Taking breaks and coming in on time

[mlw]

Basically I e had enough of coming in 15 mins early and not taking any break so this week I’m having breaks and coming in on time! I’ve claimed 1-5 hours protracted much to my manager annoyance and partner, who has had a right moan at me! He thinks I’m unreasonable and being obstructionable but surely if everyone did this we would not have to do lapsing and part timers would get more hours?my Dom has said I should not take breaks as holding partner up and if I. Continue will put me on floating duty, problem is I like current walk so can be just change me as I been on this round for over a year? I actually like taking breaks and not rushing around like every one else at our office but it seems I fighting a losing battle, surely he can’t force me if I done nothing wrong?

[k979aaa]

Basically I e had enough of coming in 15 mins early and not taking any break so this week I’m having breaks and coming in on time! I’ve claimed 1-5 hours protracted much to my manager annoyance and partner, who has had a right moan at me! He thinks I’m unreasonable and being obstructionable but surely if everyone did this we would not have to do lapsing and part timers would get more hours?my Dom has said I should not take breaks as holding partner up and if I. Continue will put me on floating duty, problem is I like current walk so can be just change me as I been on this round for over a year? I actually like taking breaks and not rushing around like every one else at our office but it seems I fighting a losing battle, surely he can’t force me if I done nothing wrong?

No you are doing nothing wrong you are doing the job properly the problem comes as it did to me and the walk holder with me is they like divide and rule and order must be restored don't forget if you get away with it others will follow and notice your actions so they will spilt you up take you off your duty even if it is yours. Thing is putting you on the floating duty is what they want as the walk holders will blame you for making them do your work but it is not your work it is Royal Mails work at hand lapsing is papering over the cracks of a failed management system in that they cannot will not staff the office. And the reasons for that is many but the primary one is BONUS theses BONUSES are pensionable ie they go into their pension funds and alas they are earning pensions of your own backs if your backs legs feet last long enough!

[Bernardson]

A recent Royal Mail leaflet sent with the Courier advised people to take frequent breaks remind your manager of this and his/her duty of care for your health and welfare.

Stay strong

[Marshamp11]

Basically I e had enough of coming in 15 mins early and not taking any break so this week I’m having breaks and coming in on time! I’ve claimed 1-5 hours protracted much to my manager annoyance and partner, who has had a right moan at me! He thinks I’m unreasonable and being obstructionable but surely if everyone did this we would not have to do lapsing and part timers would get more hours?my Dom has said I should not take breaks as holding partner up and if I. Continue will put me on floating duty, problem is I like current walk so can be just change me as I been on this round for over a year? I actually like taking breaks and not rushing around like every one else at our office but it seems I fighting a losing battle, surely he can’t force me if I done nothing wrong?

Ask your DOM to put in writing that you should not take your break countersigned by the Area Manager and you will comply. I think we know the dims answer.

[Newbie001]

And here lies the problem of most offices. You choose to do job properly you should be backed to the hilt from union. But managers can chop and change duties at will and nothing rep can do about it. This is a form of bullying by manager and colleague combined. Wish there was an easy answer but you will more than likely lose duty even if you've signed for it. Sucks!

[Phantom]

You are doing nothing wrong!

Tell the manager that if they keep moving you from walk to walk then you will cut off and finish on time, if you get it completed within time then fine.

Come in on time and take all of your break, don't worry about the partner, it has nothing to do with them.

Then put a grievance in against your manager as he has told you NOT to take a break.

[Jpro747]

Good for you!

People should learn that coming in early, rushing around and not taking a break;
- Stops part timers hours being increased
- Makes time for lapsing
- Gets more hours removed from the office
- Puts yours and others health and safety at risk
- Causes divide among colleagues
- Makes you look like a prat
- Doesn’t get you a promotion
- Gives your manager an easy life and a nice bonus!

And these people do it to get home 30 minutes early and think they’re winning?

