To blame or insane...

[The hollow man]

Due to being put on a different walk this week i anticipated there would be teething problems e.g

Workload fitting into contracted hours etc.. (i'm on a 30 hr contract)

Now, Tuesday a substantial amount of mail was threw in for me when i arrived for work at 7.00 am so i felt obliged to complete the delivery - which i did, although i went over my contracted hours by 15 mins.

Wednesday, pretty much the same again - substantial amount of mail thew in - went over contracted hours by 10 min.


Now today Thursday - not so much mail threw in - so i judged how much mail i should take out to take me up to my contracted hours, then informed managment of my intentions.

Me and the driver leave the office with 2 bags/bike around 9.20 am - reach destination about 9.30 am.

The 2 bags roughly take me about 50 mins to do - so i get to next drop bag point around 10.20 ...where- there's no bags! so i decide to wait 10/15 mins to give them a chance to arrive. I make the first call to office around 10.35 (phone engaged) - try again - get through (line cuts off)..... I finally get through to the office about 10.45 where i inform them that i will be leaving another bag if i didn't get my bags shortly.

Another 40 mins had passed still no bags, i had no credit left on phone so i decided to take a ride out on the bike and see if the other posties bags had been dropped off .. when i arrived at my colleagues drop point the driver was just dropping off the bags. It's now according to my watch 11.25. So i take one bag off the driver (enough to take me to my finish time of 12.40) and ask him if he could kindly take the rest back.

I get back to the office about 12.35- bearing in mind they owe me 25 mins i didn't see no problem.

As i expected the gaffers were waiting, wanting to know why i had sent so much mail back, why i didn't inform them straight away about bags not being there, how i've left them in the s**t.

Now this is sending me do-lally


so am i to blame or am i going insane !!

[clashcityrocker]

Why were the bags so late?
What is your actual dispatch time?
Are you leaving 30 minutes early and putting all your meal relief at the end of the duty?

[The hollow man]

Why were the bags so late?
What is your actual dispatch time?
Are you leaving 30 minutes early and putting all your meal relief at the end of the duty?

why were the bags so late -

probably due to different driver being on duty


What is your actual dispatch time -

well to be finished for 12.40 i'd say you need to be out for 9.00.


Are you leaving 30 minutes early and putting all your meal relief at the end of duty?

Yes like everyone else seems to do.

[clashcityrocker]

So how did everyone else manage if the bags were so late?
There are 2 problems:
1. The drop bags need to be out earlier
2. You need to take your meal relief prior to departure. Had you done this you would have had a significantly shorter wait (but still too long)

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Now today Thursday - not so much mail threw in - so i judged how much mail i should take out to take me up to my contracted hours, then informed managment of my intentions.

Me and the driver leave the office with 2 bags/bike around 9.20 am - reach destination about 9.30 am.

The 2 bags roughly take me about 50 mins to do - so i get to next drop bag point around 10.20 ...where- there's no bags! so i decide to wait 10/15 mins to give them a chance to arrive. I make the first call to office around 10.35 (phone engaged) - try again - get through (line cuts off)..... I finally get through to the office about 10.45 where i inform them that i will be leaving another bag if i didn't get my bags shortly.

Another 40 mins had passed still no bags, i had no credit left on phone so i decided to take a ride out on the bike and see if the other posties bags had been dropped off .. when i arrived at my colleagues drop point the driver was just dropping off the bags. It's now according to my watch 11.25. So i take one bag off the driver (enough to take me to my finish time of 12.40) and ask him if he could kindly take the rest back.

I get back to the office about 12.35- bearing in mind they owe me 25 mins i didn't see no problem.

As i expected the gaffers were waiting, wanting to know why i had sent so much mail back, why i didn't inform them straight away about bags not being there, how i've left them in the s**t.

Now this is sending me do-lally

You did the right thing informing them before you left.
You did the right thing informing them when unforeseen problems arose.
You did the right thing I hope in explaining the problems you had in contacting them. Did they give you contact details in card format as the agreement suggest

Now the wrong things.

You cannot decide they owe you 25 minutes off your own back. What you should do is explain the situation to a manager with a witness present and let them make the decision and/or come to an agreement over it.

Taking a break at the end of your duty is not recognised which is why the CWU recommend taking your break before delivery or while on it. If you do this then its your choice but be aware RM may refuse to recognise you taking your break at the end of the working day as it goes against H&S guidelines that a break should be in the middle of a working day not at either end..

so am i to blame or am i going insane !!

Bit of both

[The hollow man]

quote TBT- You cannot decide they owe you 25 minutes off your own back.

I can give or take 5 or 10 minutes now and again - it was said out of frustration.


quote TBT- Taking a break at the end of your duty is not recognised by cwu.


True, but i don't know one person in the two offices that i have worked in take their meal break prior to delivery or on the street.

quote TBT- Did they give you contact details in card format.

no.

Maybe i am insane - i try and do the job properly, i 've supported all the strikes on the picket line, im still a union member

[The hollow man]

So how did everyone else manage if the bags were so late?
There are 2 problems:
1. The drop bags need to be out earlier
2. You need to take your meal relief prior to departure. Had you done this you would have had a significantly shorter wait (but still too long)

So how did everyone else manage if the bags were so late?

A percentage take their pouches out in private cars, full timer have until 2.30 to complete their duty(meal relief included) 30 hr contract finish 1.10 meal relief included.

The drop bags need to be out earlier

In all fairness the bags usually are


You need to take your meal relief prior to depature.

Yeah right. like everyone else does, like everyone uses r/mail transport to get to their walks, like everyone starts at their official start time, like rm sanction safe bag drops

[fishtank]

Yeah right. like everyone else does, like everyone uses r/mail transport to get to their walks, like everyone starts at their official start time, like rm sanction safe bag drops

Everyone else isn't getting grief from managers for sending mail back.
If you want to put up a fight you have to do the job right....to the letter.
Or...you could just come in early like the rest of the muppets.

[Lounge Lizard]

"Taking a break at the end of your duty is not recognised which is why the CWU recommend taking your break before delivery or while on it. If you do this then its your choice but be aware RM may refuse to recognise you taking your break at the end of the working day as it goes against H&S guidelines that a break should be in the middle of a working day not at either end" yet nobody is aware of that at my office where taking the break, even the full 40 minutes, at the end of the day is common practice .

[clashcityrocker]

It is common practice everywhere and it is a s**t common practice.