Employment contracts: What are they good for?

Dear Bloggers,

The company I work for decided to place all the temps under one temps office instead of three also the ones on payroll are swapped. It is all about money of course So guess who will be ....... We’re on a simplification kick at this moment as our dear managers want to have a better overview. As they grow, they’re trying to simplify their jobs even more. (earn the same money with doing less.) Growth generally brings complexity, but let us see if we can go in the other direction with this bunch. There are more clowns at this circus as I thought.

Questioning assumptions

Simplification usually starts with questioning assumptions. Why do they do this? Why do we need this? Is this really necessary? Is it just inertia? Are they doing it because that’s how they’ve always done it or are they doing it because it’s better? Are they just following conventional wisdom or is there newer wisdom and we should be considering?

Why do we need employment contracts?

One of the things I am beginning to question are employment contracts. When a new employee starts with a temps office, they will make them sign a employment contract. The contract was drawn up by a bunch of bloodsucking lawyers and is corrected every so many years by them, so there are no incremental costs each time they bring on a new employee, but is that good enough reason to keep this going?

The contract itself is about five pages. It outlines some basic responsibilities they have to the employee and the employee has to the company. Starting salary, an overview of benefits, vacation time, confidentiality, and general expectations on both sides. But that’s really only a paragraph or two. Everything else is legal-cover-your-ass-speak. 

Like most contracts, it’s basically a big “I don’t trust you and you don’t trust me” document. What a terrible way to welcome someone to the team isn’t it?
How often are these things actually enforced in a business like the one I am working for? And if people aren’t really enforcing them, why are we writing/signing them anyway? “Just in case” feels like a pretty weak argument to go through all the cost, trouble, and rigamarole. Is “Imagine if someone…” enough reason to have the first step we take with a new team member covered in legal mud? 

No it is this bloody law that we have that was only made to protect the employee. But now they are abusing this law by kicking you out after 3½ years. And after half a year you can return and start a t scratch. Hooray for the Dutch law it is far too complicated even for lawyers.

What if it would become a handshake company?

So I’ve been thinking… What if we could kick away all these employment contracts entirely? What if they became a handshake company? Plenty of small companies work this way, why can’t we? Aside from each person’s salary, we could post all our responsibilities and their responsibilities on the web. So everyone has the same work conditions and only a minimum of hours is stated and of course you agree to at least half a year of employment with them. 

Maybe it is time to change the law and let the unions make up the agreement so for both parties things will be square and fair. They could make a ”/workinghere” page at their own website that clearly lays out what employees can expect from the company and what the company expects from the employees. So if you cannot live up to the standards there is no need to send in your application or to work here at all. It could be build on a easy to hire, easy to fire base. It could be a living document too. Things change, benefits change, rules change. That’s just how it goes. Especially in these hard times of economic downturn we need to be creative. 

You read it, we shake hands, and we start working together. In the event that it doesn’t work out, we ask you to leave or you quit. Of course there should be terms of conditions about it. (Something like 7 or 14 days to resign or being signed off for both parties in the first year, a month after two years and so on.) There should be a maximum on it of three months. 

And the company has to help you to find something else if they need to lay you off  due to economical hard times or retrenchments made by third parties that need to cut back. That’s how it is anyway employment in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe is at-will. Every employment contract I’ve seen includes a line about at-will employment. So what are the dozens of other paragraphs really for?

In this day and age it seems crazy to even consider ditching employment contracts, but why? Why have we become so dependent on lawyers to control every relationship inside our companies? Why is “just in case” the default answer when asking questions about contracts? It sounds more like insurance than legal counsel. 

And the hardly anyone is having a heart for the company anymore. The world of employers should be more transparant new innovative products should be more often used as the costs for sick personel are sky high.  Why carry cash when you can pay with your phone our buy a prepaid ticket there is no need anymore for physical tickets. If you are being mugged you are traumatized for the rest of your life.

What’s your experience?

What are your experiences with employment contracts? If you own a business, do you require employment contracts? If you are an employee somewhere, have you signed a contract? Has anyone here ever had to actually sue or litigate an issue specifically related to an employment contract? If you’re an employee, do you feel more or less comfortable joining a company that makes you sign a legal contract? Did you have your contract checked by a union. Does anyone feel good about signing these things? I don’t but what is your opninion?

                                                                      


I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts about this subject.

The Old Sailor,

Can you retire early?