Start ON TIME. Work safely and efficiently. Take your break. If you have too much claim overtime or cut off and Finish ON TIME.

[mlw]

Thanks for positive replies! My partner has now asked Dom as he is more senior that I should be moved as he wants to finish by 2 which involve taking no breaks! Problem is they now want us to do ips at 740 instead if 750 but keeps starting time of 720. Most posties see this as a way of getting out and finishing earlier so they just come on another 20 minutes early. There is only myself and 1 other who come in on time and take breaks and Dom clearly hates it!i emailed rep as we have no rep and he says he will speak with Dom next week. It’s about time we all started doing job properly and come in on time, because coming in early is painting over the cracks.infactvi feel happier taking break and doing loops at my pace and trying neighbours as that’s what they keep telling us to do. It seems crazy to come in early to do d2ds when it’s a supplement not extra , even had 1 guy come in on his day off today to do them in time for Tuesday whilst manager goes home at midday!

[mlw]

Good for you!

People should learn that coming in early, rushing around and not taking a break;
- Stops part timers hours being increased
- Makes time for lapsing
- Gets more hours removed from the office
- Puts yours and others health and safety at risk
- Causes divide among colleagues
- Makes you look like a prat
- Doesn’t get you a promotion
- Gives your manager an easy life and a nice bonus!

And these people do it to get home 30 minutes early and think they’re winning?

Start ON TIME. Work safely and efficiently. Take your break. If you have too much claim overtime or cut off and Finish ON TIME.

totally agree and it seems new recruits are not even told about breaks and claiming overtime because management makes money on people coming in early! When will people learn!!

[rambo1]

Thanks for positive replies! My partner has now asked Dom as he is more senior that I should be moved as he wants to finish by 2 which involve taking no breaks! Problem is they now want us to do ips at 740 instead if 750 but keeps starting time of 720. Most posties see this as a way of getting out and finishing earlier so they just come on another 20 minutes early. There is only myself and 1 other who come in on time and take breaks and Dom clearly hates it!i emailed rep as we have no rep and he says he will speak with Dom next week. It’s about time we all started doing job properly and come in on time, because coming in early is painting over the cracks.infactvi feel happier taking break and doing loops at my pace and trying neighbours as that’s what they keep telling us to do. It seems crazy to come in early to do d2ds when it’s a supplement not extra , even had 1 guy come in on his day off today to do them in time for Tuesday whilst manager goes home at midday!

You are technically breaking the law by not having breaks or at least half of it. It is a legal requirement. Our dim told me this when I wanted to get done on time and asked if he could pay full 40 mins in overtime if I didn't take break to get me back on time. He said legally he can't do that. Result was, I left 20 mins for them to do. They want you to say sod it I'll work my break and not get it paid. It's madness, we have (at least for now) ,paid breaks. Why would you not want paying for doing nothing but relaxing and eating a sandwich? There aren't half some thick posties about.

[Postie45]

get union rep involved any threat to being moved off duty because youre taking a break will be easy pickings for your rep to help you with a grievance.

[korky]

personally if your partner has been in to report you to the dom about this, i'd think you should also put in a grievance against him too, or at least create a paper trail if the situation escalates, you may not be very popular but you cannot be bullied by your partner, this is far worse than from a manager to me,
your union rep must back you in this case and the other person get moved off the duty if not happy,
our area rep is constantly banging on about taking our breaks, but still only around 12 of us out of 70 do, some say they have 1 outdoor though,

i think it won't be long before we lose our paid break, most would sooner take lapsing anyway
btw, you say there is only 1 other who takes their break? do they get any grief off co-workers and moved around?

