175g/6oz light soft brown sugar. 1 free-range .... every day, with no regard for the financial ruin or sickening dread t
ARE YOU IN THE FESTIVE SPIRIT? Have you been rockin’ around the Christmas tree?
READY, STEADY, BAKE… Send us your gingerbread!
Your weekly bulletin of wit & wonder in the world of…
Wg Employment Issue 581/December 2017
Merry Christmas from your Employment team! The big day is approaching… but there’s still enough time to spread the festive cheer, put on an apron and do some festive baking. Here’s a recipe for a Christmas favourite – gingerbread men: Ingredients 350g/12oz plain flour, plus extra for rolling out 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 2 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground cinnamon 125g/4½oz butter 175g/6oz light soft brown sugar 1 free-range egg 4 tbsp golden syrup To decorate Writing icing Cake decorations Method 1. Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon and pour into the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and blend until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. 2. Lightly beat the egg and golden syrup together, add to the food processor and pulse until the mixture clumps together. Tip the dough out, knead briefly until smooth, wrap in clingfim and leave to chill in the fridge for 15 minutes. 3. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper. 4. Roll the dough out to a 0.5cm/¼in thickness on a lightly floured surface. Using cutters cut out the gingerbread men shapes and place on the baking tray, leaving a gap between them. 5. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden-brown. Leave on the tray for 10 minutes and then move to a wire rack to finish cooling. When cooled decorate with the writing icing and cake decorations. We suggest dressing your gingerbread men in a Christmas jumper… send your designs to
[email protected] or head to our Facebook page. We’d love to know how they turn out…
HOW CHRISTMASSY ARE YOU? With Christmas Day just three days away, you’ll no doubt have been through a month of tinsel-wrapped monitors and Quality Street in the workplace. It’s all been very jolly. Hasn’t it..? Well, that really depends on you. How are you with Christmas really? Do you enjoy a bit of ding-dong merrily on high or is it all a case of jangle balls for you? Don’t try to answer; you’re too weighed down with Baileys and Twiglets to think sensibly. Just do the…
WG EMPLOYMENT CHRISTMAS QUIZ and we’ll let you know exactly how Christmassy you truly are… Q1. It’s December 1st and someone’s already brought in their animatronic reindeer and set him off singing Jingle Bell Rock fifteen times before tea break. When nobody else is about, you… a. …put him on a higher shelf so he’s a bit less noticeable to passing colleagues so you can get some work done. b. …squeeze his antler to trigger the song again and then have a special one to one duet with him, welling up slightly… c. …consider whipping out his batteries (rejecting that idea as it’s not final enough) then ‘accidentally’ elbowing him out of the window and into a brick-filled skip below, taking much satisfaction from the crunch of his impact, before returning to your workstation, innocently whistling Away In A Manger. Q2. ‘Dress Festively!’ you are advised, on your invitation to the company Christmas do. On arrival you fling off your coat to reveal… a. …a nice outfit with a few sparkles to make it look Christmassy. b. …you’ve come as a full sized Christmas cracker, complete with flashing LED lights and red glitter boots. c. …you’re in your usual workwear. This is meant to be ‘fun’, and for you fun means not having to get changed. Q3. It’s SECRET SANTA TIME! You must spend £5 on a surprise Christmas gift for Betty in IT. What do you do? a. Find out what her favourite scent is and buy some luxury bathroom smellies. b. Buy her a Christmas Favourites CD so she can listen all year round! c. Wrap up a postcard from a donkey sanctuary charity, confirming she’s made a £5 donation to poorly donkeys. And don’t forget to include the leaflet of full colour pictures of the poorly donkeys. Too many people forget the donkeys at Christmas. Q4. You’re asked to sing in the company choir at a special charity carol service. So, you… a. …print off the words to the carols and pass them round, so you can perhaps run through them over lunch hour, on the day of the service. b. …organise a string of rehearsals, every lunch hour for three weeks on the run up, supplying warm mince pies to everyone who shows up, and dress as an elf. For all of the rehearsals. Yes. With curly felt bell-toed slippers. Because it’s CHRISTMAS! c. …refuse. And silently pass around some humbugs. Q5. Father Christmas is in reception, handing out presents for everybody’s children! What do you do? a. Politely collect the present for your offspring and try not to call him Geoff, or point out that his beard is wonky. b. Squeal with delight and almost trip over your elf slippers in your haste to sit on his knee and tell him how good you’ve been all year, before dancing back to your workstation, singing Mary’s Boy Child (Bony M version). c. Stare at him stonily for a few seconds, tell him you’ve just sent that spreadsheet he was after and suggest you discuss invoicing when he’s got past all this nonsense. And ignore the gift. It’s a hard world and the sooner that five-year-old freeloader under your roof understands this, the better. Q6. Your favourite employment lawyer drops by with a bottle of mulled wine and a box of chocs. You respond by… a. …handing her a tin of shortbread and a card signed by your team and discussing the brilliant employment law seminars you’ll be attending next year. b. …performing Scrooge – The Musical, there and then in reception, using your entire staff in a big flashmob dance number, backed by a small professional orchestra, which has been on stand-by in the back office all week. c. …discuss your Terms & Conditions with her in painful detail until the Yuletide light dies in her eyes*.
Peace of Mind Do you want to save your business time and money, and reduce stress?
HOW DID YOU SCORE? Mostly As You seem to have a good balance of excitement and practicality when it comes to enjoying the holiday season. But how could you believe Santa was Geoff from accounts? What happened to the magic in your soul?!! Mostly Bs You are a Crimbophile with an unhealthy fixation on all things festive. You’ve probably got a house festooned in lights and dancing snowmen on your lawn and really do wish it could be Christmas every day, with no regard for the financial ruin or sickening dread that a non-stop, year round gift giving spree would inevitably bring. Stop rockin’ around the flippin’ Christmas tree and go and splash some cold water on your face RIGHT NOW.
“We appreciate having the highly professional and experienced Warner Goodman team on hand to offer support and guidance.” Contact us today on 02380 717717 or email
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Mostly Cs Well, your response to Christmas is as dry as turkey leftovers on December 28. You’d only suggest any merry gentlemen god rest themselves if it was a mandatory work break and you wouldn’t dream of decking any halls without hazard assessment forms filled in a week beforehand. Maybe it’s time a ghost showed you your future... Come on… eat a cheese football and live a little.
PS. The above guidance is purely for the purposes of entertainment and WG Employment Team cannot take any responsibility for sudden outbursts of unseemly carousing, unexpected bouts of soul searching or shock brought about by cold water applied abruptly to the face. Your rights to be cheesily merry are not affected. Mistletoe is hung at own risk. *Sarah Whitemore would like to state that she could never be dulled by long-winded discussion of Terms & Conditions… probably.
We look forward to seeing you all in 2018! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Contact the team Sarah Whitemore (Partner) – 02380 717462 Howard Robson (Partner) – 02380 717718 Lisa Joyce (Associate) – 02380 717447 Emma Kemp (Associate) – 02380 717486 Natalie Rawson (Solicitor) – 02380 717403
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