JOINT STATEMENT FAIRNESS, DIGNITY & RESPECT IN DELIVERY

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LTB 170/13 Bullying and Harassment – ROYAL MAIL & CWU NATIONAL JOINT STATEMENT FAIRNESS, DIGNITY & RESPECT IN DELIVERY

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No. 170/13

Ref: 230.03

Date: 15th March 2013

To: Branches with POSTAL Members

Dear Colleague,

Bullying and Harassment - ROYAL MAIL & CWU NATIONAL JOINT STATEMENT FAIRNESS, DIGNITY & RESPECT IN DELIVERY

Branches will be aware of the problems being encountered in Delivery Offices regarding bullying and harassment and the recent survey carried out amongst delivery members. Discussions between Royal Mail and the Outdoor Department are continuing on this matter and an output from those discussions is the Joint Statement that is included with this LTB.

The Joint Statement is intended to provide an update to our Branches and members of where we are with the discussions and to also provide some clarity around behaviours in the delivery environment particularly from managers, and how our members can expect to be treated.

The Joint Statement makes it clear to all that overtime is voluntary which has been one of the main problems our members have encountered where Managers have been making false statements that completion of delivery is a requirement of all delivery OPGs regardless of how long it will take. To compound this particular problem there have also been reports sent to the Department describing instances where our members have been threatened with the conduct code or removal from their duty if they did not complete their delivery. The Joint Statement is intended to assist in eradicating this type of misrepresentation of the facts and provide clear confirmation to our members that they do not have to work beyond their scheduled finish time if they do not wish to do so. It also reiterates and reinforces the process of safeguarding the mail contained in Appendix B in instances where our members do not believe they will be able to complete their delivery. The Joint Statement also makes it clear that there will be no threat of conduct where our members cannot deliver all the mail by their scheduled finish time and the procedures contained in Appendix B have been followed correctly.

To support the ongoing process of dealing with bullying, harassment and intimidation a workshop is also being designed and will be piloted in the North West to train/coach Managers and Representatives in how to deal appropriately with 'Cut Offs' and workload issues in Delivery Offices. It is anticipated that the workshop will be ready to pilot in about 2 weeks.

Furthermore any one of our members who responded to the survey will be provided with an opportunity, if they so wish, to have their complaint investigated and overseen by an independent party in line with Appendix A of the Joint Statement.

COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION

URGENT INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS



This opportunity should be brought to the attention of all members in all workplaces so that they are aware of this, which can be done by contacting the Outdoor Department, this can also be done via email to Outdoorsecretary@cwu.org .Further communications via a LTB, the E Bulletin and the Voice will also bring this to the attention of our members. Confidentiality will be preserved.

Whilst work on the overall situation continues the Joint Statement provides a positive intervention at this stage and should help in reducing the number of complaints. We also hope that it will provide our members with a degree of confidence that the Union is working on their behalf to eradicate this unacceptable behaviour from the workplace.

This LTB and associated documentation should be given the widest possible circulation amongst our members and their workplaces. Area/Local Reps should engage with their respective Managers to discuss how the content and spirit and intent of the Joint Statement is going to be embedded in every workplace. CWU Divisional Representatives are requested to organise meetings within their Divisions to brief Representatives on the deployment of the Joint Statement and to ensure that meetings between Managers and Representatives are taking place and that the content of the Joint Statement is being applied accurately and consistently in every workplace.

In instances where Managers do not engage with the CWU or do not make an effort to make sure the Joint Statement is introduced in full and applied consistently then this should be brought to the attention of a Divisional Representative without delay.

