Working while claiming sick pay

[markjay]

A member on the other side has just posted a thread about a citizen's arrest he made last night having witnessed a drunk bloke vandalise several cars in his village.

Whilst this was dangerous because of the other friends involved and the fists flying etc...I congratulate him...but advised caution the next time. The police duly arrived and the perp. was arrested.

Should he just have ignored it (as some on this thread would no doubt advocate) or was he right?

I suppose that calling the police without actually apprehending the bloke was not an option...?

 

[renault12ts]

Take your ridiculous assumptions and start a new thread. With your agenda you'll have us turning a blind eye to cold blooded murder next.

I refer you back to post #69.

 

[renault12ts]

I suppose that calling the police without actually apprehending the bloke was not an option...?

I thought that might have been a wiser course of action...but the point is less to do with the actual arrest and more about whether he should have just walked on by.

 

[MercFanUk]

At the end of the day, how can the authorities ever hope to catch people without having the information to do so.

I'm not locking her up, fining her, or firing her. That's for the authorities to decide on when they see fit. All I did was make them aware that someone may be trying to screw them over.

I'm sure if any one of us was being screwed over without knowing, we'd like to know about it.

 

[markjay]

I think the key issue is - like with most other things - deciding on where to draw the line.

We are all in agreement that a violent crime should be reported, and I think that all or most of us agree that we shouldn't snoop on our neighbours e.g report them because their Tax Disk expired last Friday. These are both ends of the scale.

The real question is therefore whether reporting someone who works for cash while claiming SSP falls on one side of the line, or the other?

 

[trapperjohn]

I don't go with a general consensus on this. Personally to me it is wrong and would be reported without a shadow of "is it right or wrong" It is wrong and would be reported.

 

[MercFanUk]

I think the key issue is - like with most other things - deciding on where to draw the line.

When something becomes illegal or not. There's no need for a grey area IMHO.

To be fair, a simple thing like an out of date tax disc has a good chance of being noticed by a policeman, traffic warden, ANPR system. In a case like the one this thread is about - it's very difficult for any authority to find out.

So - draw the line where you need to. If it's illegal, its your moral duty to report it if it's highly unlikely to be found out otherwise.

 

[Dave Lewis]

A member on the other side has just posted a thread about a citizen's arrest he made last night having witnessed a drunk bloke vandalise several cars in his village.

Whilst this was dangerous because of the other friends involved and the fists flying etc...I congratulate him...but advised caution the next time. The police duly arrived and the perp. was arrested.

Should he just have ignored it (as some on this thread would no doubt advocate) or was he right?

How can you possibly equate helping stop criminal damage with informing on a benefit cheat? Do you really not get it, or are you trolling again?
One action benefits the community, the other damages it, as Bellow's comments about trust point out. Think about it.
What disturbs me most about this country now is the erosion of community and common responsibility, the pitching of people against each other. Do you want to live in a place where no one trusts each other, in an atmosphere of suspicion and fear? Because that's what life under communism in Europe was like. I don't believe this discussion is about righting wrongs, it's about the money. The fact that someone appears to be getting away with something. There's plenty of real bad things, illegal things going on out there, but I bet Mercfan won't be dealing with them.
If this sort of fiddling keeps you awake at night, then confront the person, tell them to stop, or you'll inform the authorities. That would get respect.

 

[MercFanUk]

So I have to earn respect by letting people scam others do I? Get real.

"One action benefits the community, the other damages it"

Erm, no. She's the one bringing down the community by being yet another person letting the side down. You're supposed to set a GOOD example to people, not gob off how your screwing people over.

"Do you want to live in a place where no one trusts each other, in an atmosphere of suspicion and fear?"

If people weren't doing anything wrong, what would they have to fear?

"There's plenty of real bad things, illegal things going on out there, but I bet Mercfan won't be dealing with them."

I'm not dealing with her problem either, I was letting the people who CAN deal with it know. If I saw other crimes, I'd report them also. Just because it happened on my doorstep and I noticed it, doesn't mean I went out of my way to put her in the crap.

"If this sort of fiddling keeps you awake at night, then confront the person, tell them to stop, or you'll inform the authorities. That would get respect."

From who? A scamming, thieving piece of scum? I'd rather have none of her respect thanks. I'd rather have the respect of others, those who see crime as a bad thing for any community.

Seriously - where on Earth do you think you are? This isn't some movie about a gang or some council estate youth's or some shady underground - it's real life.

 

[jonthetourist]

How can you possibly equate helping stop criminal damage with informing on a benefit cheat? Do you really not get it, or are you trolling again?
One action benefits the community, the other damages it, as Bellow's comments about trust point out.

Usually on the forums I can see the other person's point of view, though I may not agree with it. But here I am baffled.

Stopping someone from stealing damages the community?

And you accuse other people of trolling?

???

