Pet Hates Of Being A Part Timer....

[RetroJunkie]

Ive been on this site awhile reading various threads , n thought after now 6 months service as a part timer id make my first thread.

anyway at first u seem to be very excited like alot of new starter threads i see , then u start having the spoons of s**t forced down ur throat everyday , intill u bed in n really find out what royal mail is all about.

now theirs alot of things that grate on me n im sick to death off , but id just like part timers alike to throw theirs out just to see if im not alone.

overall though i generally feel after 6 months like a after thought n a piece of dirt tbh.

i keep hearing about the shedding of fixed term contracts , n a driver actually approached me today about it , n ive really gone past caring , way to much pressure put on part timers for the money they pay each week.

im not scared of hard work , but ive never worked in a environment where they give u such a unmanageable work load or aspect u to do things that your not suppose to be even touching.

i understand in other forms of employment u will be expected to do more for the money , but ive always generally felt like any other employment u wouldn't be expected to cram it all into the same contracted hours and not ever offered any overtime.

its such a fast pace environment and the way in which 24 hour contracts work u havent got time to spit tbh , so asking u to prep ur own door to doors or the whole bullshit about trying to get part timers on 24 hour contracts to absorb , it just puts so much pressure on the worker to constantly be finished on time everyday knowing there gonna go over there time , because u know the hassle in which it would be to claim the time u went over by.

ive asked myself many a times is it really worth it , i know ppl have families and commitments , but i have asked myself are these part time jobs within royal mail really worth ur health and constantly stressed out over , because each and everyday theirs something.

so u tell me your pet hates about being a part timer and tell me if u relate to what im saying ?

[RetroJunkie]

well ill list mine anyway...

obv the never ending strapping , ive been one of the lucky ones as the person was sacked n ive covered the same walk ever since , but ive seen ppl do up to 3 different walks in a week.

the reliance on other people doing all your prep work threw out the week , which leads to.....

many missorts

dockit left items put back into the walk as they went back threw the system when pouched off and ended up back into the frame even though is says dockit left on it (Ive even taken them back out due to this)

being told they have marked all the packets , u think i wont go over there work then , only to go out n find the odd packet hasn't been marked n u just stroll past where it was suppose to be delivered

the fact that in my office the fittings are not up to date with the fast majority of newer builds on my walk n ppl throw it off in many obscure ways due to it being so make shift.

ive had mailsort left over from Saturday where they didn't even bother throwing it off , n then realized once id fully tied up.

had ppl just leave ur drop bag by the side of ur frame n tell me they dont have a clue about ur walk so just leave them there.

door 2 doors , just a constant nagging process to get them even put together for u , let alone a 6th in the frame every day.
(the manager even came up to me 2day n asked if i could prep them myself , where do i have the time to do that ?)

just general days where ive gone in n the person throwing my walk off either didnt have the time or couldn't be assed n ur left with a mountain of mail and 2 drop bags.

the summer saving deal we had , where we had a choice to basically come in half hour early n give royal mail 2 n a half hours a week for free n throw the rest of ur walk off or to absorb.
majority voted the indoor work , n low and behold they went back on that did what they liked n told us we where to absorb even though we was coming in half hour early.

maybe u can add some more im thinking off the top my head

[LukeyBoy]

What about only ever getting a monday or tuesday off Grrrrrrr!! But a few that you mentioned that really get me are walk never ever thrown in,and the amount of miss-sorts .I know for a fact whatever walk im on there will be at least 10 of them.At least you get your packets marked up I've never heard of this before is this the norm? Do you do your own re-directions,killing off etc?

Oh and another getting a different walk to what your put down on the rota .Last week they changed what i was doing 4 times in a week.You'd get in the door at 8 and 'oh yeah your not doing that walk today now your doing this one instead Grrrr'!

But that's the way It is! never going to change so I just get my head down and get on with it.

[RetroJunkie]

i am suppose to mark my packets , but some ppl will do it for u depending on who is throwing your walk off for you.

and yes i do my own re directs and kill offs each n every day.

oh and in our office we work the 6 day week and get a week off every 6th week , so don't get a day off in the week like , but if they mess your day off around like your saying it sure sounds like fun.