Dear Bloggers,

First of all let me say sorry that I had you readers waiting but my body was together with my mind more inspired by getting the flu. And of course there was no chance to get sick according to my common sense. So I had a bit of a struggle to get to work this week and therefor I negletected my readers a bit.

This weeks blog I will spend on retirement. I have quite a few colleagues who are in their 60’s and will be retiring in a few years. At this moment the talks are about raising the age that you will get on a state pension. I just have my visions about retiring on 55 years of age. When I calculated what that would cost me I was pretty surprised about the outcome. Early retirement can seem so appealing that you don't consider the details. Take a close look at the personal and financial factors first, and then decide whether early retirement is right for you.



Take this job and …

Everyone, at one point or another, has had this thought. If you're working to support yourself, you've undoubtedly daydreamed about early retirement. This vision may come to mind once a year, once a week, or once an hour, depending upon how you feel about your job and career.

The thought of early retirement has always been tempting for workers, but it's all the more tempting now that our view of retirement has changed from a few decades ago. We no longer see retirement as a time when our productive life is over, when we spend our remaining years reminiscing about the past. Now, retirement is viewed as the time when we finally get to enjoy all the things we would love to do, if only we didn't have to work.



The problem with early retirement is that it's often so appealing that it becomes easy to make the decision before you really consider the ramifications. And if you do leap before you look, you may be leaping to an early financial death.

Will you run out of money?

Many experts estimate that a huge percentage of future retirees will have to cut their expenses dramatically once they stop working if they want to make sure they don't go broke. The real answer to the question, "Can I retire early?" is: "Of course you can, but you may run out of money."



Questions to ask yourself are:

Is retiring early too risky?

How to make your money last in early retirement?

How to get yourself a dream job ... at age 55.

How can I avoid common retirement mistakes?

How can I retire on a wounded portfolio?

If that happens, the best scenario would be running out of money while you were still able to work, but chances are you would get a mediocre job at best. The worst circumstance would be going broke when you're no longer able to work, so your only options are to live on whatever monthly benefits you have (such as Social Security and a pension) or to turn to your children or other relatives for help.

When thinking about retiring early, there are two issues to consider:

· Can I afford to retire early?

· Do I really want to retire early?

Depending on how well your day went at work today, or how your career is progressing in general, you might think the second question is absurd. But if you look at how long you will be retired, you might want to rethink that second question.

The reality is that if you retire early, you may be "retired" for as long as you were in the working world. Based on actuarial tables of how long Americans actually live, if you retire at age 55, you can expect to live to age 83. If you retire at 65, you get another year's reprieve to age 84. And if you keep working until age 70, you're expected to live to age 86. Couple that with the fact that if you're married, one of you is likely to outlive the other by four to six years or longer, and you can see how early retirement requires serious financial planning.


Plan for how long you expect to live

To be practical and conservative in your financial planning, you should probably tack three or four more years onto these "average" death ages. If your relatives tend to live into their 90s, you had better add on a few more years. You also could try the Life Expectancy Calculator to get a better idea of your longevity.

Some of those later years may not be as active as the early ones, but they will be just as expensive thanks to medical costs. The only good news about living to 100 is that if you own a life insurance policy, you're usually considered actuarially dead by that time. That means you'll get the full death benefit while you're still alive and kicking (although you might not be kicking very high).




6 smart rules of retiring early

The new retirement model has demands of its own. Here's how to make sure you can cut back sooner -- without being destitute by age 87.

If you assume you'll enjoy at least an average life span, taking early retirement at age 55 or 60 means you have 30 years or so of retirement ahead of you. That's a long time without a paycheck or a structured schedule.

Now, don't think I'm trying to talk you out of your dreams. I'm not. What I am trying to get you to do is to think about what it will take and what it will mean.

Before you allow yourself the luxury of daydreaming about what you would do with all those years of free time, look at the numbers first and see whether you can afford to retire early.

Inflation is our enemy

There are three financial factors to consider:

· How much do you expect to have in monthly retirement income? This would include any money from a traditional pension plan, Social Security or other sources. Many people don't realize that even if they retire at 55 or 60, the earliest they can start receiving Social Security is at 62. And if you start then, the benefits are no more than 80% of what they would be if you waited until "normal" retirement age (currently age 65 or older). Many people choose to defer their Social Security benefits for as long as possible to increase the monthly benefits. Before you make this decision, ask your accountant or financial planner to help you calculate whether to start taking benefits at age 62 or to defer. Usually you're better off starting at age 62 even though the benefits are less. Why? You get extra payments that you can invest in the interim.

