Winseer:
I’ve been let go on my ZHC at Aylesford… It seems that sideways-moving John Lewis drivers coupled with a sharp drop in shop turnover (now the panic buying is apparently over…) means that ZHC driver “services are no longer required”. I’ve asked to be placed by the agency at another supermarket, but their work is going quiet too, and I’m being told that I might only be getting 1 or 2 shifts per week for the duration…
Oh Crap! 
That’s worse than being sacked in a way, as I literally now do not know when my next shift is… I’ll get paid for last week’s work this week, and I’ll probably get my holiday pot paid for next week - and THEN what?
Meanwhile, I’m still employed at the same agency, unless I resign, and if I resign, I presumably won’t qualify for stuff like Universal Credit for 13 weeks, or something daft…
Made some phone calls around other yards, and they are already standing down their drivers, so there’s no agency nor full time work there for the duration as well…
There’s two options then: Get placed at another client yard or resign, and try and make one week’s wages last the next 13 week gap between getting any UC…
I’m hoping my flexibility and low cost lifestyle - will help me out, as I can manage on part time hours, - just not NO hours!
I’m also being told that there is a dearth of 18:00-22:00 start times, presumably because they don’t want people getting paid the higher rate as of now…?
Lots of shifts for 02:00-04:00 starts though, if anyone else is suited to those @ supermarkets…
Got an assessment @ Dartford meanwhile, - but it is a fortnight away.
Anyone else considering going on UC because they just won’t be getting anywhere near enough hours in the near future, let alone “decent hourly rate” hours…?
Yes, I’ve applied for UC, agency hasn’t come up with any shifts for over two weeks. They (ADR) are not responding to calls, either by just not picking up, or ignoring voice mails. Pretty much what I’ve grown to expect from them tbh.
My experience with UC has been surprisingly good; made my claim last Monday and received a call from my local job centre on the Wednesday confirming the claim. Lady I spoke to asked if I needed an immediate payment, which I don’t, thankfully. She said that I’d receive my first payment first week in May, back-dated to when I made the claim.
Considering the enormity of this situation, I think they’re doing well, the job centre lady said they were on a skeleton staff. Hence why they’re pushing claims through ASAP, they simply don’t have time to do much checking etc.
I am in the process of registering with another agency, but have been told by them that the particular client they’re dealing with won’t have a need of drivers until end of April/early May. So I’ll be glad of the UC payments until things get back to some sort of ‘normality’.
