cover duty postie threatened with the sack!

[mildred]

New to the forum,
I am a cover duty postie who's duties are to cover the same five rounds every week, this does not happen. Most days I do not know which round I will be doing until I arrive for work. We are going through a process were 99% of the rounds will be increased, two rounds made into one long round. The time we have to complete the round will not been extended but shortened!.
My rounds are long enough already and on most days I have to claim overtime, my line manager informed this week that if I claim overtime anymore I will be sacked. I am in the CWU so I spoke with my rep, she said yes they can sack you, my advice to you is to work harder. I was totally shocked by her reply. I am feeling really stressed by this and it is a constant worry that I will lose my job even though I always give 110%.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated
M

[DGP1]

Don't stress yourself over this, someone will be along with more detailed advice but until then just relax...........................afterall, what's the worse that can happen?

[Ahebban]

Put in a grievance against the Line Manager on the grounds of bullying and harrassment. You can ask for the duty to be timed. This is done by another manager from another office who goes out with you and times your delivery. If you do the duty properly, taking regard to H&S and meal breaks etc, it is highly likely that the delivery time will be beyond the 3.5 hours stipulated by national agreement. Your Dim Dom is then obliged to look at the duty with the intention of revising it. As that is likely to involve him actually doing some work, he will most probably grunt and sanction the overtime if you leave him in peace. If you get no support from your Office Rep, you are entitled to speak to Branch or Area Rep for support and advice.

Covering for other duties is never easy and Dim Doms will always cite 'operational reasons' for shifting people from one duty to another with little or no prior warning. Under the Pay & Mod Agmnt you are entitled to be treated equally and fairly. Again this is something you can raise with your Office/Area Rep.

[BELIAL]

New to the forum,
I am a cover duty postie who's duties are to cover the same five rounds every week, this does not happen. Most days I do not know which round I will be doing until I arrive for work. We are going through a process were 99% of the rounds will be increased, two rounds made into one long round. The time we have to complete the round will not been extended but shortened!.
My rounds are long enough already and on most days I have to claim overtime, my line manager informed this week that if I claim overtime anymore I will be sacked. I am in the CWU so I spoke with my rep, she said yes they can sack you, my advice to you is to work harder. I was totally shocked by her reply. I am feeling really stressed by this and it is a constant worry that I will lose my job even though I always give 110%.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated
M

You are taking the piss right? Surely none of the management storm-troopers are that dippy.
If they are, get stressed ,depressed ,suicidal, scarred ,quality of life impaired,tribunal here we come

[robd]

Trying to digest what you have written,firstly how long have you worked for RM?
Have you signed for the cover duty?,if so there would have to be a good operational reason to take you off there
and secondly,it would have to be by agreement.
All walks should be planned around 3 hours 30mins,in theory they can go beyond this,but if it happens on a daily basis
then the walk would need testing,if your office is going through change,in terms of re-plotting walks,then this will
lead to a re-pick and you should end up on something different anyway.
Now don't take this the wrong way,but as you are covering 5 different walks,if you are struggling with all 5 to complete,i
would request more training.
Please don't worry,you cannot be sacked for claiming overtime!!
But,and this may be difficult for you,don't worry about anyone else,come in on time,if when you are prepping the delivery,
you feel you are struggling,inform your manager that you will have difficulty completing.
Now,this is the important part,firstly,request assistance on delivery,(which 9/10 they will not be able to give you)then
insist to sign a document to record the fact you have had issues on delivery(most managers try to hide such instinces,and are not permitted to pay overtime)
remember the best advice will come from the posties you work with,who know your office,and have knowledge of your duties,TBH your rep sounds useless.
good luck.

[caveau]

Simply ask your manager to show you how he wants you to do the job so you can do it in the allocated time. Keep a rewritten record with a witness and you will probably not hear anything back from him.

[Pat Ostman]

It goes without saying that we have some wonderful reps in the CWU, and then we get these gobshites as well.

[Puppetmaster]

Thing with cover duties,they can be changed at anytime,say you have been doind walk 1 for some time that could now be changed to walk 50.
Should not be changed weekly though ,and cover duties you are only slightly better off than reserves .

How long does it take the regular guy on the round ?
You will take longer by some minutes ,but should not be hours.
Also have a chat with the regular guy find out exactly how he does it,could be a way of doing that saves time.

[Broxi51]

In the first instance the manager should test you. If you fail the test then the manager is duty bound to train you up to the expected standard. He should not and cannot sack you without doing so as it will lead to his demise as a manager when you win your case for unlawful sacking. Your union rep at best is ignoring the problem and putting the responsibility back onto you and at worst she is the managers lackey. Go above her head to the area rep.

Do not be afraid of your managers threats and when dealing with the cretin in future take a friend in with you and watch the difference when dealing with you. It is because there are no witnesses on your side that he feels safe to spout his crap.
See him again with a friend and tell him that the duty(ies) is/are too long. Ask him what he wants to do about it if he isnt prepared to authorise OT. Put the responsibility on him, that is what he gets paid for. If he wants to test you then it should be someone other than him since he has a vested interest to twist the data.

Good luck mate and dont let the pressure get to you. This is normal in RM these days as managers are struggling with their budgets and their jobs being on the line.

[clashcityrocker]

You can be sacked for being useless - it is called NCI (Non culpable incompetence)
First they have to retrain you and give you counselling and stuff. The whole procedure takes months and I have never known anyone be sacked for it. It is just too much work for the DOM to even contemplate. So I wouldn't worry too much. If anyone was that useless they shouldn't have been given the job in the first place.
The advice to talk to the regular bloke is spot on.Also do you have a workplace coach.S/he is paid to help you.
Most people think being a postie is dead easy - you just stick a few letters through a few letterboxes - but it isn't that simple and it takes everyone some time to get good at it.

[Pat Ostman]

You can be sacked for being useless - it is called NCI (Non culpable incompetence)
First they have to retrain you and give you counselling and stuff. The whole procedure takes months and I have never known anyone be sacked for it. It is just too much work for the DOM to even contemplate. So I wouldn't worry too much. If anyone was that useless they shouldn't have been given the job in the first place.
The advice to talk to the regular bloke is spot on.Also do you have a workplace coach.S/he is paid to help you.
Most people think being a postie is dead easy - you just stick a few letters through a few letterboxes - but it isn't that simple and it takes everyone some time to get good at it.

[fmrPOSTIE]

The DOM is a feckin idiot. And so is the Rep.

1. Ask the DOM what he expects of you (dont laugh).

2. Get your walk timed

3. If this doesn't solve the problem put in a Greviance (B&H).

[PostieWithTheMostie!]

Keep us up-dated on the outcome bud..! best of luck too

[IWW Fellow Worker]

Keep a note (dates, times, any witnesses) of anyting this so-called 'manager' says to you. It might be useful when you report him for bullying and harrassment.

[Exrep]

Also to bare in mind is your DOM will try and say your preformance isnt up to scratch if he does ask to be tested.

As for your rep she should hang her head in shame how long has she been your unit rep .Will anyone stand against her in the next office rep elections if i were you i would.

How the feck does she come to the conclusion you can be sacked for claiming O/T feck me siding with the DIM DOM .Ask her for the number of your area rep and speak to them they will give you good quality sound advice that will put your mind at ease.

Dont stress mate this is a load of B/S and your rep should have told you this at the time instead of letting you sweat.