Thank you Barling Magna for so eloquently expressing the sentiments I had when starting this thread.

I am retired now and while I miss the challenges and camaraderie of work at times I honestly do not feel I could deal with the draconian/Stalinist/Nazi HR policies so many employers seem to use without a hint of self awareness or basic human decency on all manner of issues. Just because there is policy on something doesn't mean the remedy is appropriate in every circumstance.

Things like zero hours contracts while the owners evade income tax ( please do not quote evade /avoid subtleties because the words mean exactly the same thing in English ) or take all kinds of corporate goodies and events from suppliers and clients that the 'troops' never see.

If you thin k I am being harsh on Easyjet and their policies it is because they do not seem to me to be well balanced. A couple of years ago when my wife and daughter were taking an EZ flight for the first time, I sent them a 'little old lady' message asking if they gave sufficient attention to safety as they undercut BA . of course i got back the usual corporate speak about safety is the first and highest priority but got no reply at all to my follow up which asked , if that was the case why was it not a designated responsibility of any of their board members.