The final straw that broke the camel's back

Oh notagranny I feel such sympathy for you. You do such a brilliant job and yet you are SO undervalued. I don’t blame you for “voting with your feet” but you really shouldn’t have to. Please write to your MP to state what you’ve told us. Sadly I fear it will do little good. Our priorities are all skewed.
Just know that many of us value and appreciate you and you WILL be missed. Shame on those who employ you-and mistreat you too.

@Newquay thank you for your very kind wishes. I would contact our local MP if I thought it would make any difference but it won't. The problem is that social care is run by private companies who have to make profits for the shareholders.
I strongly suspect that the NHS will go the same way before long. Where we live MH services are run by a private finance company already.
My first job way way back aged 18 was in an old asylum repurposed as a n NHS psychiatric hospital I worked there for 10 years and loved it in fact a very elderly close family member.died there on one of the dementia wards just after I left. His death was so peaceful and a colleague sat by his side holding his hand while he died so he wasn't alone. Not anymore
all my friends still working in Mental health are trying to get retirement packages rather than cope with the new providers.

I have a list that could go on forever, and almost all centred around bosses, their cronyism, their breaking of the values the company stated.

The last one was the support workers taking a very hefty wage cut, whilst the office staff, and managers didn't.

My wages went down by almost five thousand pounds per annum.

A member of my extended family went into the care sector after her marriage broke down.
She had three children under 10 so could work during school hours.
She was called one day by the school to say one of the children was ill and she rang her manager to say she would have to go and pick him up.
The manager had “a fit” on the phone and rang the school to say in future they were to ring her and she would decide if the child needed to go home.
Of course the school refused so that was the end of a caring and conscientious worker.
She now works in a call centre, never a good option but far better paid and able to take unpaid time off when necessary.

You are valued by the families and your clients but I completely understand how you feel. The fact it isn't seen as a skilled profession is almost as bad as the poor pay.

Btw I work in a low paid (fast paced ) environment and they are closing as a mark of respect but we are not getting paid, it's unpaid/make up your hours/or take what little holiday we will have. I don't find that very respectful and tbh it has angered me

This is why unions were created. Otherwise the bosses say ‘jump’ and you all say ‘how high?’. Without unions, the balance of power is skewed.

I honestly think everyone should have been paid. It isn't our fault that the Queen has died and it is completely vulgar that those in low paid unemployment have to take a pay cut for a day to bury a very privileged wealthy, woman (and I like the Queen)

The fault lies with the owners and/or private companies who are only concerned with profit, not service. Representation from a union is the only defence, but finding better paid and more congenial work elsewhere is also a lever.
The Palace have stated that neither the late Queen nor the King had asked for public services to be shut down, and that it is up to private organisations to decide how they balance need with causing minimum disruption.
Your employer may be right in maintaining the service but should provide pay or allow an extra day's holiday in lieu, and most certainly should set an example by working themselves.
I am very sorry for your situation and hope you succeed in your job applications.

I think it's bad that some are losing pay, especially at this difficult time when living costs are so high.
I also think NHS services should be continuing as usual.
Waiting lists won't be helped by cancellations.

I have worked in Care for over 12 years now and the pay is appalling but I do love my job. It’s just as well I do because I will be working on Monday the day of the funeral and I will not get a penny extra it will just be minimum wage…

I was a union member.
They did nothing at all, because they were ex nhs staff, and they were given three years protected pay, which included wages much higher than those who hadn't come from the nhs in the first place.

Nobody I work with is complaining about having to work on the day of the Queen's funeral. We work all bank holidays except at xmas and New Year. We do get weekends off.

I have never understood why so many things close on bank holidays. Why are they still called bank holidays when really they are much broader than that?

I suppose that, although very badly paid which is another issue, carers have vulnerable people depending on them rather like nurses and those people can’t just be left to fend for themselves for the day or suffer the potential effects of reduced care that sudden staff absences would cause. The absence of office staff wouldn’t have the same effect.

GSM - the usual practice is that, as OP says, the bank holidays are added to statutory leave, making 28 days bank holiday to be taken as wished.
So the proper practice, when there is an extra bank holiday, is to add it on. So this year, OP would have been entitled to 28 + platinum + funeral.
Good employers ask 'who wants to work / who especially wants this bank holiday off?'.

At such short notice?

JaneJudge

I honestly think everyone should have been paid. It isn't our fault that the Queen has died and it is completely vulgar that those in low paid unemployment have to take a pay cut for a day to bury a very privileged wealthy, woman (and I like the Queen)

Had no idea, this is so so wrong!

I feel really sorry for the poor people who have waited months if not years for a hospital appointment or operation to now have it cancelled on Monday . I think the closing down has gone too far even the banks are closing .

Fleurpepper

JaneJudge

I honestly think everyone should have been paid. It isn't our fault that the Queen has died and it is completely vulgar that those in low paid unemployment have to take a pay cut for a day to bury a very privileged wealthy, woman (and I like the Queen)

Had no idea, this is so so wrong!

www.gov.uk/government/news/bank-holiday-announced-for-her-majesty-queen-elizabeth-iis-state-funeral-on-monday-19-september

Floradora9

I feel really sorry for the poor people who have waited months if not years for a hospital appointment or operation to now have it cancelled on Monday . I think the closing down has gone too far even the banks are closing .

This is the worst of it, I think. As if all the delays caused by pandemic measures haven't caused enough problems already.

Germanshepherdsmum

At such short notice?

Yes, I have managed a multi-discipinary team in NHS / local authority, and every day you are sorting things on the hoof to accommodate last minute changes.
And even if they felt they couldn't change the shifts, they can add the day's bank holiday.

oh, call me Solomon Grundy, but this is the end of the Western civilisation,, (lol at the word civilisation!) what comes next? well I hope I won`t be here to witness it..

and to think, I am slightly shamefaced, to say I have voted Conservative all my life.... no more!

I think the pay scales and what jobs are worth in the U.K. are all upside down. - if we made a list of jobs or professions in order of importance we would get a very different list to those whose job is paid the most. So many people are doing jobs which are very necessary to peoples health and well-being but they do not get the monetary reward they deserve. It is about time there was not such a huge discrepancy between pay scales. Percentage rises are not always fair either. With the cost of living increases we are all paying the same increased costs so perhaps that should trigger a flat increase to wages to address this particular aspect.

Working in a pub on New Year's Eve, just me and a girl who had very little experience. The boss was sitting on the other side of the bar and got annoyed when someone complained to me about the long wait for service and I referred him to the boss. He, the boss, came through the flap saying to me words to the effect of - well if you don't like it you can do the other thing - so I said okay, got my coat and left. I heard after that he'd had to call down his wife and get another part-time helper on his night off to help! I was so mad! What I did do, too, was go back for my wages another day!

Scheduled hospital appointments are happening here in the south of England on Monday and booked Covid vaccinations.
But to respond to the OP, I don’t blame you although it must feel heart wrenching.