Big changes

[marzipan]

sounds like they are cost saving and us part timers are taking the brunt of it.

[steve1873]

pt staff legally aren't entitled to it,

They might not be legally entitled, but they are contractually entitled to 30 minutes meal relief if they work more than 5 hours. 20 minutes if between 3 and 4 hours 59 minutes.

Depends if they work six hours or more in a day, plenty part timers do.

[HTPostman]

I'll probably ruffle a few feathers here but I enjoy the job, and I think we'll get to a stage when cuts are made and most of us will be wanting to stay and tough decisions will be made across the business.

I know in an ideal world we'd just deliver a handful of letters and parcels and it would be like the old days with early starts and early finishes but those days will never return. That's why I *almost* like D2Ds, delivering Ebay stuff and national trust magazines, because it's stuff like that which will be keeping some of us in a job.

My contract, which I signed in early October 2018 when I returned to RM, reads as follows:

'Your employment will expire on xx October 2019. The reason for your contract being for a fixed term is that it is anticipated the requirement for your employment is likely to cease on or about the expiry date because of business reorganisation.'

That concerns me. I know most contracts will just roll over but I don't want to be one of those let go, if/when it comes to that. That's why I'll gladly deliver all the Chinese rubbish, farmfoods leaflets and mountains of parcels I'm given, it's why I don't complain when I was finishing way past my time over Christmas (and paid OT for it) or when I'm given lapsing or put on another new round (my thinking being the more rounds I know, the more beneficial I am to the company).

To me complaining about the workload and stuff we are delivering is like a dentist struggling for business complaining about people eating too many sweets.

[Celgar]

I'll probably ruffle a few feathers here but I enjoy the job, and I think we'll get to a stage when cuts are made and most of us will be wanting to stay and tough decisions will be made across the business.

I know in an ideal world we'd just deliver a handful of letters and parcels and it would be like the old days with early starts and early finishes but those days will never return. That's why I *almost* like D2Ds, delivering Ebay stuff and national trust magazines, because it's stuff like that which will be keeping some of us in a job.

My contract, which I signed in early October 2018 when I returned to RM, reads as follows:

'Your employment will expire on xx October 2019. The reason for your contract being for a fixed term is that it is anticipated the requirement for your employment is likely to cease on or about the expiry date because of business reorganisation.'

That concerns me. I know most contracts will just roll over but I don't want to be one of those let go, if/when it comes to that. That's why I'll gladly deliver all the Chinese rubbish, farmfoods leaflets and mountains of parcels I'm given, it's why I don't complain when I was finishing way past my time over Christmas (and paid OT for it) or when I'm given lapsing or put on another new round (my thinking being the more rounds I know, the more beneficial I am to the company).

To me complaining about the workload and stuff we are delivering is like a dentist struggling for business complaining about people eating too many sweets.

I agree with the majority of your sentiments and also still enjoy the job otherwise I wouldn't continue doing it. The trouble is we have negative impacts from at least two sides. We have issues like the GDPR & China being considered to be a third world country when it no longer is hence exemption from VAT and virtually free postage costs. On the other side we have completely inept upper management and directors who seemingly line their own pockets while making a cack-up of running the business when it should be quite hard to do so. I honestly fear for the future of RM.

[leolion855]

seems like its indoor work, were being measured on start times, sorting times and prep times.

[Celgar]

The changes are being pushed by the finance director/s who likely have never delivered a letter and are just looking at the available statistics . At the very least some of other upper management are happy with performance & QoS in DOs. The main problem is that a lot of posties/DOs do not do the job as RM dictates and RM do not have end to end data they can refer to. Once attempts are made to do the job precisely as RM and the union would like it is often found to be impossible to complete walks so posties either have to cut off most days or claim overtime. So instead of additional percentage cuts in office budgets we actually need more hours or even back tracking on previous cuts to bring back previously dissolved walks.

[FacesOfStone]

My feeling is that, initially at least, they'll look to save money by reducing overtime. More double prep and so forth - I’m only part time but I’ll spend anywhere between 1-2 hours prepping each day so I could imagine that being transferred to full timers, ultimately with a predictable knock-on effect. From what I’ve gleaned of my office, it's over its budget of hours but the caveat is that there are next to no instances of this elusive full compliment being a reality. Literally the only time I’ve failed to exceed my 20 contracted hours is when I’ve been on annual leave, otherwise not even on the odd four day week.

[HTPostman]

The overtime situation is very strange. A new line manager was in shock when I said over Christmas I was doing 30-35 hours of OT a week. Another line manager told us in early January there's only enough staff hours to cover 60% of the work here, the other 40% is done on OT and working days off. It's a very big office so I guess there's a bigger budget here and OT can be explained a bit easier to those higher up.

I've been back at RM about 20 weeks and apart from holidays there's only once I've not been asked to work my day off. There's a guy who started at the same time as me and was asked to come in and work his week off, don't know how that works but I'm guessing he's paid his basic 25hrs for the week then every day he's booking between 6-8 hours OT. That's about 40hrs OT, ridiculous really.

Agree about Chinese packets btw, in no way is China a developing nation anymore.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Depends on how you define "developing nation". Problem with China is they have mega-rich, a well off middle class but the vast majority are dirt poor, literally dirt poor farmers. In Hong Kong the difference was remarkable, down around Kowloon bay you saw Gold Lamborghinis and Rolls Royces, yet 15 minutes drive away in a Taxi you arrive in Kam Tin where there are houses built of cokes cans.

I agree that the postal side needs to be looked at as it's the businesses that are making money from a system that should be helping the dirt poor, but then when has that not happened anywhere. There are Phillip Greens all over the place.