five 8-12 hr ones then great. But I think what the plebs understand as a four day week is getting paid the same money for doing 32 hours.
The plebs? Get a load of Maximus tacotus over here.

Most workers could get their work done in 34 hours if they focus and have fewer meetings.

It is in the article: "Employees now work 34 hours over four days and get Monday or Friday off"
 
It’s insane how much society has been conditioned to think they need to spend the majority of their week working.
 
I’ve started not working on Fridays. Health reasons, and I’m a contractor so it’s pretty much up to me if I want a 20% invoicing haircut. Anyway, it’s very difficult.

To do it properly, work comms need to be disconnected from all devices (leaving only SMS or phone calls for emergencies), so that’s emails, Teams notifications and lots else to disable every week. I also need to cut myself off from external information which is relevant to my role. That’s about half of the internet. Otherwise, it’s impossible not to do my job.

I’m looking forward to being well enough to do 60 hours, bill 40, and do what I enjoy rather than spending time doing nothing, which isn’t really fun.
 
The plebs? Get a load of Maximus tacotus over here.

Most workers could get their work done in 34 hours if they focus and have fewer meetings.

It is in the article: "Employees now work 34 hours over four days and get Monday or Friday off"
Great, so us employers can now pay them for 34 hours of work.
 
I’ve started not working on Fridays. Health reasons, and I’m a contractor so it’s pretty much up to me if I want a 20% invoicing haircut. Anyway, it’s very difficult.

To do it properly, work comms need to be disconnected from all devices (leaving only SMS or phone calls for emergencies), so that’s emails, Teams notifications and lots else to disable every week. I also need to cut myself off from external information which is relevant to my role. That’s about half of the internet. Otherwise, it’s impossible not to do my job.

I’m looking forward to being well enough to do 60 hours, bill 40, and do what I enjoy rather than spending time doing nothing, which isn’t really fun.
How long have you been out of action?
 
How long have you been out of action?

I’ve been housebound for six months or so, but able to work from home for most of that time, and for some of it have been able to bill five days a week with a clear conscience. My big hope is for a lethal new Covid variant to emerge and for everyone to go back to full time WFH. Too much stuff that I need to be sighted on is happening in meatspace.
 
I’ve been housebound for six months or so, but able to work from home for most of that time, and for some of it have been able to bill five days a week with a clear conscience. My big hope is for a lethal new Covid variant to emerge and for everyone to go back to full time WFH. Too much stuff that I need to be sighted on is happening in meatspace.
Argh. That's tough but at least you are getting paid. Your hope for new variant is a little harsh on the rest of humanity though.

Meatspace = reality? Lol
 
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My company have just announced they are removing annual leave allowance limits from next year. If you need leave, you can take it (with manager's approval). No more counting days/eking out leave to year end etc.

During the pandemic they have also given a company-wide day off pretty much every month - that's sadly coming to an end, kind of - it will now be once a quarter by the looks of it. Which is still very generous. And widely appreciated by employees.
 
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