duties next week,im fuming!!!

Post by **postiewhite** » 05 Mar 2016, 17:39

Im on 25hrs p/t although I normally work about 35 over 5 days. Our office has an agreement with the union that 25hr contracts are over 3 or 4 days. Anyway ive been diagnosed with a large groin hernia which is low down near the bowel area and has a low risk of strangulation so im waiting to see the specialist next month. In the meantime ive told RM I just want to do my contracted hours so for the last month ive been doing 25hrs over 3 or 4 days and because of the much less work ive not had any aches.

Today ive looked at next weeks rotas and ive been given 5 days with a different duty everyday and tuesday off which is the quietest day of the week. Two of the duties im on are the longest in the office too. Ive already handed them proof ive been to the hospital and ive also a letter here to see the specialist on the 9th april as he/she will decide whats best for me (likely an op according to my GP)
Im fuming about this cos ill get the aches again as I did before. Is it worth seeing my union rep about this?

steve1873 · Post by **steve1873** » 05 Mar 2016, 17:56

postiewhite wrote:Im on 25hrs p/t although I normally work about 35 over 5 days. Our office has an agreement with the union that 25hr contracts are over 3 or 4 days. Anyway ive been diagnosed with a large groin hernia which is low down near the bowel area and has a low risk of strangulation so im waiting to see the specialist next month. In the meantime ive told RM I just want to do my contracted hours so for the last month ive been doing 25hrs over 3 or 4 days and because of the much less work ive not had any aches.

Today ive looked at next weeks rotas and ive been given 5 days with a different duty everyday and tuesday off which is the quietest day of the week. Two of the duties im on are the longest in the office too. Ive already handed them proof ive been to the hospital and ive also a letter here to see the specialist on the 9th april as he/she will decide whats best for me (likely an op according to my GP)
Im fuming about this cos ill get the aches again as I did before. Is it worth seeing my union rep about this?

If they have you scheduled to work the 5 days then play them at their own game! That means you have 5 hours per day, which when you remove your 30 minutes paid meal relief, makes it 4 hours 30 minutes worth of work to do per day! Now, I don't know how long the deliveries are at your place, but if they are 4 hours plus, taking in to account conveyance, then you are going to be unable to complete even if your duty is ready for you arriving with no indoor work required. That obviously will be impacted if any indoor is required.

Obviously it is not great, especially if you had an agreement to work over 3 or 4 days, but as I say play them at their own game and keep a diary of events, so that you can refer to them if you do have to take time off on the sick as a result.

Post by **POSTWOMAN** » 05 Mar 2016, 19:22

Our office has an agreement with the union that 25hr contracts are over 3 or 4 days. - I don't understand that statement.

But as far as I know - they cannot force you to do more that 4.5 hours a day (excluding break) based on 25 hrs a week contract.I may be wrong if you have some agreement with union.

1.First I confirm the walk I am going to deliver.
2.Then I try to estimate the total hours required for delivery. ( Am not 100% sure but its 3 minutes per close which mostly have 3 floors. So based on number of closes/ houses you can calculate the total hours needed to finish the walk. Plus you have to calculate the time it takes by van to get the starting point of actual walk. Again not 100% sure but you get 15 minutes for pouching off etc if you are not driving or using a van.Taking all these above factors into account you can estimate the total hours needed to finish delivery on the walk.)
You can also ask from someone who has done the walk previously or if I can find the regular guy who does it to get the total hours required to finish delivery on the walk.
3.Finally approach the manager & tell them - see the prepping time is this much, the delivery time is this much but my finish time is before that. Use step 2 calculations to provide the facts & figures during the argument with manager.Then tell the manager that as you cannot finish the walk before your finish time & ask what the manager wants to do will undelivered mail ?. It is very unlikely that the manager will say its okay to bring the undelivered mail to office & most probably the manager will put you on different walk matching your finish time or reduce the workload on the walk you are assigned to do.

What you should avoid is going on a walk without voicing your concern to that manager before you leave the office & bringing mail back to the office or phoning manager while on walk that you cant finish your walk before your contract hours. Once you leave the office you have to deliver all the mail.

Another thing - some days its very busy so you will spend more hours on prepping the mail on the frame. When that happens let the manager know that I cannot finish the delivery on the walk as I have lost time on prepping mail so the manager should reduce the workload from your frame.

steve1873 · Post by **steve1873** » 05 Mar 2016, 19:31

POSTWOMAN wrote:What you should avoid is going on a walk without voicing your concern to that manager before you start going on the delivery & bringing mail back to the office or phoning manager while on walk that you cant finish your walk before your contract hours. Once you leave the office you have to deliver all the mail.