Any enquiries to Bob Gibson's Office, quoting reference 230.03

Email address: hnutley@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

Bob Gibson

CWU Assistant Secretary - Outdoor

COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION

URGENT INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS

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CWU & Royal Mail Final March 2013
Bob Gibson CWU. Mike Newby Royal Mail. 15th March 2013
ROYAL MAIL & CWU NATIONAL JOINT STATEMENT
FAIRNESS, DIGNITY & RESPECT IN DELIVERY

Royal Mail and CWU jointly reaffirm their commitment to upholding standards of fairness, dignity and respect at work and to work together to create a climate that reinforces this. Existing policies and agreements cover how this principle is applied in practice. Bullying and harassment and intimidation have no place in our workplaces and will not be tolerated. If anyone believes they are being subjected to this they are encouraged to raise the matter in the way outlined in the Bullying & Harassment Procedure without delay.

CWU have provided Royal Mail with a summary analysis of a Bullying & Harassment survey conducted among their members in delivery. Further analysis of this is continuing.
We jointly recognise the need to provide confidence that our agreed policies and procedures are being applied consistently and evidence that they are being acted upon. A series of measures to help do this has been agreed as follows:

1. All employees are encouraged, if they believe they are the recipient of treatment which constitutes bullying, harassment or intimidation to register their concern through the processes that have been agreed between the CWU and Royal Mail for dealing with them.

2. Both parties agree that any individual who responded to the CWU Bullying & Harassment survey will be provided with an opportunity, if they wish, to have their specific issue/complaint investigated. The investigation process will involve an independent party working in conjunction with nominated national CWU and Royal Mail Representatives. (see appendix A)

3. Royal Mail and CWU are jointly developing and running a pilot workshop in the West geography for Delivery Office Managers and CWU workplace Representatives. The purpose of the workshop is to ensure managers and employees are aware of how to deal with issues arising from managing performance in an appropriate way and what is expected of them in terms of behaviour towards each other. The success of this will be reviewed by the national parties for possible adoption nationwide.

To support and enable the above the following principles established in existing agreements are re-affirmed:

Variation of hours – Where necessary, for example when traffic volumes are unexpectedly high or resourcing issues arise, individuals may be asked and may themselves request to vary their duty times by up to 30 minutes on a swings and roundabouts basis. Again, individual circumstances will be taken into account and total weekly contractual hours will not change.
CWU & Royal Mail Final March 2013

Bob Gibson CWU. Mike Newby Royal Mail. 15th March 2013

Employees are not required to work beyond their scheduled finish time if they do not wish to do so. However consideration should be given to the bullet point above where that situation arises. Where individuals agree to work beyond their scheduled finish time they will receive the appropriate level of remuneration Instances where there is a difference of opinion between the employee and the manager about what is possible during the shift will be looked at individually within the unit on the basis of factual evidence. Such differences will be addressed prior to the employee leaving the office on delivery in line with national agreed guidelines for *safeguarding mail, and where possible resolved. * (see appendix B) Under normal circumstances, if correct procedures have been followed no conduct action will be taken against individuals if it is not possible to deliver all the mail by their scheduled finish time. Where failure to complete is a regular occurrence on a delivery, a joint examination will be undertaken to understand why this is and how the issue will be jointly addressed.

Further Joint Statements will be issued covering these issues as joint work in this area continues, with the appropriate joint documents and guidelines being reissued as necessary.
…………………………… ………………………………
Michael Newby Bob Gibson
Director Employee & Industrial Relations Assistant Secretary
Royal Mail CWU
15th March 2013

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Appendix A

Paragraph 2 Investigation Process

1) The CWU will invite all respondents via LTB, E Bulletin, Voice and Direct email to confirm if they wish to have their complaint considered by the Panel established under paragraph 2 of the Joint Statement.

2) It will be made clear that if they do, anonymity regarding the complaint cannot be preserved but it will be confidential between the panel members.

3) The panel will decide whether:
a. Further information is required before it can make a decision (in which case the complainant will be asked whether they wish to provide it prior to the panel considering it again)
b. The complaint is sufficiently serious to warrant the commencement of investigations under the agreed conduct code
c. The complaint should be considered formally under the agreed Bullying and Harassment procedure
d. The complaint is best dealt with by way of informal counselling or training.
e. No formal action is appropriate but a response to the individual will be made

4) The complaints leading to consideration of formal action will be recorded and the outcome will be monitored by the panel. CWU HQ and Royal Mail HQ will hold this information in confidence.

