Angard casualTIES of AWR

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Money City News Dave Ward
By Clinton Manning Comments
Royal Mail recruitment row as bosses set up their own temp agency

28 Sep 2011 00:00
ROYAL Mail has sparked outrage by secretly setting up its own recruitment agency to fill thousands of temporary jobs.


Royal Mail (Pic: PA)
ROYAL Mail has sparked outrage by secretly setting up its own recruitment agency to fill thousands of temporary jobs.

Unions fear the move is a “devious ploy” to save money and get around new rights for agency workers coming into force at the weekend. They also claim it is part of a shift towards using more “casual” posties that is damaging delivery services.

The Communication Workers’ Union believes management would like to follow the example of the Dutch, who rely on an army of students, mums and retired people who fit in deliveries when it suits them. Under new rules, temporary staff have the right to the same pay and conditions as full-timers if hired through a third party.

But Department of Business guidance says “those who are likely to be outside of the regulations include… where a company employs its temporary workers directly”.

CWU deputy general secretary, Dave Ward, said: “The creation of a separate company to recruit and manage casual labour smacks of a deliberate attempt to get around the agency regulations. It is a clear sign of Royal Mail preparing to casualise the industry.”

But Royal Mail last night dismissed the claims over its new in-house recruitment agency Angard as “nonsense”.

A spokesman said: “Through Angard, our costs are lower than we’d pay to external agencies.” He added that its main job would be to recruit 18,000 temporary staff for the busy Christmas period.


The spokesman for Angard needs to update his statement for Christmas 2012 as costs are lower by using temporary staff in preference to Angard casual resource, the majority on parity pay, during the busy Christmas period.