· How much in assets will you have accumulated by retirement? These include retirement plans that don't have the fixed-income payout of pension plans (such as 401(k) plans, profit-sharing plans, Individual Retirement Accounts, etc.). You also may have other sources, such as an inheritance or the profits from selling your house for a less expensive one.

· How much will you spend? Planners recommend that you estimate your retirement expenses to be about 80% of those you incurred before retirement, but many people want to keep the same standard of living and replace work-related expenses with travel, entertainment and other new costs.



The dreaded inflation factor

Don't forget about the effect of inflation as you consider your days in the RV rolling down Highway 1 in south Florida. What looks like a hefty retirement income at age 55 or 60 may be near the poverty line by the time you're 70 or 75. For example, let's assume that inflation increases at 3% a year. If you retire today at age 55 on a yearly income of € 40.000,- you'd need € 72.000,- by the time you're 75 to maintain your standard of living. At age 80, or 25 years after you retire, you'll need € 83.800,-. And look at the difference a mere 1 percentage point change in average inflation makes: If that 3% inflation rate actually averages 4%, you'll need € 87.600,- at age 75 and € 106.000,- at age 80.

First, when you estimate your expenses, put in a 5% fudge-factor. In other words, assume that your expenses will be 5% more than you anticipate.

Assume an inflation rate of at least 4%. Long-term, it has averaged about 3% but over the last 20 years it has been closer to 6%.

Start planning now, which usually means slashing your budget so that you can sock away every dollar you can. (This is good advice anyway, whether you plan to retire early or not).

Remember that the earlier you retire, the longer your retirement portfolio is going to have to work for you. So just because you're planning to retire doesn't mean you need to move more money into conservative, lower-yielding, fixed-income investments. (Remember that all of your income doesn't need to be from dividends and interest; it is perfectly acceptable to take some capital gains, too.)

If you retire at 55 or 60, you will probably (hopefully!) need a substantial part of that money in 20 to 30 years, so a good portion of your funds should be invested in the stock market.

Finally, and this is critical, see a competent, experienced financial planner every couple of years to run the numbers for you or to double-check your own numbers. The planner can serve as a sounding board to give you a second opinion about your retirement strategy and investment allocations.

The new retirement model has demands of its own. Here's how to make sure you can cut back sooner -- without being destitute by age 87.

Now what do you do?

If, after doing this "number crunching," you find that you can retire early, the burning issue becomes what will you do with your time. When you're exhausted from work, the possibility of day after day stretching by with no required attendance anywhere sounds delightful, but this can get old very quickly. When you start making a financial plan to retire early, start planning what you're going to do with your time when that day comes. Even the best made plans can change; many an early retiree has returned to work because she cannot stand the thought of not working for the rest of her life.

At a time when most people can't afford to retire and maintain their standards of living, taking the chance of retiring early is a big risk. However, if you start planning early in life, do your homework and understand that you're likely to be around for the next 20 to 40 years and your money needs to be, too, early retirement may be for you. The only downside from a social perspective is the envy of everyone else you know who would give anything to be in your early retirement shoes.

The Old Sailor,

Did we all become slaves to the Rat Race?

Dear Bloggers,

You may consider me harsh for making such a statement, but the truth remains: the majority of the world will remain slaves to the "Rat Race" system for the rest of their lives. I speak with a lot of people on a daily basis who say that they are serious about starting their own Home Based business, but they never actually take action to begin the process. As I thought over the subject, trying to figure out "what was wrong with people", it suddenly came to me: We all have been trained to think like slaves!

From the time we were school age children, we were taught to go to work for someone else-in hopes of getting paid for our blood and sweat at the end of the week. We had no control over what the employer "decided" to pay us, nor did we have any say as to what type of hours we would work. We were taught to be "dependant" on others. This type of mentality is no different from the mentality of a slave. Slaves were forced to conduct hard labor for little pay (if any), while the "master" made a fortune, took exotic trips, and sent his children to private schools. For those who may think that I'm going overboard with my analogy, consider this: Who tells you when you can spend time with your family? Who tells you when you are "eligible" for time off? Who dictates to you how long you can take a lunch break?

 Are you starting to get the picture? Most people don't even realize that they are snared by the way they perceive. If a person doesn't believe or know that they have a problem, they won't consider getting treatment for the problem, thus, remaining in their sickening state until they die. Why not start a home based business for yourself? Why not take control of your own income, rather than let someone else tell you what your worth? Doesn't it make sense that you should be the one who decides how much you will be paid? Shouldn't you decide when your going to spend time with your family? If you desire to change the course of your life, you're going to have to change the way that you think. 

