overworked reserves

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Not Disrespecting Part timers, but Yes it was.Also simple economics, that I couldnt live on a P-Time wage, while doing a full time Duty

Well, I'm part time: what's wrong with that? You can make up your hours or money with overtime, can't you?

Yes but at the whim of management, and you only get paid your contracted hours when your on leave or sick (after 12 months employment on sick)

[shelanda]

I have a theory as they are not recruiting in my area at the moment and lots of offices have vacancies. My theory is that to cure their problem with the pensions they have decided to work us to death then they won't have to pay anything

[leiwolf]

As a reserve i start off on one round and suddenly a hour later i get told i am on another, and because I am a soft one, the manager send all the new starters to me help out, grrr, don't mind, but surely the a thing called team work.

When i first started 3 years ago i was finishing at 4pm for the first few weeks, because of this and because i got a disability, my manager wouldn't give me a full time contact, only 30 hours.

Doesn't seem fair, but then again, i need the money, so i keep my head down and get the work done

[Wiltshireboy]

Thats the thing though. I shouldnt have to rely on overtime. Not doing a "Fulltime" duty . Especially after they promised me that duty anyway.
I used to make up o-time, with a little excess, and meal relief each day, but since we went to 0630-1430, i get hardly any now, PLUS I have to make like Billy Whizz, and get back to the office so I can get to the school,the other side of town, in time for 1510 when my boy comes out of school.
Its been ok so far, but come the xmas pressure,who knows whats going to happen?

[shelanda]

Thats the thing though. I shouldnt have to rely on overtime. Not doing a "Fulltime" duty . Especially after they promised me that duty anyway.
I used to make up o-time, with a little excess, and meal relief each day, but since we went to 0630-1430, i get hardly any now, PLUS I have to make like Billy Whizz, and get back to the office so I can get to the school,the other side of town, in time for 1510 when my boy comes out of school.
Its been ok so far, but come the xmas pressure,who knows whats going to happen?

Nobody has to do overtime do your job properly and cut off if you can't finish. You should not have to race around risking life and limb to get back to your time! We have to make a stand!!

[stuartG81]

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/forum/vi ... php?t=7738

[majeed]

I have a theory as they are not recruiting in my area at the moment and lots of offices have vacancies. My theory is that to cure their problem with the pensions they have decided to work us to death then they won't have to pay anything

What is the problem with the pensions? I know that I will get practically nothing when I retire, and will hopefully have children who will look after me, but there is a problem, you say? What is it?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I have a theory as they are not recruiting in my area at the moment and lots of offices have vacancies. My theory is that to cure their problem with the pensions they have decided to work us to death then they won't have to pay anything

What is the problem with the pensions? I know that I will get practically nothing when I retire, and will hopefully have children who will look after me, but there is a problem, you say? What is it?

They are trying to change it from a Final Salary Scheme to an average earnings scheme which means those that have paid in for ages will have a pension that pays out and is worth less in the long run.

[majeed]

Not Disrespecting Part timers, but Yes it was.Also simple economics, that I couldnt live on a P-Time wage, while doing a full time Duty

Well, I'm part time: what's wrong with that? You can make up your hours or money with overtime, can't you?

Yes but at the whim of management, and you only get paid your contracted hours when your on leave or sick (after 12 months employment on sick)

I have read in the forum discussions (and also understand it from what I've read in the handbook which was sent to me yesterday) that overtime is not factored in with the state pension when a postie retires, so I wouldn't expect extra money outside of overtime for any other work-related event.

If you work over on a walk (for genuine reasons), don't you get paid for that extra time that you spend on that walk?

On another note, because I am contracted for 25 hours a week, this means that my pay will be gross £720/month, i.e. before tax and deductions - about £180/week gross, and because I (a) do not work for less than 16 hours a week or (b) do not work for 30 of more hours a week, I can neither claim Income Support or Working Tax Credit, respectively. For the sake of five, extra, contracted hours, I will not be able to get a top-up from the government. I was hoping I might.

[majeed]

I have a theory as they are not recruiting in my area at the moment and lots of offices have vacancies. My theory is that to cure their problem with the pensions they have decided to work us to death then they won't have to pay anything

What is the problem with the pensions? I know that I will get practically nothing when I retire, and will hopefully have children who will look after me, but there is a problem, you say? What is it?