The Panel will consist of a member of the CWU Outdoor Committee and a national Royal Mail manager overseen by an independent chair.

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Appendix B

SAFEGUARDING CUSTOMERS’ MAIL

AGREED NATIONAL GUIDELINES

1 STANDARDS

Royal Mail’s future depends upon continuing to give our customers the highest possible standards of service. One of the most important duties of all employees is to provide customers with the service they have paid for and have a right to expect. Product specifications dictate the timing of collections, processing and delivery of items within the product pipeline (due process). Mails operations are geared up to meet these requirements to ensure that we as a Business get it right first time, every time.
2 TRAINING/LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS

It is essential that our employees are given the correct training and support if they are to provide an excellent service to our customers and complete their work entirely in accordance with the requirements of the job. When this is not possible to do this, for any reason, arrangements should be in place to enable employees to alert their manager at an early stage in order to avoid compromising service standards.

Delay to mail is a serious matter and it is, therefore, incumbent on all Royal Mail employees to ensure all items are processed in accordance with the local arrangements. All employees will be made aware of these local arrangements and the specific requirements of the particular job(s) they will perform. Every time mail is delayed, for whatever reason, Royal Mail’s employees should attempt to correct the problem efficiently and effectively as soon as possible.

3 DELIVERY

3.1 PRIOR TO COMMENCEMENT

Where an employee feels that on completion of preparation he/she may experience difficulty in completing his/her delivery within the authorised time allotted, he/she should approach his/her manager as soon as possible before setting out on delivery. It will be for the manager to discuss any problem and advise the employee what particular action should be taken.

When an individual has requested assistance on delivery, but the manager feels that assistance is not required, this decision along with the advice given to the employee will be recorded and associated with the daily traffic volume records. The employee can have access to this record and may ask to see it prior to commencement of his/her delivery. In addition to recording the employee’s request, the employee will be instructed to ring his/her local manager prior to a specified time or as soon as possible if full completion of delivery workload within the time allotted proves not to be possible.




3.2 AFTER COMMENCEMENT OF DELIVERY

If an individual is prevented from completing their delivery for any reason, it is essential that this is reported immediately either by returning to the office or by telephone (telephone costs will be refunded). A written record will be kept.

All employees should be informed of the local authorised arrangements, in writing, preferably in plastic card form if available.

4. GENERAL

Employees must be made aware that mail must NEVER be taken home at the end of a delivery. Correct endorsement procedures and correct use of the pouching off wallet, if appropriate, will avoid this.

Although the main aim will be to avoid the circumstances that may pose operational difficulties to an employee and to find ways of overcoming any potential problem at a very early stage, it is also important that all employees are made fully aware of the implications of delaying mail and possible consequences.

Measures shall be put in place to advise staff on the course of action to be taken when difficulties arise when managers are unavailable.

5. SAFEGUARDING CUSTOMER MAIL (ROYAL MAIL CONDUCT CODE)

UNEXCUSED DELAY TO MAIL

The responsibility for safeguarding the mail and giving it prompt and accurate
treatment is one of the most important duties of all employees.

Various actions can cause mail to be delayed, e.g. carelessness, negligence, breach or disregard of a rule or guideline. Such instances are to be distinguished from wilful delay although they may also be treated as misconduct, and in more serious instances could also result in dismissal.
Furthermore, Royal Mail does recognise that genuine mistakes and misunderstandings do occur and it is not the intention of the Business that such cases should be dealt with under the Conduct Code beyond counselling for the isolated instance. The key is that employees should do their job to the best of their ability and, if in doubt, ask for their manager’s advice and guidance.