[POSTMAN]

Retro,did you go to school part time as well! That is so f***ing hard to read mate.
The EDIT button is your friend.

[taurus88]

1. Getting in every morning to find the walk isn't even fully chucked out.

2. Getting in every morning knowing, therefore, that there's about an hour's work left to do before any real work can be done.

3. Having to do much more than was advertised; chucking your own walk in sometimes, at least in part but every now and again in full (having got in at 8.30am), doing your own redirections, dead letters, door-to-doors, sorting your own packets out.

4. When using a company vehicle (I have just started doing this on the insistence of members of this website), having to
somehow use old pouch boxes that haven't been maintained and are therefore a) unfit for their purpose (they cannot house more than two bags, and if there's only one on a walk try doing the maths on that on a busy day when you require four/five bags) and b) impossible to open due to the lock having subsided/rusted/altered ever so slightly from its original position. The art of contortion is necessary to get these useless things open. But I have spent ten minutes forcing one open on a walk I was unaccustomed to.

5. Managers, like pitiful street urchins begging for a coin, coming round trying to grab people to do overtime. One no ought to be adequate to convey my lack of a desire to do overtime. In fact, asking me twice ought to be considered tantamount to bullying, albeit of an emotional kind.

6. Managers, like omnipotent, perfect beings, questioning you on a minor mistake that was difficult to avoid. A very tiny letter left in a frame because it was forced right to the back (and was hard enough to notice in the first place), a letter mis-posted in number 17 rather than number 17a (to the ire of the occupant, who rings up and complains almost in tears - presumably, she neither is a human being who makes mistakes). Obviously, we are not postmen in the fledgling stages of our postal careers (let's hope we don't get into the next stages with the way the job is), but perfect human beings who, despite our perfection, have decided to lower ourselves to working for Royal Mail whilst we wait for God to check our references.

7. Colleagues, who will do anything or say anything to deflect any work/blame/responsibility towards somebody else. Dumping d2ds next to your frame, not chucking out the last bit of your walk because they've got their own walk to look after (and their own 11am finish to protect), not doing your walk properly when they cover it during your day off (leaving behind the dead letters, not doing any of the d2ds, not acting responsibly in general).

8. Drivers, who fail to understand that simply because something will fit into an empty bag, does not mean it will fit into an (over) full one.

9. Drivers, who fail to understand that when your start time is 8.50, it's very difficult to have your bags ready for them by 8.55.

10. Area managers, who descend upon the building now and again in a swarm, turn their already upturned noses ever so slightly further upwards to better gain a sense of the stench, then meander off in a bewildered fashion rumbling about figures and whatever else. It's not so much this air of theirs that irritates, but the way in which they expect us mere mortals to offer some profound understanding of their state of mind. It's not my business, ergo I do not care in the slightest.

11. The office which, when one or two people are on annual leave, descends into chaos and panic because it is unable to cope without said absentees. Everything suddenly implodes (from an already critical state), leaving a series of managers wandering around bewilderedly with a look of complete confusion and pain painted across each of their faces. Their inner turmoil is sometimes better perceived by their flustered limbs which seem completely at odds with any other part of their body in that one space and time. They stumble around calling to anyone who will listen 'half a walk, sir? half a walk?'

'Nay.'

12. Missorts. How come there are sometimes more of these than whatever the opposite is (sorts?)? How is it possible to sometimes have circa 100/150 items to throw into your frame in a morning, in addition to the bundle that the sortsman couldn't be arsed to chuck out? That's a lot of work for one guy when it's early, and when he wasn't expecting it.

13. Giddying highs, crippling lows. Light day, light day, bastard of a day, mutha frakker of a day, arse hole of a day, followed by a light day. Please, Mr Postal God, could we have a balance somewhere in-between, where each day is more or less the same?

There'll be more, later.

[TeeferTiger]

Retro,did you go to school part time as well! That is so f***ing hard to read mate.
The EDIT button is your friend.

Now now, not everyone has a high level of edumacation, nor is as computer literate as your good self...

He might not bother posting again now if he think he's going to get chastised every time he does.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Retro,did you go to school part time as well! That is so f***ing hard to read mate.
The EDIT button is your friend.