Entrepreneurs think different compared to employees. Employees complain that "there are no jobs". Entrepreneurs create jobs by starting businesses.
I am aware that there are some people who will never change the way that they think, no matter how many offers I make to them or how many blogs I write, they will continue to embrace the "employee" mindset. I don't mean any disrespect to those who decide to work for a living: there's nothing wrong with that. 

 

After all, I figured it out the hard way and now I am stuck with this bloody disease called fibromyalgia. 
For me there has never been a reason to give up. I started my life in a different way and became a parttime bus driver next to my job I am trying to start up a webshop but first I need to get some brilliant ideas for entering the market. I need someone to program my computer. I can go on-and-on but I think you get the picture. Which side of the road are you on? Do you want to have a different life or, are you satisfied with your safe secure job and nothing else?

If you're ready change your life and get a "better life",

The Old Sailor,

Counting down to a big change...........or will this be amrageddon for me.

Dear Bloggers,


I wanted Bruce Willis to play the starring role in a movie about my life. I wanted to write a book about my job the way Paolo Coelho does. I wanted to speak to large groups of eager educators and make them laugh with my nutty remarks. These were all goals of mine when I was not suffering from anything, and was full of energy and ideas before I started sailing. I wanted to find happiness through success and this would only happen if you worked hard and did your very best. At least that was what I thought when I started years back making something out of my miserable life, when I did my days in the army I had to find a job to make some money. I was motivated and focused to make a difference and become something in live. I started off as a dishwasher in a local hotel and worked myself up as a bartender and waiter in the hotel restaurant. After a few years I became headwaiter.

Unfortunately there was only work in the summertime and during the winters I did many different tempsjobs. I worked in factories, became an iceskate essembler, was taxidriver and freelanced in the weekends as a bartender in one of the bigger towns. After a few years I had finished my education as
bartender/waiter and dreamt about earning good money and start my own bar elsewhere. First of all I went to Australia with a friend and worked for a wholesaler in Sydney. We made enough money to support ourselves and had a good time. But when the recession broke out we lost our jobs and had to turn back after a few months that was the first setback in my life, but soon I carried on.

And that spring I found a new challenge I wanted to become a sailor with a great salary. My past from the army gave some hindrances and I had to try again, and I ended up on a cruiseship. The life onboard was not very glamorous and the sun and Jim Beam became my best friends. When I came back home I applied for a job as a bartender on a ferry again. This was luxury compared to the liner as I had my own cabin. I hoped that I could climb up the carreerladder and be headbartender at least. Those where all soapbubbles about to burst as in the higher ranks there was no place for me and I saw a lot of good and bad "bosses" in my sailing days. The months between contracts and ships I filled with doing temp jobs and later on I worked as a freight driver. I drove the big cemetmixing trucks and delivered beers and soda for the Heineken company. Until I could not lift heavy anymore due to costochondritis and I needed to do an office job. I started to work as a receptionist on board again.

Everything was going exactly as I had hoped for and planned. I got a job onboard a ferry to the United Kingdom and everything in life was picking up again and we bought a new house to have more space. I never felt at home in this house so we did put up the for sale sign again and will move back to where we came from. The housing market is very slow and we did not have any serious buyers, but we have time as we do not need to sell. If we sell it, it is another part of my life that can be closed. There were good moments and bad moments for us and believe me there were more bad than good ones. It relieved me when my wife agreed with me that I could not really be happy here and that we both missed the lake, why did we move here anyway? My wife and I wanted to live closer to her parents so they could easier help out babysitting. We hardly ever had any benefit out of it and our kids went to a nanny two blocks away.

I did a good job as there were not many complaints on my behalf, paperwork was not my hobby and will never be. And I really enjoyed what I was doing although there were deadlines to catch. And those deadlines were giving me at least a lot of stress situations as I was mr. plentyfix and I could turn a bad situation into a reasonable one. Until the load was getting to heavy as I could not say NO. When slowly my body started to give up on me. It started with pain in my hands and fingers.The rest of my body quickly followed and by the next month, I was changed into an old man as I was completely turned into a rheumatic person. I was diagnosed with FMS is a rare neurological condition that involves neurotransmitters giving the wrong signals and telling the system of muscles and the nerves throughout the body that I should feel pain. It is rarely damaging, but recovery can be very slow and often patients are left with residual effects. There is also the possibility of relapse when you have a lot of stress.

