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Penny Millionaire Project - Week 34

Friday - mum handed me a 5p she'd seen on the grass verge outside the house while reversing out of the drive.

She tells me that, in an action sequence James Bond would be proud of, she slammed on the brakes, flung open her car door, and without removing her seatbelt, leant out far enough to swipe it before burning rubber out of the drive and screeching away.

The neighbours think she's under a lot of strain.

On Sunday, I nipped into Tesco for something sophisticated and urbane, I forget what now, and made quite a discovery for the project.

I ambled up to one of those self-service tills, with the robot woman who barks orders at you throughout. (I recently used one which obviously wasn't working properly because robot woman didn't say a word, and, irrational as it may be, I couldn't help but feel snubbed.)

Anyway, I completed my purchase, and had just complied with robot woman's handy reminder to "please take your items" when I spotted 4 pennies that hadn't been mine in the little change dispensing tray.

That never happens with regular checkouts. You never get people being handed their change, deciding they don't want it and putting it down on the counter. This new technology has removed the need to obey the cosy little rituals involved with making a purchase, and opened up a whole new world of cash discarding, which is great news for me.

I think this project is beginning to take off again.

Week Thirty-four

How much found: 9p

Total found so far: £14.84

How it could now be spent: a Tomy Thomas and Friends Sit 'n' Ride.

Are you owed a payrise?

If you've recently started a new role then you're probably on a decent salary, after all if they didn't offer you a good deal then you're unlikely to accept the position. Once you're on a company's payroll however it can be a different story especially when the credit crunch and possibility of recession are on everyone's minds.

It's a difficult thing to put a value on what you're worth to your company but if you've been in your job for a while there's a good chance you're not earning your full potential. Why not see what the market thinks you're worth by checking out some of the salary surveys we're featuring on our site.

Click here to find out more.

Agency Workers' Rights

As a former agency worker and having been thoroughly passed through the intricate web of temporary placements, I indeed have sympathy for agency workers. The mercenary stigma that often drags behind them can be a heavy burden to bear. Taken onboard for a short period, you do the job and leave, perhaps not even being noticed let alone remembered. You live in eternal freefall, safety net removed, security being an unfamiliar word. Yet, you have no ties, no real obligations, perhaps a sense of false freedom bouncing from job to job as you please. Jack of all trades, master of none. For some temporary work through an agency is the more viable, attractive option.

Currently, however, the UK’s 1.4 million temporary workers are systematically being stripped of their workplace rights with the Court of Appeal lashing a landmark ruling and dealing another critical blow in the fight for equal rights for both permanent and temporary staff, fueling further controversy in the debate. 

Ruling against a claim for unfair dismissal in which the Greenwich Borough Council replaced a long-standing agency worker, the Court of Appeal effectively diminished the rights of agency workers with one sweeping gesture. The Court handed down the ruling stating the claimant had no official contractual relationship despite working with the council for a period of three years.

Lead judge, Lord Justice Mummery, defended the decision adding that the courts would not enter the heated debate and it was up to parliament to reform employment laws; “the courts are not architects of economic and social policy.”

Ms Merana James’ initial claim to the Employment Appeal Tribunal had been dismissed on the grounds that James previously signed a Temporary Workers Agreement waiving a formal employment contract and therefore had no status as an employee.

Some employment bodies, such as the employment team at national law firm Halliwells, are supporting the ruling commenting that the decision “is good news for agency workers and for companies that use them, as the flexibility of the agency worker means they remain a popular option for businesses requiring temporary staff cover without the rigidity of an employment contract.”

The fear is businesses will shun agency workers in light of proposed legislation reform, due to the ‘no-strings-attached’ benefits and advantages of employing temporary staff being effectively removed.

In contrast, a union backed Private Members Bill, brought by MP Andrew Miller which aims to ensure equal rights for agency workers and permanent staff alike, will be launched ahead of its second reading on Friday, 22 February. It is anticipated that agency workers from all over the country, as well as supporting MPs will be in attendance in the House. Prior attempts to pass the bill has met with stern opposition by senior MPs.

Arguably the bill presents two sides of the coin. If it’s passed temporary workers gain more rights making it a more viable and attractive form of employment. In turn, recruitment consultancies could predict a greater influx of temporary employees, a stronger pool of workers to put forward for vacancies and, thus, possibly a stronger demand from employers requiring high calibre short-term individuals on a short notice basis.

Those against argue that legislation reform threaten temporary workers. While they would potentially gain greater security and rights in the workforce, employers could react negatively and turn away from using agencies because the benefits of having a ‘no-strings-attached’ worker would be diminished. Employers would have to provide the same highly valued long-term rights to every worker that passes through the door, be it for five days or five years. As a result agencies could be impacted negatively and only be considered as a ‘last resort’ option for employers.

With Friday 22 looming ominously close, and as supporting MPs and agency employees rally together in the hope of passing the Bill, the fate of temporary workers in the UK will depend on which side of the coin falls face down and how this reverbs through the industry. 