They are trying to change it from a Final Salary Scheme to an average earnings scheme which means those that have paid in for ages will have a pension that pays out and is worth less in the long run.

I don't understand: if the final pension is based on your AVERAGE earnings, and your contracted hours of work are SET, then the final sum should be the same, regardless of whether or not they took average earnings into consideration, shouldn't it?

[shelanda]

Not only are we getting less money but we are being made to work longer for the privelage of less money.

[majeed]

Thats the thing though. I shouldnt have to rely on overtime. Not doing a "Fulltime" duty . Especially after they promised me that duty anyway.
I used to make up o-time, with a little excess, and meal relief each day, but since we went to 0630-1430, i get hardly any now, PLUS I have to make like Billy Whizz, and get back to the office so I can get to the school,the other side of town, in time for 1510 when my boy comes out of school.
Its been ok so far, but come the xmas pressure,who knows whats going to happen?

I just said a quick prayer for everyone at Royal Mail. They definitely need it. God bless them all, wherever they are and make nothing but good come of their affairs.

You say, 'shouldn't', but that's how things are, isn't it? As long as the overtime is regular (although I'm told that it's not), then at least your money is being made up. In any case, it doesn't leave you with a very secure feeling inside: I guess it's a sign of the times. Everything grows worse, day-by-day.

[majeed]

Thats the thing though. I shouldnt have to rely on overtime. Not doing a "Fulltime" duty . Especially after they promised me that duty anyway.
I used to make up o-time, with a little excess, and meal relief each day, but since we went to 0630-1430, i get hardly any now, PLUS I have to make like Billy Whizz, and get back to the office so I can get to the school,the other side of town, in time for 1510 when my boy comes out of school.
Its been ok so far, but come the xmas pressure,who knows whats going to happen?

Nobody has to do overtime do your job properly and cut off if you can't finish. You should not have to race around risking life and limb to get back to your time! We have to make a stand!!

It appears that the issue regarding overtime for some is that they need the extra money to survive.

[shelanda]

Thats the thing though. I shouldnt have to rely on overtime. Not doing a "Fulltime" duty . Especially after they promised me that duty anyway.
I used to make up o-time, with a little excess, and meal relief each day, but since we went to 0630-1430, i get hardly any now, PLUS I have to make like Billy Whizz, and get back to the office so I can get to the school,the other side of town, in time for 1510 when my boy comes out of school.
Its been ok so far, but come the xmas pressure,who knows whats going to happen?

Nobody has to do overtime do your job properly and cut off if you can't finish. You should not have to race around risking life and limb to get back to your time! We have to make a stand!!

It appears that the issue regarding overtime for some is that they need the extra money to survive.

Sorry if you misunderstood did not mean they should not do overtime if they wanted BUT if they need to get back on their time for whatever reason they should not have to bust a gut to do it!

[majeed]

As a reserve i start off on one round and suddenly a hour later i get told i am on another, and because I am a soft one, the manager send all the new starters to me help out, grrr, don't mind, but surely the a thing called team work.

When i first started 3 years ago i was finishing at 4pm for the first few weeks, because of this and because i got a disability, my manager wouldn't give me a full time contact, only 30 hours.

Doesn't seem fair, but then again, i need the money, so i keep my head down and get the work done

Well, perhaps another way of looking at the situation is that the managers send people and work your way because you're trust worthy. They will only know what your limits are if you let them know. They probably naturally think that you are a very accommodating person. All you need to do is exercise your positive right to take on a limited amount of work - as much as you feel at ease with - and regarding the rest, to say,'I'm sorry - I would love to do that, but I don't feel up to it at the moment: is there any one else that could do that for me, or help me with it?'

When you say this, you are doing several things: 1. You are letting the managers know what your limits are (which they won't know, if you don't tell them), 2. You are exercising your positive right to say, 'no', i.e. it is your right to say that you do not want to do work outside of what you feel you can do well for Royal Mail and 3. You are not flatly saying, 'no', because you are giving the managers an option by asking them to get someone to help you (if you choose to bring up this third option). Ultimately, you don't need to be 'soft': nobody is going to thank you for being like that. State what you feel capable of doing and leave it at that: nobody can blame you you for doing that. In fact, you will probably be surprised to find that people respect you for letting them know where you stand, i.e. including them in your opinions.

I don't know your situation, brother, so if what have just said is a load of rubbish, please forgive my ignorance. I was just trying to help. We don't want to see you stressed out for no reason.