After being diagnosed with fibromyalgia by the rheumatologist from the local hospital, I was in good health, but body and mind were still ravaged from the syndrome. I was unable to stand or walk for a longer period of time and had very poor use of my hands. I spent the next three months in a local health center where I received three intense therapy sessions a week. By the end of the summer. I was fully discharged from the care of doctors and specialists and had no residual effects. I felt nearly like the same person I was the day before this all started. At least, I thought I was the same person. Until a moisty day came along and I was hit by muscle pains from hell.

Life is like a pop quiz. You can’t plan for it and you only get one chance to do your best. My breakthrough came one day in rehab when I was asking for help to get through everything. I stopped asking when I realized that I had to beat this on my own. I needed to listen to people who couldn’t help
themselves and reach them a helping hand. I knew that I was strong enough to fight this battle with my body and I felt left alone. I learned life doesn’t follow your planner or your schedule. I had to learn to walk instead of running all the time. Life has only one purpose…to happen. If you only focus on all the things that can go wrong and being afraid that your body will give up, you will simply miss the beauty in the things that happen around you and also the small successes that you book yourself. I changed a lot during the course of those months, but more than anything, my belief in the power of the human spirit changed the most. People are capable of extraordinary things. We all have the power to take our current situations in life and make them better. The road to change is littered with obstacles, but they are not permanent hindrances, only temporary roadblocks.

I returned to recently to the job market and applied for lighter jobs the last few months and quickly I realized things were different. From a sailor with no energyloss, I had become a relaxed housedaddy that does not care about stressed situations anymore. A new episode in my book of life had started by ripping out the balck pages. I felt like I was watching someone else and I soon realized that it was the new me. That man in the faded green shirt wasn’t the man who started of this year as a slightly handicapped person. I no longer wanted to change the world. I didn’t want any awards or taps on my shoulder, telling me that I did a good job. I wanted to be happy and I couldn’t be that as a sailor do to the long working days, I needed to start off in something completely new. This summer, I will say goodbye to my career as a sailor and take a job as a busdriver on the citybus with a limited amount of working hours. While taking a drop in pay and, in some peoples eyes, taking a step backwards in my career, I found I had taken a huge step forward. I was doing something again, working with people something I cared deeply about.

I will start working again on Monday and I am really looking forward to it, as it has been a tough year with a lot of ups and downs. And people in offices that do not understand at all why you want to go back to work so badly. They do not see the financial trouble that you have as you need to fight the governments to get some benefits that you are entitled to. Also sitting at home is not my hobby and I am defenitly a lousy housekeeper. The disadvantage that you have as your curriculum vitae tells that you are a person full with adventure as you did so many different jobs. And the lack of experience will give you a lot of rejected applications and therefor very stressfull.

In addition to a change in my career, I had a change in my priorities. I decided to put my wife and family first and everything else as a distant second. I focused on being a "good" husband and having a happy marriage. I rediscovered my passion for my wife and also for recreative cycling, something I had started to lose during my last years of sailing. I took advantage of every good weather day and made sure that I would get a fair set of kilometres on the clock and biked like it was my last day on Earth. Of course the next day I was hoping it was the last day on Earth as usual I was a complete wreck due to the pain as I had overdone it again. I was totally out of balance and I could not except that the old me was not coming back. A psychologist told me that there was no need for finding the old me as he was dead and buried.

Together with my doctor, fysiotherapist, ergotherapist and a dietician I have put my life on the tracks again. And my train is not the fastest but at least it is rolling again. Only when we go uphill we need a bit of help, all the other parts I do without any help. The big difference with the old train is that this one has a break and there is no doubt that it will be used. The new me looks quite similair to the old me but inside there have been big changes.

Hopefully the new me will be a success and I do not need to get higher up. I have the ambition to do a job as good as it gets. I still hope one day there’s a movie made about me. I still hope Bruce Willis will be in the starring role. I still want to write a book. I still want to speak to large groups. These are all goals of mine. I am still motivated and focused. But I have to take care about my energy levels and make sure that my body can handle it. I now hope to find success through happiness. I want to be me…and I’m fine enough with that. Maybe I should change my hair, my house, my clothes, my future, my soul and my name.

How would that sound "The Old Busdriver?"

