TUPE

oh yeah.

Ignore me.

 

When the division I used to work [1] for was sold, this is what they did -
they kept us 'informed' through meetings and lots of emails.
The staff got to ask questions, the questions, generally, were answered -
however it was fairly obvious that little could actually be changed.

The pension changed from a final salary [2] to a contributory (or whatever
it's called) pension, with employees given the choice of either taking all
contributions across to the new company, or 'closing' their pension and
effectively getting another one (I'm not entirely sure how this works TBH).

Share options not exercised became null and void - pretty much all benefits
ceased, and so forth. The only thing that remained the same were the date
(and amount) people were paid.

In the end I don't think anyone lost their jobs, though a lot of people left
rather then change.

[1] in the end I was internally 'transferred' prior to the sale completing
and therefore remain at the same company, though different division
[2] similar to Ogden's - final pension, 2 years minimum otherwise you get
contributions back etc etc.

 

Ah, just found out it definitely won't be CSC.

So it's the yanks or the germans. Hmm.

 

It'll be Accenture.

 

That's what we're thinking. Still undecided as to whether which I'd
prefer, but as there's nothing I can do about it either way I'm resisting
the urge to care.

 

I'd not be keen on working for a company that fucked up so badly they
had to completely change their name and rebrand.

 

To be fair, they rebranded when they split from Anderson, as they were
no longer allowed to use the AA name. A good three years or so before
the scandal.

 

fair point. I was thinking of Cable & Wireless.

Or something.

I'm a bit frazzled today - I've just found out that - in addition to
the NT4 and 2 x XP-Pro boxes I have under my desk, I might be having a
fucking Mac foisted upon me.

 

Oh dear oh dear oh dear.
I was hearing yesterday how much money O2 pissed against the wall last year
with IBM "consultants".

It's been said before here, IT Directors outsource their estates to IBM and
the likes because they realise they are too fucking incompetent to do the
job themselves. It doesn't necessarily make things any better for the
company though.

 

Indeed, despite "only" having a 2.2 I have a looming second interview with
them in a week or so. I'm not sure whether this is a good idea or not.

 

Come on, at least they look cool ...

 

I would actually be quite pleased if it were an iBook, but as it is,
they'll by the cheapest shitty iMac they can find. It's only for used
for browser testing.

 

Round mouse hell.

 

Oh, right. Have they given you a man with a stick strapped to his forehead
for "accessibility" testing, or do you have to do that yourself?

 

they're bringing some spazs in for testing. Well, not in here, but the
Accessibilty Consultants will be testing the the next makeover of the
sites with a variety of different flavours of mong.

We've got some screen-reader software - "hilarious" if you like the
sound of Stephen Hawking.

 

You'll be able to afford another new bike!

 

corporate whore.

 

Talk to sweller. I'm sure that's Constructive Dismissal, or Unfair
Demands, or something.

 

Does "easy access to porn" figure in your career choice calculations?

 

Ker-ching!

Actually I think it would be horrific, but no harm in finding out what's up
for grabs, I suppose