Any of this seem normal?

[D_2010]

Hey fellow posties..

So, started my job last fri. do a 9-2 contract so 25 per week. Anyway day 1 and 2 consisted of me shadowing an experienced postman on his walk, not however the walk I was told I would start solo come Saturday. So was straight in to begin my solo walk after just 2 days and with no experience on this walk of my own.

Others around me said I should of been following someone on my walk for at least 2 weeks as a newbie! Hmmm anyway I ended up finishing 3.30pm, so 1 hour 30 mins over. Is that quite normal for a newbie? I hope I get faster! I don't feel I've been shown much, I started to panic on my own and get nervous I was forgetting packets etc!

Hoping my speed picks up 2pm, Altho I will prob be moved then and back to square one on a new route lol.

Am I meant to ask for overtime payment? I kind of feel cheeky and don't want to look a troublemaker so early in job as isnt it expected because I'm so new I won't finish within my 5 hours slot will I?

Thanks.

[calpsy]

You should have been on the walk you were meant to be on in training for aroung 2 weeks . Some get longer some get shorter .

As for overtime .......... thats tricky . You SHOULD be entitled to it but a lot of newbies dont ask for it .

Your finish time is 1.30 pm each day as you get half hour break . Saturday is 12pm in our office .

As for being slow thats normal . I done a walk a few months into the job and finished at 3.15 each day and never claimed . I done the same walk 2 and a half years into it WITH A BIT ADDED and finished at 1.15 so you do get faster .

[BELIAL]

Am I meant to ask for overtime payment? I kind of feel cheeky and don't want to look a troublemaker so early in job as isnt it expected because I'm so new I won't finish within my 5 hours slot will I?

Thanks.

Once a doormat ,always a doormat. What no manager giving you support and guidance in your freshman days ?
If you go over your time, BOOK IT.
It ain't your fault they lost the time served postie you replaced

[sodiium]

You got the same training as me mate.

When i started i regularly finished about 4:30pm and this was when we 25 hr p/timers started at 8:00am. Used to come to a new frame everyday & it would be almost empty. Would spend till 11:30-12:00 just prepping.

I'd claim o/t everyday but initially knocked off 1/2 or 1 hr so it wouldnt look so bad. Now i never work a minute unpaid.

I dont know ur managers but you are not being cheeky for claiming o/t. I think (my opinion only) ur managers would prefer u claim and finish ur walk rather than u cutting off & not claiming. They may prefer u to finish ur walk and not claim o/t but thats a whole different story.

I thought i was slow but looking back its managements fault for not providing adequate training or having my frame prepped.

You are going to be slower than ur colleagues over the first few months. And it is annoying when u forget packets, even experienced posties sometimes do it. You need to tell ur delivery support / manager / whoever if u are over as o/t wont get paid if u dont tell them

And good luck

[enzio]

give you tip all ways book o/t and you will get quicker in time and to help you remember packets turn a letter other for that door hope that helps

[chrisj]

You did very well going over on a new round by just 1.5 hours.

However, you will rarely get 2 weeks on training these days. Please dont believe everything people say to you - some are just agitators and hark back to old days. Some rounds are not that hard (some are training rounds)and may not require lots of days of training but at least 2 days to get your head around it. But what you have learned doing other rounds are stil applicable to yours.

You should claim for going over in the first few weeks and when the volume is truly heavy - you will know with time. Try and see what the sitaution is in your office and try to learn off the other relatively newer part timers - they will understand your situation better than some of the more experience and/or full time staff.

[fishtank]

agitators

[jonny123]

have a word with the guy that trained you about overtime (training coach?) , there is usually a sheet in office to sign.

defo book it though, you wont be the first newbie the office has seen and if you start working for nothing now you will only store up trouble for the future.

all the best for the future, you will probably need it.

[SexyLegs]

Tip - If you have a packet for a certain house put a blank 739 form in front of the first letter for that house or just the 739 if no letters, to remind you there is a parcel, then, if they are out the 739 is there ready to write on and you don't have to go looking in your bag, this is how I was shown when i first started and have always done it, I've trained others and they all do this now, seems to work

[POSTMAN]

See the 'stickie' in the forum for tips...
http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... =1&t=27513" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NewPostieUK]

No that doesn't seem normal at all. How the heck can you do a walk you haven't been trained on? Unless you grew up there, you wouldn't know every house would you? Personally, even as a shy naive starter, I would have refused to do a duty I hadn't been trained on. I'd get lost straight away!

I had four days training on the duty I was to do for the first few months (by training, I mean following postman and making notes for the sole purpose of not getting lost). After that I had two days training on every duty (so far about 8). I claimed all overtime I did, although I didn't know I could claim for my break.

Yes, you will get faster! Everyone is slow to begin with, some, like me, very slow. You'll be up to speed in no time.

[mma83]

I'm afraid that seems to be the norm now........I have been a OPG for just over 8 weeks and had 2 days training with a postie on his regular walk and half a day in a van doing tracked(Why, do not ask me, they haven't got a clue!!) If you are lucky you will end up with your own walk in a few weeks(3 out of the 5 new starters have their own walk) or as with myself, will be a floater potentially doing a different walk every day(Basically covering days off or walks that have not been completed....so being shat on tbh)

Regards overtime, speak to your Lino who will give you a form to fill in with hours worked o/t and your pay number-keep a diary, but is best to submit o/t payment requests asap.

Also, do not feel obliged to HAVE to do o/t if you do not wish, they will push you and see how much work/hours they can get out of you.....If you keep going over, like I did, have a word with your LINO about having someone prep your frame so you have it at least half full when you arrive at work. I do a 9.00-15.00 and in my first 4 weeks was regularly posting my 1st letter after 12.30/13.00 leaving just 2 hours max to complete.......after lots of 'cutting off' my LINO got fed up and actually got someone to prep a min 50% of my frame, which helps you to post your 1st letter a lot earlier( approx 11ish, giving me 4 hours to complete, which you will need on new/strange walks)

Good luck



Also, you will still be 1 of the last out of the D.O in 6 months time, most other posties will start before you and combined with their added experience, will get them out 30mins or so before you!!

[fishtank]

No need for training in the future.
Just stick you with a park&loop buddy who knows what they are doing and then off you go.
It's the future...going forward.

[kimski1976]

d - 2010

dont worry i was the same as you. i followed a guy for 3 days then on sat i was like oh s**t. finished 2 hours over. i didnt book it. the next time i was on that walk, i finished before my time. you pick it up very quickly.

as for overtime and going over. get a diary, and right in it every day / date that you work, and if you go over, right in there your finish time and how many hours. 25 hour in our office is 25 mins break. book it in. before you leave the office if you think you will go over, right on the docket your estimation. then when you go to work the next morning, fill it in and sign if you went over. i remember one week i did 15 hours o/t and they didnt pay me any of it. and i never bothered to chase them up about it cause i thought i did something bad :s. now i realise it was just down to management incompetence.