Fiz Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I am going to start this as a new topic.So last Monday, my job at the school (cleaning) was horrible. My supervisor and then the manager had a go at me. I won't go into details but it was all owing to the substandard equipment we are given and the fact that no one ever goes home at 3.30 and you can do the job and they will mess it all up again Today, we had seven people off sick and one resigned. The supervisor's face was incredulous and more than a little worried. Everyone went off, and knowing she was worried and has had a tough life, I offered to do a bit more. So I went off and finished the worst part of the job - cleaning the main corridors - quite quickly. I offered to do the girls' loos and she agreed. I then cleaned the computer rooms and was asked to do the photography room. By this time everyone else had gone. The manager was interviewing another poor sap who wanted a job. The supervisor told him that I was helping and he was frankly incredulous and then bleated,"We didn't know this was going to happen". " No, of course not", I said and went off to sweep the gym and sweep and wash the changing room floors. By this time it was 6.40. They were so pleased i had stayed, but knowing them both, I wonder just how long it will last! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Fiz, I think you are a star. I was fortunate to get early release from work last year. About 3 years before I left we moved building and moved onto a new, and fantastic, flexi system. Basically it was 7-7 with no core time so, as long as you did the hours required within the rules and had a minimum of one half hour break if you worked more than 6 hours and, of course, you did your work your time management was your own. At the same time we had our individual waste paper bins removed and had to use the tiny bins in the kitchen areas. As a result of this the cleaners hours were completely modified as the bins had to be emptied every 2 hours. Also the big clean started at 1715 when many people were still in work. This meant that it became like cleaning the Forth Bridge for the cleaners. I thought they coped wonderfully well but many people used to complain that there was never an empty bin or the cleaners were hoovering around them (they always used to ask if you minded). And, of course, the cleaning had been outsourced many years earlier and every time the new contract was placed we had the same cleaners but their hours were changed and they always seemed to get less pay. The unsung heroes of keeping us able to work in decent conditions. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I actually thanked the cleaner when I went to the cinema the other day. They can't have an easy job trying to keep the place clean in between film showings, and if it weren't for them I'd probably have spent the entire film crunching popcorn underfoot - certainly that was what the row behind me looked like after the credits had rolled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 A few years ago, we had almighty problems with a computer server that ran a pc network in one of the offices (you can probably tell how long ago this was!). Every morning, we would come in and find that it had lost all its settings yet again, and would have to be re-configured. One evening, a couple of us were working late, and we discovered the cause... our diligent cleaner was coming in to the office, switching the plug off at the wall, using the socket for her hoover and then plugging the server back in and switching the power on. Needless to say, a hastily scribbled 'DO NOT TOUCH!!!' note was sellotaped over the switch after that! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarriott Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Basically it was 7-7 with no core time so, as long as you did the hours required within the rules and had a minimum of one half hour break if you worked more than 6 hours and, of course, you did your work your time management was your own. Wow - no core time. It sounds fantastic for those who are able to manage their time effectively, but how many hours were spent by members of staff trying to contact each other during "normal office hours", not to mention anyone from outside wishing to speak to staff by telephone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 We had that problem too! In the end we had to sellotape paper over the socket because the note didn't work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarriott Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 A few years ago, we had almighty problems with a computer server that ran a pc network in one of the offices (you can probably tell how long ago this was!). Every morning, we would come in and find that it had lost all its settings yet again, and would have to be re-configured. One evening, a couple of us were working late, and we discovered the cause... our diligent cleaner was coming in to the office, switching the plug off at the wall, using the socket for her hoover and then plugging the server back in and switching the power on. Needless to say, a hastily scribbled 'DO NOT TOUCH!!!' note was sellotaped over the switch after that! I'm sorry to say that a similar situation led to a long-unexplained increase in the sudden deterioration of ventilated patients in an intensive care unit - some time ago before everything was fitted with automatic alarms. And in the same unit there was a red emegency telephone. In the event of a cardiac arrest we simply had to knock the phone off the hook - no need to ring switchboard to summon the crash team. The hospital management employed a firm of contract telephone cleaners. You can imagine the rest ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Wow - no core time. It sounds fantastic for those who are able to manage their time effectively, but how many hours were spent by members of staff trying to contact each other during "normal office hours", not to mention anyone from outside wishing to speak to staff by telephone. I actually found that it made people more flexible. With our family friendly policies over the years people could go as early as 1430 and arrive in as late as 1100. I used to run short courses on one of our systems and found that, even with at least one month's notice people would stand up and walk out at 1430! Also we had to have regular team briefings and it was almost impossible to arrange them so everyone could attend. On the new system, people would quite happily modify their hours to attend. When we went onto this system we were told that it had become the standard government model but it had to be agreed by each management branch to be implemented. It's wonderful. My practical experience was that most people still did approximately the same hours but that they were more flexible when required. If you worked 5 hours you did not have to declare a half day if you then went off. So anyone coming in at 8 could go at 1 without losing any leave. Of course we still had to operate within our conditioned ours of 148 hours per 4 weeks. We could carry up to 3 days flexi forward and take up to 2 flexi days off in any one period and we could owe up to 1 1/2 days at the end of the period. On the day I left work, despite my best efforts, I was 20 minutes in credit and had neve been in debit at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 The joys of life in the public sector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted November 20, 2012 Author Share Posted November 20, 2012 Anne, that sounds awful The poor patients! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarriott Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Anne, that sounds awful The poor patients! The telephone cleaning wasn't too bad, except for the poor crash team who used to burst through the doors of the unit, panting and full of adrenaline. The contractors tried to solve the problem with a cylindrical weight shoved on the telephone as the receiver was removed - but it had to be done with lightening speed and there were occasional mishaps. The contract was eventually amended to exclude ICU. The unplugged ventilator was a serious matter and took a while to fathom. It was always the same ventilator and I can't remember who first twigged what the problem was. I can't imagine anything like that happening these days when everything is electronically controlled. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Today we all received chocolate advent calandars. So chuffed, i've never had a chocolate one before, although I don't really need chocolate - perhaps I'll sneak the chocolate home in my sandwich box and send to dd 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Beelam Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 My cleaner is known as my angel She sweeps in bringing calm and serenity to a chaotic house of messy husband, teenagers, 3 dogs, 3 cats and until recently 3 chickens. I'm not at all houseproud, especially with that lot in the house, but whilst juggling 1.5 full time jobs I know that once a week she will patiently restore calm to the house. She doesn't raise an eyebrow when she finds ballet stuff all over the kitchen, piles of shoes all up the stairs, balls of animal hair all over the place and a general appearance of a house that's just been burgled... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted November 27, 2012 Author Share Posted November 27, 2012 (edited) I used to have a wonderful cleaner called Dawn, and she was very helpful, like coming in on a different day to tidy the trash pile my eldest calls a bed room when she was to be interviewed by the BBC for getting a Busted single back into the charts after they had split just using Facebook and Live Journal. However she wasn't actually that good at cleaning and now I have to do everything, our house has never been cleaner or tidier Edited November 27, 2012 by Fiz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now