Northern Rock nationalised - what's your take?

Well it’s been a long time coming but today sees the government take some real action to solve the Northern Rock problem. Unfortunately the nationalisation of Northern Rock seems to be a case of ‘too little, too late’.

Alastair Darling has rejected bids from Virgin Money on the grounds that it protects taxpayers’ interests.

Shareholders however are considering legal action against the government as their shares become suspended (90p on Friday). Though there is talk of compensation for them many doubt they’ll really be making their money back.

And it could be bad news for Northern Rock employees as the new Executive Chairman, Ron Sandler (who is being paid £90,000 a month for his efforts), is expected to announce heavy job losses.

Everybody’s got an opinion on Darling’s decision - what's yours? Or, if you're still not sure, here are some interesting articles that are worth a read...

Take a look at the Times’ piece ‘Absolutely, incredibly, utterly wrong’ – no prizes for guessing columnist Anatole Kaletsky’s stance! Or see what you think of the FT's claim that ‘Nationalising Northern Rock was the right move’  which looks at the next steps the government will need to take.

Penny Millionaire Project - Week 33

Wednesday, we had a big desk move to accommodate our new girl, Victoria. (She's nice. Hopefully you'll be meeting her on here soon.)

Well, more accurateIy, I had a big desk move. I've had to change desks twice since we got to our new offices in June, while my workmates have taken root at theirs.

What are they trying to tell me? Am I so objectionable that the only way they can carry on working here is if they have some kind of secret rota of who has to sit next to me for 4 months at a time? I bet it's written into all of their contracts, with bonuses if they can stick it out for longer!

Anyway, through gritted teeth, I packed up all my important things (a 3-month-old Loveheart and lots of Post-It notes from Maz with pictures of butterflies and ladybirds on) and was busy cleaning my new desk, when Kirsty, obviously feeling a bit left out, started wiping over her own desk. Almost immediately, she unearthed a long-lost penny from under her monitor stand and handed it to me.

Thursday, Kirsty again came up with the goods - a penny she found by the cash register in Tesco.

Week Thirty-three

How much found: 2p

Total found so far: £14.75

How it could now be spent: a sterling silver heart pendant.

Feel you're being ostracised by your colleagues? Cut your losses and get new ones instead.

Writing a cover letter

We’ve all been through the excruciating torture that writing a cover letter entails. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s spent hours writing my CV only to rush my cover letter with unfortunate results – trust me, nobody wants to hire a copy editor who leaves spelling mistakes in their applications!

Writing a bad cover letter is like spending hours preparing to give a perfect interview then turning up late, in a tracksuit, chewing gum. It’s your prospective employer’s first impression of you and so you need to get it word perfect.

Here’s a ‘do as I say not as I do’ guide to writing a great covering letter:

• Check your spelling and grammar. And then get someone else to check just to be sure. Even if your job doesn’t involve much writing, obvious mistakes make you look lazy and uninterested in the job. Make sure you’ve included the right contact details too!
• Keep it short. It’s only an introduction to your CV, try not to duplicate too much of the information. It’s usually best to stick to the four paragraph rule: why you’re applying; what you do now; why they should employ you; close and request a meeting.
• Tailor it to the company. Regular recruiters will be able to tell if you’ve just sent them a generic cover letter and it kind of stamps on the part of your letter where you emphasise how much you want to work for that particular company.
• Try to find out who will be reading your application and address it to them. This gives your application a personal feel.
• Pick out specific traits or skills that requested in the advert and give examples of how you demonstrate these.
• Keep the tone upbeat. Even if you hate your job and you can’t wait to get out - keep the moaning for when you're at the pub with your friends.

And that’s all there is to it - so get writing!

An issue of Health and Safety

According to a recent survey by those friendly folk at Consult GEE, a specialist human resources website, the monotonous drones of Britain’s working class, along with our inadequate salaries, overwhelming, continuously suffocating debt, and constant uphill struggle against ballooning house prices, turns out we are not as Health and Safety (H&S) conscious as we should be just to top it off. Gone are the days when the phrase ‘at least you’ve got your health’ was thrown around the office willy-nilly to combat a bad day. We’ve lost that battle too apparently.

Stress poses the most dangerous risk chomping a massive 45.2% of the H&S pie graph, closely followed by the hilariously funny (but nonetheless just as serious) office slapstick of tripping and falling at 22.8%, back injury took third place with a hearty effort of 15.8% while repetitive strain injury and bullying notched 14.5 % and 1.8%, respectively.

The survey questioned 250 businesses in the past 12 months and found that our employers aren’t interested in hearing our woes either. According to Martin Pearce, a H&S expert at Consult GEE, more than half of employers believe H&S should be the responsibility of the employee, as the rising cost of complying with H&S laws reaches staggering heights. 

“Businesses are fed up with the amount of health and safety red tape being piled on them. The increasing amount of rules and regulation is clearly a burden for them.”