Now now, not everyone has a high level of edumacation, nor is as computer literate as your good self...

He might not bother posting again now if he think he's going to get chastised every time he does.

Perhaps that explains why 2 certain members contribute so much.

[RetroJunkie]

Retro,did you go to school part time as well! That is so f***ing hard to read mate.
The EDIT button is your friend.

i knew someone would pull me up about that

im not the best at grammar n what not , tied in with txt talk suppose it don't help

[TeeferTiger]

The prepping of my old walk was always a bugbear of mine.

I think sometimes they just threw the mail at the frame because it certainly wasn't in the correct slots.

They were meant to, as part of their duty, prep my mail. Then, prep their own mail. When both was done, they could go out on delivery. That never happened, their prepped their mail, prepped mine until they were told the RLE was dishing out the specials and then off they went. I came in an hour later and had to finish prepping my duty. I only did that round on a Monday, which was my long day, so cutting off wasn't an option as I had all day to deliver it. It used to just piddle me off that I then had to start my second lot of work later which meant some parcels didn't get delivered. Which means they then carried over to the next day which was usually busy anyway. Why didn't they just do the indoor work as they were meant to, and cut off from their delivery if it meant them going over? No, they won't do that because they were trying to finish early which is why they got more work shoved onto them in the first place ffs!! And yes, they WERE back early because I would see them going back to the D.O. as I was on my round, and the times they signed the vans back in was before their duty finish time (and they had their break...).

[Pat Ostman]

You also get the full time/part time divide where people think part-timers get paid for nothing! (Yes, that can work both ways). If I had a £ for the number of "Nice of you to turn up!" and "Good afternoon!" jokes I would be rich

Having Full timers who are paired up with my groaning as I arrive dead on time. Sorry, arriving to work early does not mean I arrive at my frame early! I do not work for free. And yes, that WAS me waiting at the gates until 1 minute to my start time.

However, my number one at the moment it.

Being put on a shared van delivery with a full timer who finishes an hour LATER than you, yet you are then pressurised to complete and stay out there with them.

But there is also

NOT being invited to staff meetings about our future, or WTLL sessions because they always begin an hour before I start.

While I am at it

Having my day off changed at a moments notice just because I am a lead reserve. (Yes, blatant discrimination).

Actually.....

Not having my own round even though there are around 20% vacant duties available.

Oh

Getting stuffed on bank holidays (day off), annual leave and sickness and PRO-SODDING RATA! Not that it affects me much, Overtime is big a no-no with me, want me to work longer - simple - better contract please!

And the old chestnut

Having other people throwing in my round who just do not care (because they are not throwing in THEIR walk). Miss-sorts will rocket most of the time, its human nature!

[S6 Stroller]

1.

5. Managers, like pitiful street urchins begging for a coin, coming round trying to grab people to do overtime. One no ought to be adequate to convey my lack of a desire to do overtime. In fact, asking me twice ought to be considered tantamount to bullying, albeit of an emotional kind.

That is one that really grinds my gears. They kind of hover, even when you've said 'No'. I'm a soft touch and sometimes crumble but I'm learning to stand my ground. Last time it happened I was close to saying that I'd approach the DOM and rep to complain about being harassed. I shouldn't have to say 'No' more than once.

[post_bitch]

must suck for them having to beg tho to be honest

[NewPostieUK]

Reading about other part timers getting packets marked and mail thrown in.

I have to fully prep the whole frame, all mail, flats packets, everything. I have to do the kill offs, redirections, pack my bags, put them out for the van to deliver 5 mins after my start time, lapse, bring back undelivered packets, and make my own way back, all in 5 or 6 hours.

On the rare occasion when I walk in and see someone prepping my frame, my heart sinks, as I have to go through it all and take out the mis-sorts.

By far the worst thing about being a part timer, is no overtime rate. Overtime gets paid at the same rate as normal hours. I don't care what anyone says, if you work one hour overtime, you should get one hour at overtime rate, regardless of your contracted hours.

[mclovin]

PTers get their arse wiped enough, now they want the dangleberries cleaned off.