Has your DO hired any Christmas help yet?

FirstPost · Post by **FirstPost** » 02 Dec 2018, 07:22

We are struggling bad at ours, yorks getting left until the next day (or 2) because the drivers already have too much. Management constantly asking people to go over or asking to take more parcels off of the drivers. But still they don't seem to want to get help in?

worktotime · Post by **worktotime** » 02 Dec 2018, 09:03

NO , its just the usual royal mail cunning Christmas plan

, I think most offices have been running short all year and they now expect the staff to bend over backwards , working days off , working 12 hour days, etc just to get through Christmas , the company knew it was going to be very busy with the increase in parcels , pkts and has had 11 months to sort Christmas out but done jack s**t just like every year

zombiepostman · Post by **zombiepostman** » 02 Dec 2018, 09:59

I am afraid that the the days of getting extra staff for DOs hasn't happened for years ,the hype they spin you about the thousands RM employs for Christmas is generally for mail centres (sorting)
The problem about staffing issues is ,take my office for example it is run on 90%of staff working their day off and people doing lots of overtime ,which is fine but the problems start when you have lots of people sick or they dont want to work their long weekends.
I think most offices run short staffed most of the year and generally they get by ,but Christmas is when the s**t hits the fan !!!!

yubin282 · Post by **yubin282** » 02 Dec 2018, 10:00

no help at all, for the first time in my 14 years the office has failed everyday this week

LaggyBand · Post by **LaggyBand** » 02 Dec 2018, 10:22

We are failing four out of six days, people are sick of still having holidays to book this year, we’re talking full weeks not odd days, and haven’t even started the process for 2019-2020 yet. People that do go over aren’t being paid the full amount, and management are covering g up things like sending full York’s of door to doors back as “excess” when really the round they were for got covered on OT and the runners didn’t want to do them.

Morale is at rock bottom at our place, and no one seems to care..

olilew · Post by **olilew** » 02 Dec 2018, 12:03

14 years in and in all that time I have never known us take any extra people on for Christmas. That's just the mail centre around here.

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 02 Dec 2018, 12:20

DOs don't get extra staff - just extra vans for help with the parcels. MCs get extra staff but I think some that are recruited don't always have a full comprehension of English.

Post by **Navalron** » 02 Dec 2018, 13:34

Celgar wrote:DOs don't get extra staff - just extra vans for help with the parcels. MCs get extra staff but I think some that are recruited don't always have a full comprehension of English.

They used to and it wasn't so long ago, but with management bonuses to think off every pennies a prisoner. They know at the end of the day the work will get done as we all have kids, in-laws friends ect who need presents. If you have been thrifty all year you can tell them to go do one. Do the DOs reps still sit down with the DOM and work out how much pressure docket each office is getting per postie or is it just a however it pans out these days. I know the DOMS are under a great deal of pressure from above but it they would just treat people in the correct way, then they would get a lot more support and help from the troops. Surely they should know that.

maisymoo04 · Post by **maisymoo04** » 02 Dec 2018, 13:51

got back at 230 yesterday 739s in the locker , the boss asked me if wanted to take any tracked out and he would pay me I said name ye price boss said al give ye 1 hour for 15 parcels hahahahaha no thanks

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 02 Dec 2018, 14:10

Navalron wrote:
Celgar wrote:DOs don't get extra staff - just extra vans for help with the parcels. MCs get extra staff but I think some that are recruited don't always have a full comprehension of English.
They used to and it wasn't so long ago, but with management bonuses to think off every pennies a prisoner. They know at the end of the day the work will get done as we all have kids, in-laws friends ect who need presents. If you have been thrifty all year you can tell them to go do one. Do the DOs reps still sit down with the DOM and work out how much pressure docket each office is getting per postie or is it just a however it pans out these days. I know the DOMS are under a great deal of pressure from above but it they would just treat people in the correct way, then they would get a lot more support and help from the troops. Surely they should know that.

Yes in our DO the union rep discusses things like how to organise Xmas in the office and things like overtime etc.

Seymour Buts · Post by **Seymour Buts** » 02 Dec 2018, 14:54

Never had extras on delivery in my time here at Christmas. We have packet drivers, all of whom have been on walks since Thursday due to sickness

Failed Thursday and Friday, but we caught up yesterday from what I can see. WITH the drivers, I find this time of year slightly easier coz of the extra support; without it's just bloody carnage. I did two trips Friday coz I couldn't actually get all the work into a Combo.

Dorset Plodder · Post by **Dorset Plodder** » 02 Dec 2018, 15:18

They trumpeted on RMTV.... 23,000 Extra Staff to be taken on over Christmas! ........ Not one of them will be on Delivery. TBH we've got a leave block on and it releases our Holiday reserves to help out. We've not been hit by too many on sick so on a good day we'll have 3 spare Posties.... and two Hire Vans!

We've got quite a few of "The Chosen few" totally kicking the arse out of the Overtime..... BUT only if they can come in early (which you know means they'll have their Duties thrown off before anyone else turns up). They do at least have to do some extra IPS once they've finished, it has the knock on effect that others save time on their IPS stint, which of course is soon eaten up by the extra mail they have to deliver. But so far I'm pleasantly surprised that we don't have guys out until stupid o'clock.

Ozzvaldo · Post by **Ozzvaldo** » 02 Dec 2018, 16:06

Ive done over 25 years and we've never had extra staff in my DO at Christmas since I've been here. A few people have been out until 5-6pm this last week and we were still being hassled to lapse.

Mr Rush · Post by **Mr Rush** » 02 Dec 2018, 20:02

worktotime wrote:I think most offices have been running short all year

Yep. We've got a shortfall of a dozen bodies. Worked (kind of, at a glance) in the summer when 11 walks were being lapsed during the GDPR apocalypse, but no-one planned ahead. Consequently, even with no annual leave there's no-one to go on all the lapsed walks. No-one to do packet duties. And the docket king can only do so much in a day. I think the offices in the region are taking turns at failing by sending bodies to another office one day and then having the favour returned the next.

What they saved in the summer, they paid for in the winter.

Post by **azza30** » 02 Dec 2018, 20:10

nae danger