Finding out about how other offices are run!!!

smurf992 · Post by **smurf992** » 27 Aug 2018, 11:01

Trying to find out answers to my questions...

I get a rota on a Saturday for the following week.....is this standard practice?

I am forced to select my holiday a year in advance, 2 weeks at a time then 2 x 1 weeks, this is selected depending on when you arrived at the company..Never had to do this before, is this standard throughout Royal Mail?

Chris413 · Post by **Chris413** » 27 Aug 2018, 11:56

We used to get our rota on the Friday for the next week, but all of a sudden we are now getting 3 weeks of rotas up. So I suppose every office is different.

doob · Post by **doob** » 27 Aug 2018, 12:11

The holiday is the same in every office and it’s a shock when you first come into the business just how far ahead you have to book holiday. The Set rota is put up about 2 or 3 weeks in advance at ours but the reserves etc could get moved at any time so sometimes not worth paper it’s written on

fishtank · Post by **fishtank** » 27 Aug 2018, 13:33

Shambolic resource management is what we do best, it should be written into our mission statement.

Royal Mail: Every day is a complete mystery.
We could do away with the Royal crown logo and replace it with a headless chicken.

Seymour Buts · Post by **Seymour Buts** » 27 Aug 2018, 19:02

Our office is the same as yours, I've said this before on here: the thing with holidays is probably the worst part about this job.

clashcityrocker · Post by **clashcityrocker** » 27 Aug 2018, 19:28

smurf992 wrote:
I am forced to select my holiday a year in advance, 2 weeks at a time then 2 x 1 weeks, this is selected depending on when you arrived at the company..Never had to do this before, is this standard throughout Royal Mail?

If you are saying they use seniority to allocate annual leave then it isn't standard.
In fact it isn't allowed.

smurf992 · Post by **smurf992** » 27 Aug 2018, 19:38

2-3 weeks rota would be amazing..

never experience such a backwards way of running such a large company. I used to work shifts at a residential school, but we knew our working pattern and could plan holidays, and make the most out of days off.

I came in last to my office, so i got to choose holiday last! Again a crazy way of working, how are you meant to just 'have a day off' i wanted to use some for going south in November to see my family before Christmas, but been told, November is full, how about march 2019!!!

Chris413 · Post by **Chris413** » 27 Aug 2018, 20:15

smurf992 wrote:2-3 weeks rota would be amazing..

never experience such a backwards way of running such a large company. I used to work shifts at a residential school, but we knew our working pattern and could plan holidays, and make the most out of days off.

I came in last to my office, so i got to choose holiday last! Again a crazy way of working, how are you meant to just 'have a day off' i wanted to use some for going south in November to see my family before Christmas, but been told, November is full, how about march 2019!!!

Totally agree with you, i'm last into my office. The whole system stinks in my opinion.

world class male · Post by **world class male** » 27 Aug 2018, 21:17

smurf992 wrote:Trying to find out answers to my questions...

I get a rota on a Saturday for the following week.....is this standard practice?

I am forced to select my holiday a year in advance, 2 weeks at a time then 2 x 1 weeks, this is selected depending on when you arrived at the company..Never had to do this before, is this standard throughout Royal Mail?

your 1st Q is pretty much the way as a reserve, usually friday or saturday, but should be 3 weeks in advance
your 2nd Q? if you feel "forced" don't pick them! i am eager to pick my dates for next year, by all means boycott been made to pick yours now and keep working 50 odd weeks a year,
but seniority for getting the prime weeks off isn't allowed, you should get a choice of 2 weeks summer and 2 weeks winter, then battle for any surplus days

Jpro747 · Post by **Jpro747** » 27 Aug 2018, 22:22

They’re not allowed to allocate holiday based on seniority! Where’s your rep on this?

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 27 Aug 2018, 23:14

Every office is run differently in the majority of issues.

At the moment we have a rota up on the wall for only three weeks because of staff shortages. When the office is fully staffed we can have up to the next ten weeks planned out and on display so everyone knows what is happening.

Regarding annual leave we still use the seniority system and start booking for the next year about six months before hand. One year it starts with postie with the longest years of service then alternates the next year going from Postie's with least years of service. If we all agreed to a different method it would change but no consensus can be reached so we stick with seniority on both annual leave & walk resigns. I realise its illegal under European law but I only work here.

clashcityrocker · Post by **clashcityrocker** » 28 Aug 2018, 06:26

Celgar wrote: One year it starts with postie with the longest years of service then alternates the next year going from Postie's with least years of service. If we all agreed to a different method it would change but no consensus can be reached so we stick with seniority on both annual leave & walk resigns. I realise its illegal under European law but I only work here.

So you use seniority one year and juniority the next.
Which is allowed and certainly isn't illegal under European law.

Post by **SpacePhoenix** » 28 Aug 2018, 06:56

Celgar wrote:Every office is run differently in the majority of issues.

At the moment we have a rota up on the wall for only three weeks because of staff shortages. When the office is fully staffed we can have up to the next ten weeks planned out and on display so everyone knows what is happening.

Regarding annual leave we still use the seniority system and start booking for the next year about six months before hand. One year it starts with postie with the longest years of service then alternates the next year going from Postie's with least years of service. If we all agreed to a different method it would change but no consensus can be reached so we stick with seniority on both annual leave & walk resigns. I realise its illegal under European law but I only work here.

What about dividing everyone into groups, group 1 gets first pick, next year group 2 gets 1st pick, the year after that group 3 gets 1st pick, etc?

fishtank · Post by **fishtank** » 28 Aug 2018, 08:51

clashcityrocker wrote:So you use seniority one year and juniority the next.
Which is allowed and certainly isn't illegal under European law.

The fact that it's allowed is meaningless, lots of unfair practices are "allowed" in Royal Mail.
Whether it's unlawful or not is a little less clear cut. European law which isn't actually European law as applied to us because it's written into UK law basically states that any contractual reward cannot discriminate on the basis of length of service (after 5 years service) unless a genuine business case can be made as this would be indirect age discrimination.(duty selection doesn't count as it's not seen as a reward all duties being equal).

Any system of annual leave allocation must be fair to everyone, not just the senior staff or the junior staff but also those in between, in a system that rotates between senior staff first then junior staff first are the staff in the middle being treated fairly?

Like everything involving employment law to get a definitive answer you would need a test case but it would be interesting to have it tested.

NWpostie · Post by **NWpostie** » 28 Aug 2018, 09:36

Our holiday are picked on availability 1st 2nd 3rd choice, if there too many requests, it goes on who picked the date last time and didn't get it would get the 1st choice if no then seniority is used as a last resort.

I actually like booking my holiday a year in advance so I can plan ahead and take advantage of any early holiday deals knowing everything is in place.