The Old Sailor,

Finally back to work again

Dear Bloggers,


I am 42 and live in Friesland, and I would love to work, but benefits agency UWV gives me hard time. Yet I am now only a busdriver with a lack of experience. It was difficult but I have paid my own training and exams so I made it myself. Yet I feel that the benefits agency does not enough for me to get me to work. I am applying to everything that is available and possible for me to do. If it comes to jobs it is pretty hard to find a suitable job in the Northern regions as there are not that many available.

I worked for a period of time as a truck driver. In 2005 I all of a sudden suffered from a sudden pain between the ribs when I was loading and unloading. Still I continued working until that one wet summerday, during that day with heavy rain I got a bad pneumonia. Pain in the ribs and the result was that subsequently lifting became impossible and that's difficult when you bring around beer kegs. I ended up in hospital and got into the sickness benefits as part of my left lung had collapsed, after a period of recovery I could sometimes on a good day I was able to drive a concrete mixing truck

I could not even walk normally and also went to the pain clinic in hospital as the pain got worse and worse. After a year and a half it was a lot better with me and I wanted to work again. From my eighteenth I've already been working fulltime jobs. First in the hospitality and later on the truck. I've never sat still one minute and always worked hard. I was getting crazy sitting at home doing nothing. But if I was doing to much again I was punished straight away. The pain pulling through felt like having a cardial problem and that was how the medics reacted the first few times and I was rushed by ambulance to the emergency room.

My body was examined in hospital and the diagnosis of Tietze's syndrome led to another and lighter kind of job search, until suddenly a job as a receptionist onboard of a ferry presented itself through an "old" colleague, who knew me already from my restaurant years. I had worked for this boss before and was already familiar with sailing. So that was not a big deal to get used again to the sailing life.

I could not consume all my happiness in this job as after three years out of nothing my body gave up on me and I got stuck in the sickness benefits again and thus lost my job, getting back was not an option because, according to Danish doctors due to my sickness I was 80 to 100 percent disapproved and the labor market I could not enter due to this diagnoses. To be eligible for a benefit in Netherlands I had to be approved as healthy. In my country they say it is something that you have so just get used to it, the doctors don't even take it as a serious matter. So why was it approved by the World Health Organisation in my country.  And so it happened that I was all of a sudden fully fit again. (on paper)

And that just that my illness is mentioned here only as a condition and it is difficult to be in between two camps (countries) that are having a totally different opinion. In my last reassessment, I became pretty angry about this matter. "But according to you guys there is nothing wrong with me, at least that is what you say so I am fit enough to enter the labour market fully," I yelled at the doctor. And I said that I otherwise would have to work illegal and when I would collapse we would see what will happen. The doctor decided to take the matter into his own hands, and gave me the answer "But you can always get back later into the sickness benefit." If I am feeling well I may fully work?
Hmm.... strange that I am a 100% fit to work and that I can do everything I want. I hope very soon to begin as a bus driver. Twenty hours until thirty hours per week I will bring everyone from point A to point B. Of course I had a medical exam and there is nothing that should obstruct me in my job.

It took several months for the people of the UWV realized that I'm unstopable, they approved me well and hopefully will also my benefit money partly stop. Driving on the bus that's my new challenge in this life and experience is the big stumbling block for the employers. Because yes, I think that working with people is great. "But I'd better be listening to my body now and I already had a wonderful job at sea, but the high stress level in this case was the killer. When I see how relaxed I am now, I am thinking sometimes. ''This should have happened much earlier, when I was still in a good "shape".Although this will be a job on a temporary base, I will be starting a new episode in my life.

The Old Sailor

Get your work and life in balance

Dear Bloggers,

What if you lose your job and you find out that you can not keep up with the fast lane anymore and slowly your body tells you to stop. I have been walking on my toes for quite a long time. All of sudden everything was upside down, instead of falling into a depression, I started arguing with myself about how this could happen to me. And I figured out that I was the only one to blame. I had deep conversations with my psychologist and instead of seeing problems, I have been looking for new opportunities as I had plenty of time. Work-life balance: You have to find the way to restore harmony and reduce stress.

If you can figure out what you like and what gives you stress you can start finding a job that will suite you and is not to heavy to do. Also the time that you will put into your job is critical, A half time job is what I will start with. Ok we need to sell our house and buy a bit smaller house but that is no problem, it also means less cleaning, gardening and so on. Living by the lakes will give a better effect on the both of us, at least that is what we are hoping for.

So if your work life and personal life are out of balance, your stress may be running high. Here's how to reclaim control.

