What pisses you off? Part II: Electric Boogaloo

[stui magpie]

Mum had another fall.

I went to bed at 10:30 which is late for me these days, said goodnight and she said she'd be going in 5 minutes, so I went to bed.

2:30 I wake up to hear her voice calling my name. She'd stayed up till 11:30 watching TV and by the time she fluffed around it was nearly midnight before she went to get in bed, and fell over. Once she's down, she doesn't have the strength to get back on her feet. So she called out to me, I'm out like a light at the other end of the house, so she crawls into the kitchen and calls out and I hear her, at 2:30. Fvck.

I get up groggy, stumble into the kitchen to find her lying on the floor. Picked her up and got her back in bed, sore but no physical damage thank christ.

Sat on the front porch having a couple of smokes at nearly 3am, no idea how I actually managed to go back to sleep.

So back on nursing duties today, she's more shaken up than anything. She has a GP appointment Thursday morning so I'm going into the consultation with her and asking for a referral to a falls clinic.

She's fine cognitively, had the annual Nurse check 2 weeks ago, it's just the body and balance that's failing. From the chair it's 4m to the toilet and 3m to the bed with no trip hazards.

Short term I'm going to need to take her with me when I go to toc, medium term NFI, but it looks like I won't be going out much for very long.

[think positive]

im so sorry.

it may be time for assisted living soon sadly.

[stui magpie]

^

I had the same thought but not just yet. After talking to her about how she fell, she was in her room and tried to bend over to pick up a shoe but at the same time was trying not to put weight on her busted foot. Any fkn wonder she tipped over.

So today after I made her breakfast I gave her a pep talk. Reminded her that as recently as last week she was walking around the house without even using a stick and before she did her foot she could walk out to collect the paper and take rubbish to the bin without a stick, so there was no reason for her to fall over if she didn't do dumb things.

Got the GP tomorrow, get a referal to a falls clinic and I have a design in my head for something I can build that might just help her get herself vertical if she falls again and she's not too hurt.

Anyway, we'll see.

[stui magpie]

Got up to Toc today and the front lawn is basically dead. The battery in the timer on the tap went flat. Pumped some water into it today, new battery in the timer and reset everything. The 7 day forecast up here is, starting tomorrow, 35, 35, 36, 37, 40, 39 and 40.

Cool overnight, perfect weather, just need to get lots of water into the front and sides and mow the back.

[David]

[stui magpie]

You've been sodomised, again.

Did you get a redundancy payout when you stopped direct employment? There's a minimum redundancy payment in the Fair Work act but it doesn't apply for small business which have less than 15 staff.

Signing on as a sub....... Ok.

They can't withhold money owed on the condition you sign a non-compete clause, you're legally entitled to that money.

My advice is firstly, don't sign it. Getting one paycheck vs being unemployable for 12 months is a very poor deal.

refuse to sign and make it clear that you will take it further as they owe you money. You could try some of the ambulance chasing no win-no fee mobs, but they'd likely swallow all your payout.

You have 7 years to claim a back payment, so get all your paperwork in order so you can prove what you're owed, then get on with getting a new job as the first priority. Once you have an income and time to breathe you can turn your attention to getting the money back as a matter of principle.

[David]

Thanks Stui. Yep, I wasn't eligible for that reason (fewer than fifteen employees). Fair's fair, not much I can do about that. At least they paid out my remaining annual leave, which was a pittance.

Have thought of contacting a lawyer but I think I'll keep pursuing the union route first. I feel like if I play my cards right it shouldn't need to get to that stage, but wouldn't hurt to explore options I guess.

One bit of good news is that I still have the second job, which is casual and gives me some pretty good hours when I give them full availability. So even though money will be tight, given I was relying on two jobs up until now, I can probably squeak by in the meantime. Not getting or having to wait indefinitely for this money I was counting on is a kick in the guts though.

[stui magpie]

Do you use Linkdin?

If not, get on there ASAP. Put some work into making a decent profile and send "friend" requests to everyone you know in the industry, from CEO's down, and set your profile to looking for work. Don't talk yourself down, talk yourself up and be shameless messaging people in the industry to make them aware you're looking for work.

People in the industry will be aware of you and know if you're any good or not, so don't passively wait for a vacancy, if you're any good they'll create one for you. Good luck.

[David]

Cheers, that’s good advice. I’m on there but don’t use it much, so maybe time to do some self-promotion (as much as I hate it)!

[think positive]

gees, they dont have a job for you but dont want you working elsewhere! that sux big time, assholes!

id do as Stui said and also talk to legal aide.

things are different if you get made redundant than if you quit.

i get the reasoning, NAB wanted to steal my eldest when she was on contract, she had to leave for 12 months to be able to go there - she quit but got a job she loves elsewhere in the meantime!

in your case though, thats just asshollism

[David]

[stui magpie]

^

Nice, but don't obsess over 1 paycheck + expenses, focus on moving forward and getting a new job. Once you have an income again, then you have time and head space to drill your previous boss.

[David]

I don't want to speak too soon, but I *think* he's backed off. He said he'd tell the accountant to pay me. Of course I'm taking that with a grain of salt until I see it in my account.

[stui magpie]

If he's had any legal advice then he knows he can't withhold payment of legitimate invoices on condition of signing a no compete agreement. I hope for your sake he's come to his senses, but irrespective my advice above stands.

[David]

Cheers! I'm pretty keen to move on so definitely want to cause as few waves as possible. If we can get this sorted amicably, that's the ideal. In the meantime I might have another job lined up (have already been offered, just waiting to hear back on how many days they can offer me), so hopefully things will be back on track soon!