[Marshamp11]

personally if your partner has been in to report you to the dom about this, i'd think you should also put in a grievance against him too, or at least create a paper trail if the situation escalates, you may not be very popular but you cannot be bullied by your partner, this is far worse than from a manager to me,
your union rep must back you in this case and the other person get moved off the duty if not happy,
our area rep is constantly banging on about taking our breaks, but still only around 12 of us out of 70 do, some say they have 1 outdoor though,

i think it won't be long before we lose our paid break, most would sooner take lapsing anyway
btw, you say there is only 1 other who takes their break? do they get any grief off co-workers and moved around?

I agree, putting a grievance in against partner is a great idea, after all it is the partner not adhering to rules and should be the one moved. This is one of the only jobs I know that want to punish you for doing the job correctly while all the rule breakers are in some way rewarded or treated more favourably. Strange.

[Woody Guthrie]

Why would you not want paying for doing nothing but relaxing and eating a sandwich? There aren't half some thick posties about.

The vast majority of those who skip their breaks do so to finish early, it happens in every industry where there is any kind of flexibility at the end of your contracted hours. My mother was an NHS nurse for 40 years and she often worked through her break if it was manic and was allowed off shift early to compensate.

In order to fix a problem you have to first understand the root cause of the problem and calling colleagues thick or stupid and failing to get your head around the reasons behind the issue is unhelpful at best.

There are two kinds of meal break skipper..

The first and by far the majority are simply trying to finish early, we still have a job and finish culture and members would like to get the work done as quickly as possible, that's human nature, is almost impossible to change and the business exploits that, if they exploit it too much it tends to put a stop to it until they roll back their expectations.

What staff and the union should be focused on is the second type, why some members start early, don't take their breaks and still struggle to complete, In a situation like that there is almost always some kind of intimidation going on and rather than calling them stupid or idiots we should be talking to them about the issues that are driving this behaviour and helping to put a stop to the bullying.

There are too many on here who call themselves union members but don't understand the first thing about compassion or solidarity.

[tommyrep]

Why would you not want paying for doing nothing but relaxing and eating a sandwich? There aren't half some thick posties about.

The vast majority of those who skip their breaks do so to finish early, it happens in every industry where there is any kind of flexibility at the end of your contracted hours. My mother was an NHS nurse for 40 years and she often worked through her break if it was manic and was allowed off shift early to compensate.

In order to fix a problem you have to first understand the root cause of the problem and calling colleagues thick or stupid and failing to get your head around the reasons behind the issue is unhelpful at best.

There are two kinds of meal break skipper..

The first and by far the majority are simply trying to finish early, we still have a job and finish culture and members would like to get the work done as quickly as possible, that's human nature, is almost impossible to change and the business exploits that, if they exploit it too much it tends to put a stop to it until they roll back their expectations.

What staff and the union should be focused on is the second type, why some members start early, don't take their breaks and still struggle to complete, In a situation like that there is almost always some kind of intimidation going on and rather than calling them stupid or idiots we should be talking to them about the issues that are driving this behaviour and helping to put a stop to the bullying.
There are too many on here who call themselves union members but don't understand the first thing about compassion or solidarity.

So, you describe two different reasons for starting early which I can relate too and fully understand.
What I find harder to understand is your attack on some union members who do not have compassion or understand the virtues of solidarity! Which type is that directed at? The first or the second?
Do you not realise or understand the second types reasons for being unhappy?
With compassion and some respect for the benefit of solidarity, your description of the first groups choice is directly responsible for the intimidation you describe and that is inflicted on those who fall into the second type/group.
It is very hard for those of the second type to have any good/complimentary comments towards the first type when they do not enjoy the same work experience and benefits of type one, when they feel they are at least partly responsible for the intimidation they endure daily at the hands of unscrupulous DOMs.
I do not wish to restart our previous differences on this issue, but you seem to at least recognise there are basic problems created where some compassion and solidarity with colleagues would alleviate many problems that the management contrive to utilise in splitting office harmony.
I would never decry early starters for their choice to do as they do for the benefit of an early finish, IF - and only IF - it did not impact unfairly on the others you describe as being in the second type category.