Later start times

[MentalVortex]

Hi everyone,

Just wondered what everybody thinks of the proposed later start times coming in "around July" as we've been told. As usual there was little information offered by management, but we've been told that introducing a new sorting system will mean that lorries won't be leaving mail centres until a few hours later than they currently do, resulting in delivery staff not being able to leave the office until (as management have hinted at) "around 10:30 or 11am." This was mentioned last week and then nothing more was said about it. What I was wondering is how are delivery staff supposed to get Special Deliveries delivered on time if they'll not be leaving the office until a couple of hours later than normal. Also, with collection staff comprising delivery staff who have to rush to get deliveries completed so that they can be back in time to carry out a collection duty, how does Royal Mail plan to complete all collections when these staff members will now, obviously, not be back in the office until AFTER the scheduled collection duty start?

Thanks.
MV

[antcpfc]

Hi everyone,

J What I was wondering is how are delivery staff supposed to get Special Deliveries delivered on time if they'll not be leaving the office until a couple of hours later than normal.
Thanks.
MV

They will pass them on to drivers .Already happened in our office ,now we know why.

[steviemac]

arrive on time, take your break gives a 10.00am start as it is . Bring it on and watch to see who wants overtime knowing a normal duty finishing around 1500hrs ....... a recipe for disaster.

[Big Daz]

From a customer view point it seems bizzare especially as machines are so much faster, one would think start times would be no different.

As a individual I like the earlyish start and finish but do I actually need that? the answer is no, but anything later than 0830 to 1430 for my six hour day would not be to my likeing.

[MentalVortex]

It's really going to the dogs, this job. I don't quite get this development that has recently been made law in our office:

Staff tied down and ready to go at, for example, 8.30am. So, obviously out the door and the first letter pushed through a letterbox at anywhere between 8.45 and 9am (generally). Yet our office manager has for some reason deemed that this is not proper practise and doesn't allow staff out of the office until 9.30am! One day last week we had about 3/4 of the office ready to go at 8.20am and everyone was hanging about drinking tea and whatnot until they were allowed out at 9.30. Where in the heck is the logic there? He used some excuse about mis-sorts needing to be cleared before leaving the office, but this was already done more than an hour before staff were allowed to go out on the street.

He has also brought in a ban on part-time staff coming in ealier than their scheduled time. Before, even though part-timers were scheduled to start at 9.30am and take out an already prepped and tied-down delivery, the majority came in anywhere between an hour and half an hour ealier, tied their mail down and took out their delivery. The tie-down probably took them 15 minutes or so, then out the door by around 9am or whenever. Now, with them not allowed to come onsite until 9.30am, we find that their deliveries are ready to go and sitting in the office for anywhere between 45 minutes to 2 hours. Surely there should be some flexibility there. Is the name of the game not to get the public their mail out asap? This might seem like nit-picking, but couldn't that be technically deemed willful delay of mail on the manager's part?

Royal Mail don't give a toss about their customers as far as I can see, and the only time they do, in our office at least, is when it looks like a customer might come in to complain and the managers don't want to wind up getting it in the ear. It's ALL about the £££££££££!!

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Moved from News to Blue SHirts.

We leave at 0940 already in my office and you can't leave earlier except when absorbing

[mclovin]

We leave as soon as the missort run returns and the mail sorted, thats if you're ready to go of course. Could be 9 like today or 9.30 if he's late.

[mclovin]

And as I've posted before, if they force us into vans to use golf trolleys, then at 2.45pm I get my driver to return me and any mail not delivered to the office and hand it back to the manager. Then on to the school to pick up my daughter.

If thats the kind of service RM want, then good luck with that.

[dvbuk55]

Moved from News to Blue SHirts.

We leave at 0940 already in my office and you can't leave earlier except when absorbing

We leave at 10.10 but 9.50 when absorbing - which we do every Monday and Tuesday regardless of traffic - gone to disagreement but guess what .......... so much for local negotiation.

When you read some of the posts on here it's like another world. Ours aren't off IP until 08.45 let alone delivering.

[MentalVortex]

When you read some of the posts on here it's like another world. Ours aren't off IP until 08.45 let alone delivering.

Yeah, it's funny how the operation seems so different from place to place. That said, I suppose the size of each mail centre's catchment area has to be taken into consideration.

There have definitely been some hare-brained 'solutions' introduced in Royal Mail in the past. I always thought the introduction of buddy trays was idiotic, for example. Probably thought up by some cataclysmic nerd with no friends and hence an inner-yearning for companionship that filtered its way down to his business decisions. Seriously, did anyone ever see the point/efficiency in those things?

