Moved off duty.

[DGP1]

In my office there are many vacant duties but the manager won't put them up on the board so today one person who has been on a duty for over 2 years was told that he was being moved off that duty and being made a reserve, now what I want to know is - Can they do this because I thought that if you where on a duty for 6 months then it reverted to you. Any official documentation would help me fight the managers decisions.

[madelin4]

It will cause more stress to the postie concerned! It used to stress me when i got moved.

[dohnut]

I have been on a duty for over 6 months, but I am 32hour contract and they have recently had a repick and someone has picked this walk. Its all based on seniority which is fair enough, however in my office they are allocating the last 10 walks to 25 hour contracts leaving us with bugger all.

[dvbuk55]

We must have 40 vacant duties all being filled by part timers though not all necessarily part time duties, just another management ploy to get rid of hours by the back door and rumour has it there are more hours to go, though how they expect to get the duties covered is beyond me - it does look like they are in a rush to get rid of folk before TNT bring in their hard working soldiers.

[johnnyp]

In my office there are many vacant duties but the manager won't put them up on the board so today one person who has been on a duty for over 2 years was told that he was being moved off that duty and being made a reserve, now what I want to know is - Can they do this because I thought that if you where on a duty for 6 months then it reverted to you. Any official documentation would help me fight the managers decisions.

What your Dom is doing is wrong and he needs to be told that is not the way to run an office and will lead to confrontation.Maybe this from the Way Forward national agreement may change his/her mind.

RESOURCING TO JOBS (F/T AND P/T) THAT DO NOT REQUIRE SELECTION BY SKILLS

14.1 Royal Mail and CWU recognise the need for Royal Mail to have the facility to recruit directly to full-time posts in all operational units. This agreement therefore replaces the relevant provisions of the SFMB and modifies paragraph 3e) of the Agreement on Delivery Issues, accordingly. Both parties also recognise the need to provide employees with the opportunity to change jobs in a way that fulfils their legitimate development aspirations, meets possible personal needs and avoids disruption to service and to customers.


14.2 The principles underpinning the new Resourcing Agreement are set out below.

External recruitment to full-time posts is essential to ensure that RM has the widest choice of candidates from which to select.
Existing and future part-time employees will continue to have opportunities to gain full-time employment locally and further afield.
The filling of posts should result in minimum disruption by ensuring that a full-time vacancy does not trigger a series of moves.
The practice of ‘most senior individual’ will be used when filling non-specialist jobs internally. The only jobs not filled on this basis are specified in Section 15: Selection by Skills.
Jobs advertised externally will be filled on an open resourcing basis and offered to the most suitable person.

14.3 The process for resourcing full-time and part-time, non-specialist posts will comprise one of four options, in the following order, unless agreed locally to change this order:

Internal advertisement of the job within the currently recognised resourcing unit/s.
Deployment of existing surplus employees.
The acceptance of an existing employee from the wider resourcing area or another resourcing area who has previously had his/her name placed on the transfer list for that resourcing unit.
External advertisement.

14.4 Where a full-time post is advertised internally, it will be available to all full-time employees and part-time employees, who have opted for full-time employment, in that resourcing unit. The posts will be filled on the basis of ‘most senior individual’. Where a part-time post is advertised internally, it will be available to all employees as above and filled in the same way.

14.5 The resulting vacancy will be temporarily filled by a reserve, a surplus employee, a transferee from within the wider resourcing area or another resourcing area or by direct recruitment in line with the process above.

14.6 When the number of consequential vacancies in the resourcing unit reaches 5%, or after a period of six months following the last such exercise (if earlier), the posts will be advertised in the resourcing unit, en bloc and filled on the basis of seniority. If this results in any further vacancies, these will be filled, using the same process as above.

14.7 Existing part-time employees, in post at the date of this Agreement, will be asked if they have an interest in full-time employment. A list will be maintained of these employees. Part-time employees on the list will be eligible to apply for internally-advertised posts, alongside full-time employees. They would then pick up the post based on their seniority. If unsuccessful they will be eligible to apply for future jobs advertised internally until appointed.

14.8 Where a full-time vacancy is advertised externally, all part-time staff will be able to express an interest. They will not have a right to the vacancy and will be considered alongside external applicants using the same criteria. Where unsuccessful, the reason will be explained in writing and they will be invited to discuss this with their line manager. They will remain in their current post and will have the opportunity to apply for future externally advertised full-time vacancies.

