Few questions now I've switched.

smok3y666 · Post by **smok3y666** » 03 Jan 2017, 20:01

Did my first day today on RM transferred from PF. Few questions.

Was told I get next to no chance of getting holidays I wanted because I'm the new guy? Can someone explain or clarify this to me? Surely it's not a case of ask for holiday then see what happens? Otherwise how you supposed book time away anywhere?

And I have been asked to choose between working a rota one day off or 5 full weeks then 1 week off. The coach guy I was with said this was best, the postie said rota day off was best? Could someone explain the 5 week thing please?

Postie45 · Post by **Postie45** » 03 Jan 2017, 20:09

yeah its kinda crappy how they allocate holiday, you need to find out if theyve started allocating next years (april 2017-march 2018) yet. If they havent then you have a fair chance of getting some of your first choice picks. If theyve already set it for the rest of the office you may only be left with whatever hasnt been taken.
As for which is best as for days off, what your coach was telling you is the "wallington week" method where you essentially work your day off and bank it then use them to take one whole week off every 5 weeks. Whichever you choose is your own preference, i dont think there is a "best"

smok3y666 · Post by **smok3y666** » 03 Jan 2017, 20:15

So although I haven't been given my leave quota yet I can actually start booking the holidays providing they've started taking requests. I can understand If there's too many people off at a particular time but not if there's no one off on that particular week or date.

abzo · Post by **abzo** » 03 Jan 2017, 21:03

smok3y666 wrote:Did my first day today on RM transferred from PF. Few questions.

Was told I get next to no chance of getting holidays I wanted because I'm the new guy? Can someone explain or clarify this to me? Surely it's not a case of ask for holiday then see what happens? Otherwise how you supposed book time away anywhere?

And I have been asked to choose between working a rota one day off or 5 full weeks then 1 week off. The coach guy I was with said this was best, the postie said rota day off was best? Could someone explain the 5 week thing please?

Yes as the new guy you will most likely be down the bottom of the seniority list when it comes to booking holidays. But don't sweat it as everyone takes holidays at different times you may just get the holidays you booked but if you need time off during school holidays then its less likely you will get them as they tend to be the popular picks amongst those that have children to look after.

And as for the days off/ wally week. You are quite lucky you got two options in my office its usually 1 day off for everyone in a week. But me personally i would prefer doing 5 weeks of work, 6 days a week to then get a full week off from work

Post by **woody38** » 03 Jan 2017, 21:33

Don't listen to coaches ask the manager most will listen to u & help u if they can but never listen to coaches as is says in another thread a waste of money, as for the day of up to u as u cannot try before u buy on this one. As a postie with 30 year service there is good & bad with both, the rota is good because you get more weeks off but in does take some getting used to working for 5 weeks with only a day offon a Sunday. I lost my rota week of when I had my hours reduced, still miss it today

A2B · Post by **A2B** » 03 Jan 2017, 21:35

One thing to take into account with the Waddington/Wallington week is that when you book a weeks holiday 6 days are taken from your allocation

Post by **SpacePhoenix** » 03 Jan 2017, 22:11

Leave allocation for your DO should have already been done, it's supposed to be done by the end of October

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 04 Jan 2017, 13:42

Keep an eye on this as using seniority as the only criteria for leave is against current agreements.

They should explain fully what the leave process is for your office, but as they should have completed leave selection for 2017/18 by now, they may mean you can only select free weeks for this year. Which is reasonable.

However, what is also reasonable is that new starters at Royal Mail should have any pre-booked leave honoured, where possible, during their first year of employment.

South_London_Postie · Post by **South_London_Postie** » 04 Jan 2017, 16:29

TBT that's interesting about seniority is not allowed to be the only process used To allocate holiday requests.

Is there anything in writing to support this ?

as I know a few of my local offices do it and the new PT staff are always getting shafted!

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 04 Jan 2017, 17:20

fishtank wrote:Both the Way Forward;Seniority..http://www.cwu-e4.co.uk/files/wf-seniority.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
And the Way Forward;Annual Leave Allocation...http://www.cwu.org/assets/cwu/legacy-as ... and_De.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

State that seniority should NOT be used for allocating annual leave.

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 15&t=40008" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Way Forward Quote:

Offices may not use alternative lists based on different
locally derived criteria, since this would be contrary to the nationally agreed definition. Note
also that seniority will not be used for leave selection (except possibly to allocate employees
into rotating groups) once local leave selection processes have been reviewed. This will be
necessary to conform with the criteria set out in the agreement on Annual Leave: “all
employees will be included on an equal basis”.

Annual Leave Allocation Quote:

Capture 1719.PNG

Post by **Judgee** » 04 Jan 2017, 17:21

I believe you carry you seniority over from parcel force. We had a guy do this he brought 20 years with him, lot of people not happy about it but there it is!

WOBBLY · Post by **WOBBLY** » 04 Jan 2017, 18:05

Judgee wrote:I believe you carry you seniority over from parcel force. We had a guy do this he brought 20 years with him, lot of people not happy about it but there it is!

I believe you are spot on there! We had a PF guy in my old office and he was more senior than most!!

smok3y666 · Post by **smok3y666** » 05 Jan 2017, 16:00

So if I get any crap about I can't have a holiday because so and so has worked X amount of years it's crap basically. I was aware of my service carrying over but when I mentioned it it was kind of dismissed.

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 05 Jan 2017, 16:20

smok3y666 wrote:So if I get any crap about I can't have a holiday because so and so has worked X amount of years it's crap basically. I was aware of my service carrying over but when I mentioned it it was kind of dismissed.

Kind of.

If he has booked leave before you, and there are no spare slots, then he keeps it. But if you have pre-booked leave from before joining RM then it should be honoured as long as you tell them in good time, and hopefully mentioned it during the transfer.

But if you both select the same holiday and there is only 1 spare slot (or more applicants than slots during the leave planning stage (by Oct each year) then Seniority cannot be used as the only deciding factor, even yours, with your PF service added, can't be used.

awesomepenguin · Post by **awesomepenguin** » 06 Jan 2017, 15:19

Surely an office can have a system where people request what holidays they want on a first come first served basis?