No you don't. The overrunning delivery procedure makes no mention of this. It merely states that you must inform a manager at the soonest possible opportunity that you realise you will be unable to complete. If this is after commencement of delivery then so be it. Ideally you should inform them before departing, but a number of factors could come in to play in which you thought completion would be possible, but has since become impossible.

If management start banding about threats with abandonment of duty or willful delay, then request them to put in writing the agreement that states overtime is mandatory!

Post by **POSTWOMAN** » 05 Mar 2016, 20:30

Steve I do understand what you are saying.But once you bring back mail to the office then you are in trouble if it was normal day instead of a busy day with more volume of letters or packets & many factors come into play like you said. As long its a logical & valid factor for causing delay then its okay.

One example is -If something happens to you like accident while climbing stairs happens during delivery then you can contact manager that you cannot finish on time.
Another case - Lets say you get to deliver a walk of which the frame was prepped, bundles tied up, put into final bags by someone else then you can argue that you didn't get the chance to estimate the total delivery time of the walk as you only got the bags & didn't get to see the frame or letters as it could have been a very busy day with more volume of letters. Because even if a walk is fit for your contact hours one cannot finish on time it was a busy day.

But as per my knowledge its better to voice your concern to manager before you leave the office.Plus what you have to repeatedly ask the manager is - what do you want to do with the undelivered mail as your finish time ends before the time it takes to complete the walk ? The only logical answer is the manager will reduce your work load for that day. Plus in the future during the fact finding interview I guess that's what its called, one can argue that you had already notified the manager about the issue before leaving the office so its not your fault.

worktotime · Post by **worktotime** » 05 Mar 2016, 20:45

simple take a rep in with you as a witness and state that you are only working your contracted hours minus your meal relief so will be struggling to complete , what do you want me to do ? see what he says then , once you've told him /her its there problem to sort it in which way they can , don't worry about it .

weary_posty · Post by **weary_posty** » 05 Mar 2016, 23:44

Believe it or not, Royal Mail have a duty of care to all of it's employees.
If you feel you are endangering your health by going out on these deliveries then inform your DOM. He then has a choice of finding you a delivery more suited to your needs or putting you on light dutys.

Work to live, don't live to work. It's your health at the end of the day

Post by **POSTWOMAN** » 06 Mar 2016, 05:19

By the way I actually didn't give exact answer relevant to your question. But yes as you have or if you can get a doctor's note then they should give you light duties. I had something happen to my back during a night out & I went to the GP who checked me.I told my GP the nature of my job & requested a note advising that i do light work & avoid lifting etc for at least 1 week until my next appointment. Basically it was the prescription in which GP gave me painkillers & put the statement. I submitted that to the manager & was only prepping frames for 1 week or more. Once I myself felt that my back was OK I started going on deliveries. Even though the manager pushed even after submitting the GP's note, I always refused.

Its your health & that's more important than Royal Mail. Better give rest to your body instead of working to get a severe injury. If severe injury occurs then you lose your job at royal mail & cant work somewhere else or enjoy your future life to the fullest.

Post by **postiewhite** » 06 Mar 2016, 16:57

Well its bang out of order. the dom support that does the duties each week has been good with me for a month since I had to prove I had a hernia with a hospital note and I have been working 3 and 4 days. Next week will be the worst week Ive had in my 3 years of Royal Mail which makes it the more baffling as hes been sympathetic and now put me on a really bad duty week with tuesday off. Not only am I on 5 days but Im on a complete different duty every day, 2 of the 5 duties are the longest in the office. I would actually do 5 days if I was put on a part driving part delivery duty and there is one spare as the duty holder is taking a year out but someone else is covering it. If im aching my the weekend I wont hesitate to take time off next week and get to the docs for a sick note if I think my health is affected.

Post by **holly123** » 06 Mar 2016, 20:06

Hi, get on light duties they will issue you with a attendance review 1 anyway after your opp if your off over 14 days so put yourself first and get it sorted , they do have a duty of care but they don't do, so get indoors,

Creditshampoo · Post by **Creditshampoo** » 07 Mar 2016, 03:16

I don't understand the issue. Just cut off.

Post by **postiewhite** » 07 Mar 2016, 19:27

Creditshampoo wrote:I don't understand the issue. Just cut off.

Its not about that Creditshampoo, your missing a big point.. 2 of the duties are physically challenging with many steep hills and lots of steps. Im not talking about with the bags as I can use a trolley but its the walking and straining which is the problem I had before xmas when I was on these duties. Since ive been off them and done a day less a week its been much easier.
So im not too sure how you think cutting off is gonna make it all better.

john gould · Post by **john gould** » 08 Mar 2016, 18:46

why don't you have the op? I had it new years eve problem solved, its to painful not to have.