14.9 Employees taking up internally-advertised posts will be dedicated to them for a minimum of12 months. No applications for job moves will be considered during that period, unless they are:

For specialist posts;
As a result of serious personal or domestic reasons, following discussions with local CWU representatives.

14.10 RM and CWU locally will monitor the operation of this Agreement to ensure that the principles set out above are upheld and that a reasonable balance is secured between the Business need to have greater access to the full-time job changer market and the legitimate interests of existing and future part-time employees.





SELECTION BY SKILLS

15.1 All frontline jobs performed by the new multi-skilled single operational grade will have the same core capabilities. However, it is recognised that there are come jobs that require more specialised skills. An objective selection process will be introduced for these jobs.

15.2 These jobs will be filled by the most senior person who has achieved the right standard for the job during the selection process. Sick attendance and conduct record will only be taken into account where these are relevant to the work. Where training is required by the most senior suitable person, this will be given prior to appointment.

15.3 Resourcing procedures will be based on the Resourcing Area. This will in all cases be the Royal Mail administrative area (i.e. the areas managed by Area Managers, subject to review in the light of any organisational changes). Jobs filled internally will be available to employees currently working in any office within the Area concerned.

15.4 Vacancies for specialist jobs will be advertised throughout the resourcing area. Applications should be made in writing to the Resourcing Unit.

15.5 Employees who wish to be considered for specialist jobs in general should register their interest via the Resourcing Unit or include it in their own Development Plan, a copy of which will be held by the Resourcing Unit (see section 19). This information will be used for training planning. Where a vacancy arises, equal consideration will be given to individuals who have registered their interest through Development Plan or through the Resourcing Unit in writing at the time when the vacancy is advertised. The objective is to allow and maintain openness and fairness in relation to resourcing specialist posts.

15.6 The specific jobs that require specialist skills and which will be subject to selection are:

Resourcing Unit (Bookroom);
DOM Support;
Traffic Office;
Enquiry/Callers’ Office;
Major Customer Collection drivers
(to be jointly defined at National level):
Benefits Agency/Customer Mailroom;
Travelling Post Office;
Leadership roles (formerly PHG ‘A’);
Heavy Goods Vehicle Driving (HGV);
Postbus (PSV);
VCS/MAA;
IMP/MTT;
Advanced TPM;
Non-school training

15.7 All specialist jobs will have consistent job descriptions, which will identify the specialist capabilities and which will be standard throughout Royal Mail.

15.8 Employees who are regarded as suitable should be dedicated to these duties for a minimum of 12 months. If after 12 months the employee wishes to change jobs, they must give adequate notice to enable a suitable trained replacement to be found before release can be allowed. The replacement must be available to take up post no later than six months after notice has been given.

The process for resourcing specialist posts will be one of four options, in the following order, unless agreed locally to change this order:

Deployment of existing surplus employees with the appropriate skills;
Internal advertisement of the job within the resourcing area itself;
The acceptance of an existing employee with the appropriate skills from another resourcing area who has previously had his/her name placed on the transfer list for that resourcing area;
External advertisement.

15.9 This decision will be taken locally, but normally jobs will be filled by internal advertisement, by a surplus employee or a transferee before there is recourse to external advertisement.



15.10 Where a post is advertised internally then it will be advertised to all employees in that resourcing area, full- and part-time. Candidates will undergo an objective selection procedure, designed to assess individual competences against the skills required for a particular job. Where more than one candidate possesses the required capabilities, selection will then be on the basis of seniority.

15.11 The resultant vacancy, be it full- or part-time, will be filled as specified in section 14, unless it too is for a specialist post, in which case the provisions of this section will apply.

RESOURCING JOBS DURING MAJOR CHANGE

16.1 The new standard resourcing procedures covered in the previous two sections of this agreement benefit employees by giving them regular opportunities to apply for a change of job, both within their unit and their resourcing area. These incorporate and standardise the current practises of rolling re-signs, based on seniority.

This section deals with the only other circumstance where people change jobs. This is where jobs alter significantly as a result of the introduction of major change. The overriding aims for managing all such exercises must be to minimise customer disruption and avoid unnecessary displacement of employees in a way that conforms to equal opportunities legislation. This will be ensured by timely planning and full CWU involvement at all stages of the exercise.

