bg hitting its engineers.

[jumbo55]

i used to work for bg, and got fed up with the pressure of trying to keep up with unrealistic performance targets, and therefore sacrificing safety.
just spoke to one of my old colleagues, and thought i would just let you gas chaps know the latest wheeze.
bg engineers are not allowed to work outside bg as the corgi registration only covers them for bg work. so a lot of bg engineers take out their own corgi registration. they have now been given a 3 month amnesty to leave corgi of their own volition, or bg will find them out and they have been told they will be sacked for gross misconduct. bg have enough trouble keeping the engineers they got already, will they really carry out this threat.
i realise they finance engineers acs qualification, but i would be interested to know wether they can legally stop a qualified engineer, properly corgi registered, from doing private work outside his working hours.
all prejudices aside lads, do you think bg are right or wrong.

 

[corgiman]

if they have a "conflict of interest" clause in their employment contract they can

 

[jumbo55]

yes corgiman, thats right, although when i worked for them i dont remember signing a specific contract to that end, what was told to us was that bg corgi registration did not cover us for work outside. Is this going to be the case for other trades, say a carpenter or plasterer even a plumber whose firm have paid for his apprenticeship and who now works for them, can they stop him from doing outside work, it would be pretty difficult.
However, in this case, bg can check the engineers membership on the corgi registration site, and therefore are hitting the engineers over the head for actualy ensuring they are legal.
i see bg's point of view, and any firm would have that point of view, but every firm who employs tradesmen could have that point of view. i know a lot of engineers have a "downer" on bg employees, i didnt think they were a particularly good firm to work for, they talked a good job but in reality, they just go through the motions. i hope the engineers call their bluff, bg have had a lot of negative publicity this year, another barrel load wont do them any harm, i hope the shareholders are happy.

 

[mehran]

by give up your personnel corgi reg just gives BG more power over the engineers and just make it harder for unhappy engineers to leave, where as if the engineers had there own corgi reg then they can more easily hold BG in check. BG are a ruthless company and would love to stamp out every independent installer in the country. if they give up there right to work for them selfs then it is just one more step to there total dominance of the market to the deficit of the customer

 

[corgiman]

My guv'nor is quite happy for us to do homers under his REG,

but he is a top lad who knows how to keep his chaps

 

[gcol]

A bloke I know is a sparky for the council - he said pretty much the same thing. He's only part P legit while he's at work apparently.

 

[Inky Pete]

I wouldn't of thought that just having a personal corgi registration could be construed as a conflict of interest.

I think in order to prove conflict of interest to the satisfaction of an industrial tribunal, BG would also have to prove that the individual had done paid work to the detriment of BG's own business. A much trickier proposition, and one which could open BG up to all sorts of bad publicity. A lot depends on exactly how the BG contract of employment is worded, but it would be unusual to see one which dictated that an employee couldn't be a personal member of a professional body!

 

[corgiman]

I wouldn't of thought that just having a personal corgi registration could be construed as a conflict of interest. !

what is the reason to have your own card

to legally do your own work

where would you get this work

BANG conflict of interest a tribunal would not even bother.

CORGI is a professional body of sorts, but unlike the IPHE APHC etc you need it only to work on gas, they are not there for anything else so more of a watchdog

 

[nickso]

BG are only doing what every other company on the planet would do to protect its market share.

it really boils down to this......

1)if you are doing work on the side and are in breach of your contract then they have the right to remove you from their employment.

2)if you dont like it then leave and start your own business as thats what you have effectively started doing by seeking your own corgi registration.

i think you would be hard pushed to find a BG engineer who hadnt done at least one homer (and a manager who didnt know that), but the sensible ones who do a few jobs on the side arent the ones they want rid of. its the ones using BG's van, tools and parts every weekend they want to boot out.

 

[mehran]

and the engnners are what they have a right to do,

what they do in there own time is there own business. BG don't have a say, the fact that you retaining the right do gas work for your self does not give BG the right to fire you.

does not matter how much BG would like to screw them over

 

[nickso]

and the engnners are what they have a right to do,

what they do in there own time is there own business. BG don't have a say, the fact that you retaining the right do gas work for your self does not give BG the right to fire you.

does not matter how much BG would like to screw them over

wrong.

if its on your contract not to work outside BG then they have every right to fire you. simple fact.

does not matter how much you want to screw BG over

 

[werewolf]

Personally i see it as a good thing. Means more work for me. Selfish,some may think, but my livelihoods more important than bg`s lads extras on the side.

 

[corgiman]

Personally i see it as a good thing. Means more work for me. Selfish,some may think, but my livelihoods more important than bg`s lads extras on the side.

HERE HERE

if BG lads want this LEAVE BG and have some balls and go it alone

I would but I am too scared

 

[gas4you]

But we know you're not corgi Just wiser

Do you get Gas Elec working in your area. Their franchise also states you cannot have your own corgi. You can't even take on a job for them by yourself. You have to tell customer to call their national number

Nearly bought a franchise with them when I first went solo. Glad I didnt

 

[jumbo55]

think some people are missing the point, i did ask that it didnt degenerate into an "who cares about bg engineers thread", which some of you are doing.
i do know engineers that do homers who work for bg, but only the idiots use a bg van to do that.
my point is how can you stop a tradesman with his only trade and means of earning a living, from plying that trade outside of his normal working hours. its a restriction of his right to trade and cannot be legally upheld. i did say at the beginning that i was not aware of signing a contract to say i wasnt allowed to do work outside bg, only a verbal warning that the engineer is not covered by bg's own corgi card.
This could have implications for all trades, not just the bg engineers. what are you plumbers gonna do when the lady next door offers you 50 quid to do her ball valve, tell her to phone your company. ye right.
im not bg any more, my worry is for the working man.