Perhaps this prompted the recent GAAPweb H&S video viewing earlier last week. Much to the amusement of the office, who giggled, chatted and scoffed at the mandatory viewing, reminiscent of a high school classroom. Arousing collective disdain and mockery from the classroom was the notion that the best way to tackle back pain was to remain working and active, in stark contrast to the common misconception of playing dead herring in bed for a week until the pain had subsided.

‘HA! Yeah, just another ploy to keep us working through the pain barrier, work us to the bone till we can’t no more,’ was the general consensus.

Turns out they were right. Applying my highly advanced research techniques (Google- where would we be without you?), I found a startling number of websites, including the health section of the BBC, medical organisations, physiotherapists, claiming lying in bed was not the answer but keeping muscles moving to actively combat the problem and strengthen ‘core zones’ would eliminate back pain for good.

And then it struck me, maybe, after all, we really aren’t as clued up on our H&S as we should be…

Penny Millionaire Project - Week 32

Well I never. Another good week. Spring is coming and I feel a purple patch coming on.

Tuesday - my mystery benefactor struck again. I'm determined not to let this go to my head. I don't want to start getting complacent and expecting a big pile of cash to appear on my desk after lunch at least once a week.

This time it was a mini-mountain, well probably more of a hillock, totalling 31p. My phantom giver's already getting slightly less generous, you see, after their 66p donation last time. I don't want to lose them now, we're just getting started.

Friday morning, Kirsty handed over a fluorescent pink post-it note with two 5p pieces stuck to it, which she'd handily circled in pen, presumably in case I couldn't spot them and frustrated myself all afternoon searching for them. She'd written the following:

"Fivepence number 1 was found on the ground by the bar in the White Horse in Carnaby Street. Fivepence number 2 was found on the ground by my table in aforementioned pub".

At lunchtime on Friday, the Web team decided to go for lunch in our local, the Village Fayre (it's basically the canteen but if we imagine it's a pub, we feel like we're free), and I'd sat down guzzling wine as we waited for a couple of the others to arrive.

Alex strolled in and plonked a penny under my nose. He'd found it in the doorway. Obviously in my mad dash to get a drink I'd sprinted right over it.

Week Thirty-two

How much found: 42p

Total found so far: £14.73

How it could now be spent: a Bosch Ixo II Li-Ion Cordless Screwdriver.

2008 - A Financial Outlook

With the ‘Homer Simpson-like’ efforts of a bumbling Frenchman recently sending the world financial markets into a crumbling, global panic, I couldn’t help but think to myself: ‘Wow, who would have known that 2008 would start with such a monumental screw-up.’
So keeping in the same vein, I’ve attempted to gather and compile a couple of websites to provide you with an insight into how the financial ‘experts’ claim 2008 will pan out. 

Suitably entitled, ‘thisismoney.co.uk’, this particular website offers a financial smorgasbord of advice from market experts ranging from house price predictions and interest rates to share funds, investments, the state of the UK economy and expert share tips. With linked articles to a whole range of sub-topics this site could provide you with the 2008 foundation knowledge to take you to the top. 

The good ol’ reliable Telegraph gives it a good nudge with its offering of a ‘Financial Outlook of 2008’. With expert City predictions from the likes of JPMorgan, Invesco and New Star, read how the professionals think shares, bonds, house prices, currencies and economies will fare in the year to come.

Adopting a Global slant is ‘theBusiness.co.uk’, London’s first global Business Magazine, with an article by Roger Noddings, Chief Investment Officer of HSBC Investments. Tackling head-on topics such as UK/US interest rate cuts, the US and avoiding a recession, Global equity markets and the impact of robust emerging markets.   

Ever blown the entire company budget with the careless placement of an innocent decimal point and thought life itself would stop as you know it? Well rest easy, this site will put that blunder into true perspective with the Financial News’ Top 10 Financial Catastrophes.  Read how a 20 year-old Japanese trainee trader lost a bank $224m and caused a 2% slump in the market. Or how a US trader sheepishly ordered $4bn instead of $4m and was subsequently blamed for a 100 point fall in the Dow Jones.

Who gets your vote?

What with the recent excitement of Super Tuesday, voting mania has descended in America. It seems like we’ll have a while to wait before Gordon Brown feels secure enough to test his position so, in the meantime, I’ve found something for you to get all opinionated about. It’s a contentious issue currently rocking the world of finance and guaranteed to raise a lot of debate…

So what get’s your vote for the most irritating financial TV ad ever?

The Times is running an online poll to find out which finance ad really irritates you or makes you laugh. Does that surfing Halifax guy makes you want to change Bank or change channel? Did you change your insurance provider because Churchill’s talking dog sounded pretty convincing or do you find it kind of insulting that someone thinks a small animal can influence your financial decisions?

For me it’s a hard decision between the two esure ads. Michael Winner or the plastic mouse – which is the most pointless and irritating? Well, it’s not for me to influence you, get voting!