[shimmyrule]

well, from what i read here, any of you lot that get out early ARE THE PROBLEMS.

Say your out at 9-30,and YOUR delivery is 3-30 MAX, finishing at 1pm, its no surprise the management want more savings if you r finishing time is 2pm or so.

I dont understand those people who want out every day, earlier and earlier,your cutting your own throats.

[floydy]

I dont understand those people who want out every day, earlier and earlier,your cutting your own throats.


Some people just cannot stand the thought of working to their time, even if it means running round or taking work you would not have to if u did the job properly...




Sums it up,

and a lot of said people should know fooking better, bye bye bring on the cull

[MentalVortex]

My delivery takes around 5 hours. As it stands I get out of the office at 9.30am and get back to the office, on average, between 2.15 and 3pm (depending on traffic, mail volume, packets, if I take a break or not, et cetera). I'm due to finish at 2.30pm, which obviously means I finish in and around my scheduled time. It's not about starting earlier and earlier, it's about NOT starting a hour or two later.

A fair number of delivery staff at my office, like myself, work other things in life around the 'early' finishing times we currently get. If I finish at 3pm I have a rush on to get to pick my children up from school at 3.15pm. Then I get them home, settled into homework et cetera and get the dinner on so we're all ready to sit down to dinner when my wife gets home from work around 6pm. If my starting time gets pushed back and I'm not getting finished until 4 or 5pm I have to make other arrangements to have the children picked up, then I have to go collect them from whoever I'm going to try to get to pick them up from school, then homeworks, dinners, everything else, have to get pushed back as well. It's nothing to do with trying to squeeze a 'free hour' out of Royal Mail, or whatever way you've twisted it in your head, it's about the later TIMES! I currently work my full hours. I'll STILL be working my full hours when this comes in, but it'll just make life a lot more difficult.

That's not taking into consideration the fact that people aren't going to be getting their mail until far later. As it stands, I have businesses on my delivery who constantly complain because they "used to get post no later than half 9" when they now get it around an hour later. Naturally, they're told it's because Royal Mail decided to shift our starting times back. Now these businesses won't be getting their mail until midday or after. Think that's good for business for Royal Mail?

It's all well you saying people "that get out early ARE THE PROBLEMS", but maybe you should think about people's circumstances before you start spouting off.

Some people just cannot stand the thought of working to their time, even if it means running round or taking work you would not have to if u did the job properly...

Yes, floydy, there are those people as well. That's not what I'm on about.

[jcjd]

It's really going to the dogs, this job. I don't quite get this development that has recently been made law in our office:

Staff tied down and ready to go at, for example, 8.30am. So, obviously out the door and the first letter pushed through a letterbox at anywhere between 8.45 and 9am (generally). Yet our office manager has for some reason deemed that this is not proper practise and doesn't allow staff out of the office until 9.30am! One day last week we had about 3/4 of the office ready to go at 8.20am and everyone was hanging about drinking tea and whatnot until they were allowed out at 9.30. Where in the heck is the logic there? He used some excuse about mis-sorts needing to be cleared before leaving the office, but this was already done more than an hour before staff were allowed to go out on the street.

He has also brought in a ban on part-time staff coming in ealier than their scheduled time. Before, even though part-timers were scheduled to start at 9.30am and take out an already prepped and tied-down delivery, the majority came in anywhere between an hour and half an hour ealier, tied their mail down and took out their delivery. The tie-down probably took them 15 minutes or so, then out the door by around 9am or whenever. Now, with them not allowed to come onsite until 9.30am, we find that their deliveries are ready to go and sitting in the office for anywhere between 45 minutes to 2 hours. Surely there should be some flexibility there. Is the name of the game not to get the public their mail out asap? This might seem like nit-picking, but couldn't that be technically deemed willful delay of mail on the manager's part?

Royal Mail don't give a toss about their customers as far as I can see, and the only time they do, in our office at least, is when it looks like a customer might come in to complain and the managers don't want to wind up getting it in the ear. It's ALL about the £££££££££!!

At last a manager with some backbone If everyone went out near the right time we wouldn't be in this mess. If a manager was to say you can go out 1 or more hours early everyday but i'll take it out of your pay how many would still be in a rush to get out

[MentalVortex]

Surely, then, the whole point is to do the bare minimum expected during sorting and prep so that no one's ready until this supposed 'exit time' (there has NEVER been one stipulated in our office until this 9:30 thing), but if they're still ready earlier everyone should just hang about drinking tea until the designated time, take their mail out, and anything undelivered at cut-off time is taken back to the office. Sounds like that would work.