 

[trapperjohn]

MercFanUK has said this person has an HR Dept. So big firm.

I used to work for a big firm. If one of the team phoned in sick would HR just get another "Human Resource" (bloody hate that title, so much better when it was Personnel) to come down and fill their place that day or week or month. Not a chance. The Team had to work with what we had, which meant we all had to pull harder to get the job done. Targets still had to be met. Often as not someones leave would be knocked back to make the target. So the person working whilst on "the sick" is ratting on their work colleagues too.

 

[renault12ts]

How can you possibly equate helping stop criminal damage with informing on a benefit cheat? Do you really not get it, or are you trolling again?
One action benefits the community, the other damages it, as Bellow's comments about trust point out. Think about it.
What disturbs me most about this country now is the erosion of community and common responsibility, the pitching of people against each other. Do you want to live in a place where no one trusts each other, in an atmosphere of suspicion and fear? Because that's what life under communism in Europe was like. I don't believe this discussion is about righting wrongs, it's about the money. The fact that someone appears to be getting away with something. There's plenty of real bad things, illegal things going on out there, but I bet Mercfan won't be dealing with them.
If this sort of fiddling keeps you awake at night, then confront the person, tell them to stop, or you'll inform the authorities. That would get respect.

Leaving aside the personal attack, and your obvious anger. When someone disagrees with you it's not trolling.

You are saying she must trust us...even if we can't trust her. We bad, she good? It makes for better community when people like her can do what they want and rely on the rest of us keeping quiet...twisted.

 

[balge]

Surprised to see so much support for tax evasion and benefit fraud? Is this some modern thing?

cheers...

 

[Dave Lewis]

Let me get one thing straight. I do not in any way support what this woman is doing, and have never said I do. It's not what she's doing that I'm talking about. Of course defrauding a system that's there for people who actually need it is wrong. What I don't support is the anonymity, the snitching without confronting the person, taking responsibility. I'm not sure if anyone understands that concept nowadays. Maybe it's an age thing, but in my real world these things matter.
I know very well what trolling is thanks Renault12ts. And I am not in the least bit angry, just passionate about the damage done to society and community since the Thatcher revolution. Distrust in the community leads to the sort of scenes we had on the streets last summer. There will be more to come, unless we pull together as communities.

 

[balge]

...by turning a blind eye to petty crime...

 

[markjay]

A few years ago a neighbour 'shopped' us to the Council for using a hose pipe during hose ban period. We know she did because she said she would, and we indeed received a letter from the council a few days later. The letter was just a general one explaining the hose ban issue etc. To cut a long story short we used water but used it legally - we didn't actually break the hose pipe ban so the Council did not get involved (other than sending us a general letter). So I don't think you should report anything that you consider an offence. This is not to say that you should not report the lady in question, just to reinforce my previous argument that a line has to be drawn somewhere.

 

[jonthetourist]

Distrust in the community leads to the sort of scenes we had on the streets last summer. There will be more to come, unless we pull together as communities.

Was it really distrust? Or a misguided sense of entitlement? Not unlike the character in the OP's story who thinks she can have the sick pay when she is able to work?

When the allegedly dispossessed are communicating by Blackberry I am not sure poverty or trust is the key issue, personally. The belief that you are entitled to whatever you fancy, regardless of effort expended, seems more relevant.

But at least I understand your perspective now, so thanks for clarifying.

Jon

 

[Dave Lewis]

So I have to earn respect by letting people scam others do I? Get real.

No, get respect by showing the courage of your convictions.

If people weren't doing anything wrong, what would they have to fear?

Read up on life under the Stasi in East Germany.

"If this sort of fiddling keeps you awake at night, then confront the person, tell them to stop, or you'll inform the authorities. That would get respect."

From who? A scamming, thieving piece of scum? I'd rather have none of her respect thanks. I'd rather have the respect of others, those who see crime as a bad thing for any community.

No, I meant respect from the community. Which is a valuable thing. You're hardly likely to get any from her.

Seriously - where on Earth do you think you are? This isn't some movie about a gang or some council estate youth's or some shady underground - it's real life.

Precisely. It's real life.

 

[MercFanUk]

Thing is, we don't live in Stasi Germany do we - so why should we act like we do?

I get where you're coming from - sort of. However, I don't believe I have a duty in any way whatsoever to tell her jack.

On top of that, confronting someone like that and telling them to give up or else would likely land me in crap with her scum friends rather than earn me respect from the community. Crap I don't deserve, I've not done anything illegal after all.

I have all the respect I need by being known as a common decent bloke, nothing more, nothing less.

And before anyone suggests, I still class myself as a decent person, despite dropping a low life scum like that in the crap for their underhand activities

 

[Spinal]

I already did hours ago lol, if there's repercussions, so be it - I can deal with that.

Curious to know if anything comes from it; or if it's just filed and ignored...