Paying someone to do bags.

[Leebest112]

Hi

Im a fairly new postman and enjoy it so far.

One thing ive noticed quite a bit in our office is that some people pay people to do a few bags. There must be 5 or 6 people who do this.
In fact one person yesterday gave the whole walk away.

I was just wondering is this ok? Can you get the sack for it. I heard the manager say that one of them is going to be monitored.
At least i think he said that not totally sure to be honest.

Do managers know its going on and turn a blind eye to it?
Is it a sackable offence?

[rambo1]

Hi

Im a fairly new postman and enjoy it so far.

One thing ive noticed quite a bit in our office is that some people pay people to do a few bags. There must be 5 or 6 people who do this.
In fact one person yesterday gave the whole walk away.

I was just wondering is this ok? Can you get the sack for it. I heard the manager say that one of them is going to be monitored.
At least i think he said that not totally sure to be honest.

Do managers know its going on and turn a blind eye to it?
Is it a sackable offence?

Could be. Could be a partie to fraud and tax evasion as I doubt this cash in hand deal is being disclosed. Best stay away from it, it's up to the business to pay people to do overtime. If you don't want to work over then don't. If your paying someone to do part of your round so you can get off early, if they have an accident and can't complete, you are responsible for doing that delivery up til your finish time. You are the one going to get disciplined as well.

[datasaint]

If your paying someone to do part of your round so you can get off early, if they have an accident and can't complete, you are responsible for doing that delivery up til your finish time. You are the one going to get disciplined as well.

Yeah it's dodgy ground because if the duty doesn't get completed you face a charge of abandonment of duty which is a sackable offence and on the flip side the person taking cash if they did have a serious accident they wouldn't be able to claim from Royal Mail as they'd no doubt argue they weren't following managers instruction, also brings into question if they'd be insured to drive the van.

For days you absolutely need off best to swap days with people informing a manager beforehand.

[Wuku]

Managers in my old office always turned a blind eye, especially if they couldn't cover something. We used to be told if we wanted a day off, it was up to us to get it covered and paid for. There was a book you were supposed to sign to tell them you were going to do this, not that everybody did. We had one bloke who had a regular agreement with another postie to do a bag everyday, apparently it lasted 4 years! As long as the mail was done, they didn't care. It still happens, although it's more difficult with the van shares and time restraints. It is, as far as we had been officially told, a sackable offence though.

[dave72]

What is the going rate now? Last time I did it I got £20 a bag (this is before packets took over)

[crazyshrew]

It's OK in our office when someone wants to get off early, not that it's done all that often. Just have to inform the manager of the arrangement.

[wannabeek]

£20 a bag? There are usually 8 bags on a duty round here. That's a pretty good price you got, I'd say. I'd certainly do a double day for an extra £160. I suppose the price depends on the size.

[t3mcIUQWE2]

£20 a bag? There are usually 8 bags on a duty round here. That's a pretty good price you got, I'd say. I'd certainly do a double day for an extra £160. I suppose the price depends on the size.

That's a good price! About £50 a day in our office

[westham000]

Stupid people mentioning cash jobs on a public site. I do a favour for a favour no cash involved. If a Postie needs to go somewhere I do a bit of their walk, and they return the favour when I need it. Not everybody accepts cash.

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

If your paying someone to do part of your round so you can get off early, if they have an accident and can't complete, you are responsible for doing that delivery up til your finish time. You are the one going to get disciplined as well.

Yeah it's dodgy ground because if the duty doesn't get completed you face a charge of abandonment of duty which is a sackable offence and on the flip side the person taking cash if they did have a serious accident they wouldn't be able to claim from Royal Mail as they'd no doubt argue they weren't following managers instruction, also brings into question if they'd be insured to drive the van.

For days you absolutely need off best to swap days with people informing a manager beforehand.

making these sort of arrangements is allowed in fact there are things in place to allow these arrangements to be made. there would be no question of being insured to drive you definately would, there would be no question of the person paying someone being accused of abandonment of duty, and also no question of not being able to claim royal mail in event of accident. There is no question of fraud. you would not be responsible that the other person completes delivery

[Dorset Plodder]

Your reply surprises me ZX Your posts are informative but normally merely state the Royal Mail Policy. Which in answer to most people's queries is not what they want to hear!

We had an Old Postie who was getting a retired postie, that lived on his round, to deliver some of his mail ALLEGEDLY!
He had what everyone thought was the easiest Duty in the office and he was always back early. Once he retired and different Posties started delivering the mail......It become one of the worst duties in the office, always incurring an hour and a half overtime (at least).........whoever delivered it!

The problem we had trying to get it Re-tested was the Management simply said, " Well So & So never had and problems with it. He was always back in time"! Now the Posties concerned either Claim the Overtime or Leave some behind....... and no one wants to sign for this particular duty!

[bigbazza]

It's been going for a very very long time long before i started on the job 19 years ago. Although i have never used this underground service.

[iamchopski]

In our office someone was suspended for paying others to cover his duty on a Saturday. He was eventually reinstated but now no one is allowed to do it!

[fishtank]

Anything unofficial that hasn't been cleared with management is dodgy, even having something sanctioned by management is dodgy if you know it's dodgy. You are very unlikely to have much of an injury claim in a place you're not meant to be and it would certainly reduce any award.

This is not the same as what the P&M agreement "covering for other staff" which relates to swapping annual leave and days off. There is nothing in any agreement that provides protection if you're paying other members of staff cash to do your work and something goes pear shaped.

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

Anything unofficial that hasn't been cleared with management is dodgy, even having something sanctioned by management is dodgy if you know it's dodgy. You are very unlikely to have much of an injury claim in a place you're not meant to be and it would certainly reduce any award.

This is not the same as what the P&M agreement "covering for other staff" which relates to swapping annual leave and days off. There is nothing in any agreement that provides protection if you're paying other members of staff cash to do your work and something goes pear shaped.

The pay and mod agreement states "To facilitate employees making their own arrangements to cover and swap duties (subject to approval from their manager) within contracted hours, providing quality of service is not adversely affected and there is no additional cost to the business."

note it says cover as well as swap, making own arrangements to cover shifts is allowed