16.2 Major change is defined as:

The relocation or merger of units;
A significant process alteration arising from automated working or reshaping of the pipeline;
Delivery revisions, which involve significant re-plotting of walks or significant restructuring of attendance patterns (e.g. full-time/part-time mix, five-day weeks, ‘longs and shorts’ or ‘night plus a first delivery’, where they are agreed).

16.3 Major change is defined as:

Revisions of staffing arrangements, using the procedures agreed in the Performance Bonus Scheme, to implement the Performance Bonus Scheme, Shorter Working Week, Meal Relief Harmonisation and Work Time Learning or to improve alignment of staffing to workload in order to make performance improvements, unless they fall into the categories of major change defined in paragraph 2 above.
Delivery revisions which do not involve significant re-plotting of first delivery walks.

Where such a revision displaces an individual, or where an individual’s earnings are affected, local discussions shall take place in line with the principles contained in Sections 14 and 15, which may vary the order to protect the individuals displaced. Timely planning will reduce the number of people affected in this way by the revision.

16.4 Where there is a major change as defined above, the key principles for dealing with the re-sign are:

Employees whose jobs remain unaffected by the major change will retain them;
These employees will have the option of applying for any of the jobs involved in the re-sign resulting from the major change, provided they have completed a minimum of twelve months on their existing duty (see Section 14 and 15). If this creates a resultant vacancy that would be filled using the normal resourcing procedures in Section 14 or 15;
Employees taking part in the re-sign will be given the opportunity to advise of any personal circumstances, which necessitate a particular duty type or attendance pattern and, where practical, this will be accommodated. Where this happens, there will be prior discussion with the local CWU rep;
The re-sign and all consequential training must be planned into the revision process;
Specialist jobs that are reselected against are filled using the procedure in Section 15;
The re-sign will be run using a national standard procedure based on seniority, and not take more than four weeks to complete. In very large units, agreement to an extension to this deadline must be given by the Head if Performance following local discussion between management and CWU. At the end of the exercise all jobs and reserve posts must have been signed for.
16.5 All major change schemes (as defined above) must be planned so as to have in place an agreement covering selection, placement and training, minimising and then managing surpluses and all other employee issues at least 13 weeks before the Ready for Service (RFS) date, or dates if the project is in phases. (Planning and discussions through Strategic Involvement and the IR Framework should start at least 12 months in advance of any planned major change). This agreement must conform to existing national agreements. In the event of any failure to reach agreement by this date, the points of difference will be referred to Service Delivery Headquarters and CWU Headquarters for resolution.

[gerardy]

hi,
if you signed for the duty and the duty is not changing then go to your union rep for they cannot move you continously (only now and again for unforseen circumstances).Your manager is having a laugh and you are been systematically displaced which entitles you to sign for any vacant duty in your office that your contracted hours allow you to do.This over rules seniority in line with the new agreement.

[eian687]

i signed for a duty in october and 2 weeks over xmas and one whole week this year ia all i have been on it............nearly ever week i am moved my rep says i have to and the DOM says for operational needs and my knowledge i will be moved..........did my walk once this week
listed to cove cwu reps delivery next week............2 weeks ago i refused the dom was not in the office when he came in he said if this happens again he will give me 5 mins to think then if if i wont move i will be suspended,
my excuse for not moving is loss of D2D as its a big round.

[DGP1]

i signed for a duty in october and 2 weeks over xmas and one whole week this year ia all i have been on it............nearly ever week i am moved my rep says i have to and the DOM says for operational needs and my knowledge i will be moved..........did my walk once this week
listed to cove cwu reps delivery next week............2 weeks ago i refused the dom was not in the office when he came in he said if this happens again he will give me 5 mins to think then if if i wont move i will be suspended,
my excuse for not moving is loss of D2D as its a big round.

Tell him to suspend you and deal with it later, my DOM has not threatened me yet because if he does I'll be away out the door faster than he can finish his sentence

[gerardy]

The same thing happened to me,
was moved all the time even though I had my own duty eventually I got fed up with it and when down the grieavance line.The process took months and went to stage 3 with management trying to wear me down but I won even though management put it down to my high duty knowledge and they had no'one else to cover the duties due to high turnover in our office. You do have rights stay strong and fight it, start your grieavance.
Does the manager also move all the other duty holders consistantly,does he treat them the same as you if not he will probably try and make you feel as if your too soft and let things get on top of you and that everyone else in the office have no problems it's just you.The management will try anything to stop you from getting onto your own run but just run with a grieavance as long as it takes.