Can i refuse to work with a colleague?

[Martin Walsh]

There are agreed guidelines on where Indivduals find they cannot work together on park and loop. However it cannot be based on you don't like the fact that the indivdual does not rush around. I suggest you ask your Dom to download the said document from his LAN.

[Tman]

Exactly. So he never said it was down to merely not liking him.

"nobody likes working with this particular person"

"Nobody likes working with this particular person" is the same as "not liking him" is it? You need to bash your head against that wall a little harder..

[Judgee]

Whatever you say Tman!

[twobags]

its a bit one sided this you havnt stated what the other person has done that irritates you or anyone else , have you even broached him / her on the matter grow a pair and ask the individual concerned that they are bad to work with [in your opinion]. Perhaps they are unaware of this fact and need it pointed out to them, after all it is royal mail he/she works for i think you are being a bit unfair regarding this individual ,how well do you know him/her have you even asked him/her what his problem is after all you are in the communication union "Talk" or are you just setting the person up for a fall, we all have faults ask the person concerned it could be as simple as that the person in question cant defend themselves , how do you know hes not being bullied ,this is really vague

[postypie]

OK....I shall give you an example of what this person is like.....just to prove my point........
Not long ago.....while working in the box counter with this person.....he/she would repeatedly leave the glass shutter door/hatch open after serving customers.....no big thing most folk would think...except that while it was open there would be many tracked and specials all waiting for couriers( as well as cash in the til) to come in and collect them only feet away from this hatch....this person does not take criticism very well,( as what happened next will prove).....i spoke to my line manager....who agreed with my concerns...who also could see for themselves that this hatch was left wide open time and time again each time this person served anyone....so my line manager said they would have a quiet word with this person in question...........they did.....where this persons response astonished my line manager(but not me)...he/she listened to what the line manager had said....and then promptly told him/her that they would have a 'word' with me to make sure i didn't do it again ....(even though i hadn't served a customer that morning as i was doing PO Box stuff)...my line manager came out to me(almost in disbelief....smiled and said what can i do)???

[POSTMAN]

While it has now come out that it is not a P&L problem,at the moment anyway,below for reference is probably what Dingo was talking about,unless there is a more detailed thing out there...


http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 36&t=28344" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Shared vans: people conflicts

Shared van working is based on two employees sharing a vehicle to deliver the mail for two routes. This method will be new to many people, appealing to some, but possibly unattractive to some. Whilst we do not envisage this should be a common occurrence there is the potential for clashes of personality to arise and, these issues will have to dealt with sensitively.

The best way of resolving these will be to talk with the individuals (separately if necessary) in an effort to get the bottom of the issue and find a mutually acceptable solution. In some cases it may have to be accepted that the only way forward is to find another pair who are willing to swap one person into a paired route.

[PAIGE 123]

I WOULD PUT IN WRITING TO MY DOM THE REASONS WHY I CANNOT WORK WITH THIS COLLEGUE

[TrueBlueTerrier]

OK....I shall give you an example of what this person is like.....just to prove my point........
Not long ago.....while working in the box counter with this person.....he/she would repeatedly leave the glass shutter door/hatch open after serving customers.....no big thing most folk would think...except that while it was open there would be many tracked and specials all waiting for couriers( as well as cash in the til) to come in and collect them only feet away from this hatch....this person does not take criticism very well,( as what happened next will prove).....i spoke to my line manager....who agreed with my concerns...who also could see for themselves that this hatch was left wide open time and time again each time this person served anyone....so my line manager said they would have a quiet word with this person in question...........they did.....where this persons response astonished my line manager(but not me)...he/she listened to what the line manager had said....and then promptly told him/her that they would have a 'word' with me to make sure i didn't do it again ....(even though i hadn't served a customer that morning as i was doing PO Box stuff)...my line manager came out to me(almost in disbelief....smiled and said what can i do)???

Given the situation you have described I would say that No you couldn't refuse to work with them as its based on capability rather than anything else.

In fact to my way of thinking, and I have no reason to suppose what you have posted is inaccurate, its a clear case of management action that needs to be taken nothing else. The individual needs to be counselled, retrained or redeployed and that all falls within managements purview rather than a colleagues. Although I dislike "dobbing" someone in, in this case it may be a good idea to keep management appraised of any incidents that cause you concern, if nothing else it should get management to act more proactively instead of letting it lie, which it appears it happening.

[clashcityrocker]

I've worked alomgside some right cnuts in the past few years.
Aggressive, dishonest, bullying etc etc - and your big gripe is:
He leaves the hatch open at the callers office?

Big f***ing deal.
And if the Specials get stolen? Are they yours to worry about?

[chrisj]

Guys guys, you asked for an example and this person came up with dishonesty and downright sneakiness and potentially dangerous; and that was not enough

An aggressive or foul-mouthed person or disorganised/slow/rusher, lack of personal hygiene is still more acceptable to me than the kind of trait that was described about this person. Just imagine, this person will be ready to dump his fellow postie in it for something he might have done wrong himself.

I suppose the poster is not going to detail every single incident or examples of wrong doing for fear of exposing his colleague or himself on a forum like this. People should not ask for examples - give advise using whatever scenario you want.

I believe the poster when he says other posties are also reluctant to work with this particular postie. At least he is still working with the postie despite the aggro/stress whereas others are copping out.

I refuse to work with a postie that said to me that other posties are fair game for the 'sack'. That is, he does not care about if he gets someone sacked because others have tried to get him sacked in the past. He said that to me after am aggressive false altercation -this was despite the fact that I had not even started working at the office when the incident happened.

Guess what, a lot of the posties in the office will not willingly work with him; and that is the point!

[chrisj]

Big f***ing deal.
And if the Specials get stolen? Are they yours to worry about?

Just reading the last part... if the specials get stolen, this postie will blame everyone around him. So the other posties have to be really careful. Anyway, the specials belong to someone like you or me and it is important (ergo sent by special delivery).

What sort of attitude is that? I know you tend to say it is up to managers to manage - if only it was that simple - sh1t tends to flow down and often it is the humble posties that cop it not the managers.

[POSTMAN]

I've worked alomgside some right cnuts in the past few years.
Aggressive, dishonest, bullying etc etc - and your big gripe is:
He leaves the hatch open at the callers office?

Big f***ing deal.
And if the Specials get stolen? Are they yours to worry about?

That's unlike you,that would be a big gripe for me on all counts.

And wouldn't this revoke his NVQ certificate!

[clashcityrocker]

Just reading the last part... if the specials get stolen, this postie will blame everyone around him.

All you need to do is put in writing your concerns about the security of valuable items in the locker room given the aforementioned miscreants refusal to shut the hatch between servings and your back is covered. The rascal won't be able to blame you or anyone else.
Or if possible just move the stuff out of anyone's reach.

[fishtank]

Miscreants and rascals?
Have you been warned about your language again?

[chrisj]

I am confused! I thought a lot of poster here are against grassing up other posties??? Putting things in writing is making things official - and it is not something most of us will be do unless things are really serious. And this sort of contradicts your 'its not my business' statement.

Anyways, the manager was shown what was going on and even with evidence this miscreant still try to blame other people - I don't know