WILFUL DELAY

Wilful delay of mail is classed as gross misconduct, which if proven could lead to dismissal. The test to determine whether actions may be considered as wilful delay is as follows:
Deliberate action taken by an employee that causes mail to be delayed is called wilful delay. Where proven, such breaches of conduct can lead to dismissal, even for a first offence; indeed Wilful Delay is a criminal offence and can result in prosecution.

[mandelsons_toenail]

So all waffle then

[fishtank]

So all waffle then

It's pathetic to be honest.
Copy&pasting existing ineffectual,outdated agreements isn't going to help one bit.
Still no change to the overrunning deliveries procedure to take into account that a park&loop delivery doesn't affect one OPG,it affects two so in the case of this...

Where an employee feels that on completion of preparation he/she may experience difficulty in completing his/her delivery within the authorised time allotted, he/she should approach his/her manager

Who approaches the manager?
Who takes the abuse?
What if i think i can complete but my partner doesn't?

where there is a difference of opinion between the employee and the manager about what is possible during the shift will be looked at individually within the unit on the basis of factual evidence.

What factual evidence?
The IWT? ...Georoute?

Under normal circumstances, if correct procedures have been followed no conduct action will be taken against individuals if it is not possible to deliver all the mail by their scheduled finish time.

Under normal circumstances?
What the f**k does that mean?

[Lincox]

I have read through these statements, and to be quite honest, I cannot see what has changed. The flexibility agreement has just been reiterated without any amendment or clarification that it is the individual who makes the decision and not the manager. We still have a completely open to interpretation Overrunning Deliveries Procedure whereby it is the manager who has the upper hand regarding whether you can complete or not, based on information which cannot be designated to a specific walk, or take into account the amount of attended calls you have to make. Have the CWU agreed to a clean slate and those managers that have been guilty of bullying, harassment and misuse of procedures given a clean record whilst many of our colleagues over the past 3 years have been sacked, suffered distress, anxiety, and other stress related illnesses without any cause for redress. If this is the case, then we have again been let down by this union who have come up with yet another weak solution to what is nothing short of a disgrace, in order to appease Royal Mail.

[Lincox]

I think what it means Fish is if you are acting outside of normal circumstances but within procedures you can still be conduct coded. F.ck knows what circumstances that might be, but yes, just another get out clause.

[POSTMAN]

[Danelectro]

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Albert Einstein

[UnhappyGremlin]

So nothing has changed/will change, and we will still be subjected to the same treatment we are currently dealing with.

[hans solo]

someone should prosecute end of .
charge the harrasser then watch their little empires crumble
why dont we have a whistleblower like the phone tapping scandal
what senior mgmt let happen is every bit as criminal.
thought cwu employed lawyers let them investigate and take out prosecutions

[General Mannerheim]

someone should prosecute end of .
charge the harrasser then watch their little empires crumble
why dont we have a whistleblower like the phone tapping scandal
what senior mgmt let happen is every bit as criminal.
thought cwu employed lawyers let them investigate and take out prosecutions

Good grief!
Plenty of people have taken them to court or a tribunal.
Cwu do have a legal department but what they do apart from pursue slips or accident I wouldn't want to say.

[Danelectro]

the whole thing mystifies me.This doesn't seem to be the work of a union that is on collision course with its employer and government/regulator and soon to ballot on IA and a Boycott of DSA.Why would you alienate members and activists with this piss poor document at a time like this? why didnt they leave this and the attendance procedure in the reasons to vote for IA pot.

Just as you think theres a glimmer of hope that you can be part of honest straight talking organisation the f***ers pull the rug from your under your feet and slam the door in your face.... it is truly heart breaking to think that ive gotta stand on the gate for this lot..they are worse than a man short

[music4essex]

Apparently a Rm manager came into our office last friday and asked a few people around 6 to talk to him a a one to one basis if Bullying has been happening in our office as they have had complaints, the post persons said it has and one particular lady has had intimidation for two years , shame I was on annual leave otherwise I would have had my say.

Essex mum