ADVICE FOR NEW POSTIES

maz_c3p0 · Post by **maz_c3p0** » 23 Aug 2016, 19:35

Ive been offered the position of postie but have been told not to attend the welcome day until I get a conformation email and return my contract in the post but the contract hasn't arrived yet. Its 4 weeks until I start but I was offered the position two weeks ago. Any ideas how long it takes for the contracts to be sent?

tinkz · Post by **tinkz** » 24 Aug 2016, 19:52

maz_c3p0 wrote:Ive been offered the position of postie but have been told not to attend the welcome day until I get a conformation email and return my contract in the post but the contract hasn't arrived yet. Its 4 weeks until I start but I was offered the position two weeks ago. Any ideas how long it takes for the contracts to be sent?

Mine came a week after I started

Alanalb · Post by **Alanalb** » 24 Aug 2016, 21:51

Yes same for me. All managers in the office were on holiday when I started and people looked at me as if to say WTF

PBgirl · Post by **PBgirl** » 25 Aug 2016, 07:40

My contract came after my welcome day. I was confirmed by email and they didn't say anything.

thfclim · Post by **thfclim** » 21 Sep 2016, 19:34

Burghboy wrote:Been in for about 5 weeks now! Really enjoying the job b ut could do with more hours, my training was decent most of the staff are friendly and helpful enough and even the managers are willing to take time to help you out when they can, a bit of a surprise after all the horror stories I had read on here!

same here so far so good everyone has been nice, im now on my 4th week

Post by **woody38** » 29 Dec 2016, 06:30

thfclim wrote:
Burghboy wrote:Been in for about 5 weeks now! Really enjoying the job b ut could do with more hours, my training was decent most of the staff are friendly and helpful enough and even the managers are willing to take time to help you out when they can, a bit of a surprise after all the horror stories I had read on here!
same here so far so good everyone has been nice, im now on my 4th week

U must work in a good office, is it quite small, it seems the smaller the office the better they look after there staff

Ukplayajc · Post by **Ukplayajc** » 16 Apr 2017, 23:46

Hi just finished first week of deliveries. Best piece of advice is gel sole inserts for your footwear. Don't underestimate how far you will walk my fitbit has been clocking 17-20 km walking each round. Oh and carry nurofen for the aches and pains which will happen. Apart from that i am loving it.

littlebee90 · Post by **littlebee90** » 12 Jun 2017, 17:49

Take Lucozade or sport drinks out on delivery, two bottles should do. It replaces the salts and sugars you lose when exercising.
I found when I started I would be really thirsty no matter how much I drank. I even ended up with bladder infections due to dehydration.
Such a big difference drinking Lucozade.

Some other advice. Don't place parcels in sheds or door cupboards unless there is a note. Too many people chance their luck and say it's went missing and some genuinely go missing too. Just cover your back.

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 12 Jun 2017, 18:59

littlebee90 wrote:

Some other advice. Don't place parcels in sheds or door cupboards unless there is a note. .

Even if there is a note, do you know who put it there it could be part of a scam. It has happened, steal person's identity by applying for a Credit Card, order stuff off Amazon etc for "Next Day Delivery", when the resident goes to work, put a note on the door, keep an eye for the postie. When they leave it where it was suggested, walk over and take it.

Simple, as.

Don't leave stuff without giving it to someone and don't do that without leaving a card to say what you have done.

_-=Elton=-_ · Post by **_-=Elton=-_** » 12 Jun 2017, 20:30

Ukplayajc wrote:Hi just finished first week of deliveries. Best piece of advice is gel sole inserts for your footwear. Don't underestimate how far you will walk my fitbit has been clocking 17-20 km walking each round. Oh and carry nurofen for the aches and pains which will happen. Apart from that i am loving it.

I agree, Ive used Gel insoles for a few years and each although expensive last a few pairs of RM shoes.

crimson king · Post by **crimson king** » 20 Aug 2017, 18:10

Hi all,

I've got my induction tomorrow and start on Tuesday...fair to say I'm beginning to wish I hadn't Googled what working for Royal Mail is like- so many horror stories!
Glad I found this board and thread though, has made me feel a bit better. Points I've taken on board are to log any and all overtime, be polite and firm with management from the get go so they know I'm not a pushover, carry plasters, avoid the dogs and have a pee bottle in the back of a van (I was wondering, as public loos are few and far between in a lot of places around here!)

I do have one question at the moment and apologies if it's a daft one or one I could search for (I've just read all 17 pages of this thread hoping it might be here, but it's not that I can see). I'm guessing booking holidays varies from depot to depot and Xmas is an obvious no-no, but in people's experience here how easy is it to get time off say during the easter and summer holidays? It wasn't a problem in my last job and I'd hate to miss those camping trips with the kids as it's a bit iffy getting permission to get them out of three different schools during term time.

Also, does anyone know offhand how much holiday I'm actually entitled to? I'm on a 25 hour part time permanent contract but, in it under holiday entitlement it's all 'pro rata' and I'm not sure how to work it out.

I know, I know, I haven't even started yet and I'm thinking about holidays already, ha ha, but if I end up sticking it out I don't want to end up with the last pick of dates or something and wished I'd sorted it out earlier. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 21 Aug 2017, 13:20

Holidays are complicated in Royal Mail and how each office does it is different to others. http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... =1&t=47777" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However, you'll be entitled to 4.5 weeks at 25 hours per week. (Unless the recent ruling on Part time average leave is entered into law)

Leave year is from April to April.

Leave should be picked and sorted by October of the year before. That is all leave for Apr 2018 to March 2019 should be picked by October 2017.

Any annual leave booked prior to joining RM is honoured as long as you told them during the hiring process.

Leave during the year you start will be pro-rata based on how long is left of the leave year when you start.

You'll need to check the availability of leave slots when you start to take this year's entitlement.

The biggest change is that you can't take leave at short notice (except in extremis) because, due to the nature of the job only a certain amount of people can be off at any time.

Selection of leave can not be based solely on how long you have been at Royal Mail, but beyond that stipulation each office has different methods of how people select their leave dates.

crimson king · Post by **crimson king** » 22 Aug 2017, 17:41

Ah, thanks for that, TrueBlueTerrier, that's great.

Interesting to note the October deadline too- I'll give it a few weeks and then make subtle enquiries ha ha.

Thanks again for the informative reply

Tripster1050 · Post by **Tripster1050** » 22 Aug 2017, 19:46

A lot of negative comments and advice so to balance it up a bit....
I started 2 months ago and so far been excellent. Training was very good, mentor excellent, manager helpful.
Days off are on a rolling rota , Monday one week then Tuesday, Wednesday etc. Always out with someone experienced to learn a new round and already done my driving with AA. I have a round local to my house and works good for me.
Contracted hours where 10:30-15:30 but they happily changed these to 9:30-14:30 to accommodate school run. All in all loving the job and my depot

tierney83 · Post by **tierney83** » 29 Aug 2017, 16:55

Fourth week in and enjoying it so far... I have a quick question regarding the weekly pay. Does the pay week run Monday to Saturday and is overtime paid the following week?

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