driving

[pistolpeteffc]

does any one know if a manager can make you do a driving duty?
i have a friend who does a town round on foot and took himself off driving duties due to because he doesn't want to drive for royal mail. the manager insists he can make him do
rural van duty there by forcing him to drive against his will.

[barrychuckle]

I'm interested in the answer to this. Our office is currently having a major revision and therefore a full resign. It has become apparent that the driving duties get the crap end of the stick compared to the passenger duties. If the threats of "I'm coming off driving in the resign" are to be believed then there will not be enough drivers left to cover the driving duties. So if you have been driving for the past 5 years can you be forced to stay as a driver?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

If you were hired as an "occasional driving" postie (last 5 years or so) then the answer is probably no you can't refuse driving because that's what you were engaged to do.

However, if you were hired before driving was a pre-requisite, then the answer is yes you probably can. But, and its a big but, it could mean if there are no available walking duties for you to go into, you could be moved to another office. http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... =1&t=42576" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

section three guidance for DOMs
(NOT to be circulated around the office)

Please find below answers to some of the more common questions that managers ask when they are going through a delivery methods revision. For more comprehensive policy advice, please refer to the various information guides such as the people issues paper. Speak to your local planner if you do not have a copy of this.


Q. What if an individual is unable to drive i.e. no driving licence or cannot drive for health reasons?

A. If there are employees in your unit that are unable to drive you will need to consider what other duty options are available. You may need to accommodate these employees on shared routes as a planned non driver. (There is a limit to the number of non drivers you can accommodate on shared deliveries. It is, therefore, recommended that this is not an option to employees that can drive but choose not to.) You should explore what other opportunities there are to accommodate the individual within your office. If individuals cannot be accommodated in your office, you may be able to accommodate them via a move to another unit within a reasonable distance, where suitable work is available. Where this is not possible an employee may effectively become surplus and in this instance you should take advice from your Regional ER/IR Manager

[NewPostieUK]

If you were hired as an "occasional driving" postie (last 5 years or so)

Possibly longer than that. I joined 2007 and my contract was (and still is) Post person with occasional driving duties.

At one point I did try to argue that being put on a driving duty was in contravention of my contract, since driving every day clearly isn't 'occasional'.