Finding work-life balance in today's frenetically paced world is no simple task.

Do you spend more time at work than at home, and you miss out on a rewarding personal life. Then again, when you face challenges in your personal life, such as caring for an aging parent or coping with marital problems, concentrating on your job can be difficult.

Whether the problem is too much focus on work or too little, when your work life and your personal life feel out of balance, stress — along with its harmful effects — is the result.

The good news is that you can take control of your work-life balance — and give yourself the time to do the things that are most important to you. The first step is to recognize how the world of work has changed. Then you can evaluate your relationship to work and apply some specific strategies for striking a healthier balance.

How work invades your personal life

There was a time when employees showed up for work Monday through Friday and worked eight- to nine-hour days. The boundaries between work and home were fairly clear then. But the world has changed and, unfortunately, the boundaries have blurred for many workers. Here's why:

Global economy. As more skilled workers enter the global labor market and companies outsource or move more jobs to reduce labor costs, people feel pressured to work longer and produce more just to protect their jobs.
International business. Work continues around the world 24 hours a day for some people. If you work in an international organization, you might be on call around the clock for troubleshooting or consulting.
Advanced communication technology. Many people now have the ability to work anywhere — from their home, from their car and even on vacation. And some managers expect this.
Longer hours. Employers commonly ask employees to work longer hours than they're scheduled. Often, overtime is mandatory. If you hope to move up the career ladder, you may find yourself regularly working more than 40 hours a week to achieve and exceed expectations.
Changes in family roles. Today's married worker is typically part of a dual-career couple, which makes it difficult to find time to meet commitments to family, friends and community.

Married to your work
It can be tempting to rack up the hours at work — especially if you're trying to earn a promotion or some extra money for a child's education or a dream vacation. For others, working more hours feels necessary in order to manage the workload. But if you're spending most of your time at work, your home life will likely pay the price. Consider the pros and cons of working extra hours on your work-life balance:

Fatigue. Your ability to think and your eye-hand coordination decrease when you're tired. This means you're less productive and may make more mistakes. These mistakes can lead to injury or rework and negatively impact your professional reputation.
Family. You may miss out on important events, such as your child's first bike ride, your father's 60th birthday or your high-school reunion. Missing out on important milestones may harm relationships with your loved ones.
Friends. Trusted friends are a key part of your support system. But if you're spending time at the office instead of with them, you'll find it difficult to nurture those friendships.
Expectations. If you regularly work extra hours, you may be given more responsibility. This could create a never-ending and increasing cycle, causing more concerns and challenges.

Sometimes working overtime is important. If you work for a company that requires mandatory overtime, you won't be able to avoid it, but you can learn to manage it. Most importantly, say no when you're too tired, when it's affecting your health or when you have crucial family obligations.

Striking the best work-life balance
For most people, juggling the demands of career and personal life is an ongoing challenge. With so many demands on your time — from overtime to family obligations — it can feel difficult to strike this balance. The goal is to make time for the activities that are the most important to you.

Here are some ideas to help you find the balance that's best for you:

Keep a log. Track everything you do for one week. Include work-related and non-work-related activities. Decide what's necessary and what satisfies you the most. Cut or delegate activities you don't enjoy and don't have time for. If you don't have the authority to make certain decisions, talk to your supervisor.
Take advantage of your options. Find out if your employer offers flex hours, a compressed workweek, job-sharing or telecommuting for your role. The flexibility may alleviate some of  your stress and free up some time.

Learn to say no. Whether it's a co-worker asking you to spearhead an extra project or your child's teacher asking you to manage the class play, remember that it's OK to respectfully say no. When you quit doing the things you only do out of guilt or a false sense of obligation, you'll make more room in your life for the activities that are meaningful to you and bring you joy.

Leave work at work. With today's global business mentality and the technology to connect to anyone at any time from virtually anywhere, there's no boundary between work and home — unless you create it. Make a conscious decision to separate work time from personal time. When with your family, for instance, turn off your cell phone and put away your laptop computer.

Manage your time. Organize household tasks efficiently. Doing one or two loads of laundry every day, rather than saving it all for your day off. A weekly family calendar of important dates and a daily list of to-dos will help you avoid deadline panic. Rethink your cleaning standards. An unmade bed or sink of dirty dishes won't impact the quality of your life. Do what needs to be done and let the rest go. If you can afford it, pay someone else to clean your house.

Communicate clearly. Limit time-consuming misunderstandings by communicating clearly and listening carefully. Fight the guilt. Remember, having a family and a job is OK — for both men and women.
Nurture yourself. Set aside time each day for an activity that you enjoy, such as walking, working out or listening to music. Unwind after a hectic workday by reading, practicing yoga, or taking a bath or shower.

Set aside one night each week for recreation. Take the phone off the hook, power down the computer and turn off the TV. Discover activities you can do with your partner, family or friends, such as a night to the theatre, go out for a romantic diner. Making time for activities you enjoy will rejuvenate you.

Protect your day off. Try to schedule some of your routines on workdays so that your days off are more relaxing. Get enough sleep. There's nothing as stressful and potentially dangerous as working when you're sleep-deprived. Not only is your productivity affected, but also you can make costly mistakes. You may then have to work even more hours to make up for these mistakes.

Seek professional help. Everyone needs help from time to time. If your life feels too chaotic to manage and you're spinning your wheels worrying about it, talk with a professional, such as your doctor, a psychologist or a counselor.

And if you're experiencing high levels of stress because of marital, financial, chemical dependency or legal problems your partner might not be in the first place the one to talk to. Remember, striking a work-life balance isn't a one-shot deal. Creating balance in your life is a continuous process. Demands on your time change as your family, interests and work life change. Assess your situation every few months to make sure you're keeping on track. Also your mind should keep up with the aging of your body as you will not be eighteen forever.

Balance doesn't mean doing everything. Examine your priorities and set boundaries. Be firm in what you can and cannot do. Only you can restore harmony to your lifestyle.

The Old Sailor,

Getting back to work has hooks and eyes

Dear Bloggers,

At the moment my challenge is to find a new job, which I can fill in with my needs so they fit better with my illness.

I've also applied for a job as a bus driver.

Most likely there is for the employer financially support possible for me to integrate within the company.

A part-time job is better than no job at all, and after all my efforts that I made to return to work and to get in such a condition again that working would be in the possibilities.

Research has shown that most people on benefits want to work.

But there are many obstacles, so face the unemployed and disabled.

The majority of people on benefits want to work.

This became clear from the published report. “Wel of niet aan het werk” of the Social and Cultural Planning Office and the Council for Work and Income.

Unemployed, disabled and workers were interviewed for the study of the report. The report shows that the willingness to work among beneficiaries is high. Of the people who are partially incapacitated, 57 percent wants a paid job. Even the wholly disabled says one in five that they want to work. The study also shows that many part-timers have the desire to expand their job. Of the respondents who have been unemployed and currently work, says 40 percent to work longer hours.

It is not always about the money that beneficiaries want a job, the study shows. The disabled have the need of other social contacts and a meaningful time use to be the main motives.
People in jobs who want to work more hours, give more money as a key reason.

The report shows that disabled mainly because of health problems not find suitable work. In addition, they run around with the idea: “ I do not find a job” for a disabled or unemployed this is the main obstacle. The part-time favorite is the respondents: half would prefer between 12 and 35 hours per week.

There is much criticism of assistance to return to the workplace. More than half of the respondents experienced insufficient support in re-integrating. The Social Services, benefits agency UWV and re-integratoin companies scoring a thick below average. They get a 5.5 average on the scale of 10. With institutions like this it is often a lack of personal support. The return to work after long illness represents a serious problem for many. Half said they had been able to return to work faster if there would have been better measures taken, including a re-assignment or a different employer.
The reaction is far too slow in these passive, lingering organizations.

The report is a support in the back of the cabinet, more Dutch people will have to work. This is necessary to cover the costs of aging better able to absorb, but also to prevent people despite economic growth and labor shortages at the standard model. Beginning this year, said Minister Wouter Bos (financial minister) There is more work in the labor market. The most important issue in the Netherlands. Enough labor is offered - 700,000 work-wishers, was calculated in 2002 but remains unexploited.

Despite extra efforts to help them get started, decreased the percentage of disabled people since 2002 with a job. Only four in ten have work.
There should just more projects being launched which not only long-term unemployed but also can be used for the disabled. The coalition government has already appointed a commission headed by TNT CEO Peter Bakker. That should make proposals for employment to increase over the current 70 percent to 80 percent of the workforce in 2016. This Taskforce Plus Part-time, that was installed on April 8, should also seek opportunities for part-timers, especially women, to encourage more working hours. The number of employed persons rose by 2.2 percent last year to over 7.7 million, but a relatively large number working in small jobs of less than twelve hours per week.

The Old Sailor,