Not wanting to attend work because of concerns about a family member at home

Post by **seesred** » 25 Mar 2020, 18:58

I am primary carer for my Dad, who is 92 years old, with a serious heart condition, so I thought it best to no longer attend work while this emergency pertains. Particularly as I have to travel to and from work by bus. I have just been informed by my manager that RM policy is not to pay anything to employees in this position, which could go on for twelve weeks or more. Annual leave won't cover that period, so I will be obliged to take Special leave, unpaid. It seems very unfair that, when employees in all other sectors are clamouring for support, that Royal Mail should be actively penalising its employees for trying to do the right thing. It is more or less forcing me to return to work, with the risks that that entails. This is not a usual situation with an individual requiring some time off to nurse a sick family member, as I've had to do several times in the past. This is a world wide crisis, and, in such exceptional circumstances Royal Mail should be doing more to take care of its staff. It makes me question just how much we are valued?

renrag40 · Post by **renrag40** » 25 Mar 2020, 23:44

RM senior management treats people like this because they have nothing but contempt for their employees. As far senior management are concerned you should be paying them for the privelege of working for them..... this has a trickle down effect on management further down the slimy pole..... its ok to treat people like that because they see that from above... it's this sort of attitude that makes you realise that we haven't come far from WWII when 20,000,000 Russians and 6,000,000 Jews were slaughtered because they were seen as sub human by the Nazis....... now, I'm not accusing senior management of wanting to commit genocide..... just the reintroduction of slavery would be enough for them I think.... that would improve productivity if you they could flog people who weren't working fast enough.....

Delsin · Post by **Delsin** » 29 Mar 2020, 11:35

I personally feel like not enough have been done to highlight this segment of the workforce. I feel like my options are stay at home no pay, or work and risk my family. its totally unacceptable to be put in this position!

GT85 · Post by **GT85** » 29 Mar 2020, 16:16

@ Delsin

I am in exactly this position and totally agree with you. The only other option I can see is to go off with stress.

Delsin · Post by **Delsin** » 29 Mar 2020, 17:24

GT85 wrote:@ Delsin

I am in exactly this position and totally agree with you. The only other option I can see is to go off with stress.

I'm really not sure what to do.

Someone else I know in a similar position called their doctor and told them the situation has caused them anxiety and depression and immediately got 5 weeks signed off. Maybe something to consider, because this is causing me stress and I'm getting no help or clear guidance from anyone or anything.

GT85 · Post by **GT85** » 29 Mar 2020, 18:17

This is from CWU Facebook this afternoon.....

Royal Mail Group Attendance Procedure
In the last few weeks we have been in negotiations with Royal Mail on attendance issues linked to the Coronavirus.
(9th March 2020 we wrote – RM responded 12th March, we met on 13th March and implemented 16th March. – At this point, Maximum isolation period 14 days).
(Over the weekend of 20th March 2020, Government announce vulnerable people need to self-isolate for 12 weeks. Again we wrote to RM on 23rd March, requesting the review be brought forward due to this change. Royal Mail were not prepared to move the review date forward.)
We took the initiative and wrote to Royal Mail requesting:
· Members with less than 12 months service will get paid sick leave for Coronavirus Covid-19 sick absence
· Any sick absence due to Coronavirus Covid-19 absences to be discounted from the Attendance Procedure
· Members who are on half / no pay – get full pay for Coronavirus Covid-19 sick absence.
· Where members have to take time off to look after dependents – Paid Special Leave.
· We have secured:
* Full pay for members isolating with coronavirus symptoms – including those who have worked for RM for under a year
* Full pay for members falling into the vulnerable category (as defined by receiving government letter) for 12 weeks isolation
* Coronavirus sickness absence to be discounted from the attendance agreement.
We are in disagreement over:
* Royal Mail do not want to offer pay to those who isolate due to vulnerable person being part of their household
* Royal Mail do not want to offer FULL pay to Members who are on half / no pay having exhausted sick pay due to being ill previously.
To be absolutely clear we are not in agreement with Royal Mail on these issues and will press them again ‪tomorrow morning‬. I will be able to update members ‪at 4pm tomorrow‬ (Monday) on our Facebook Live Q&A.
Carl Maden
�Acting Assistant Secretary

So still no answer for people that find themselves in this situation, looking forward to an update tomorrow but not holding out much hope tbh.

Delsin · Post by **Delsin** » 29 Mar 2020, 20:39

So literally you get no sympathy or help, you're supposed to just risk it and hope for the best? I live with two vulnerable family members with letters from the NHS, god forbid anything happens.

guardianangel · Post by **guardianangel** » 29 Mar 2020, 20:45

These stories definitely need to be in the press to show these companies for what they are ,virgin atlantic,weatherspoons and others will suffer when this has finished as people will not forget ,Royal Mail are s---b-gs and everyone needs to know ,ive started telling everyone what they are like and people can not believe it.Will all help when the fight comes back when its over.

Post by **HTPostman** » 30 Mar 2020, 11:20

guardianangel wrote:These stories definitely need to be in the press to show these companies for what they are ,virgin atlantic,weatherspoons and others will suffer when this has finished as people will not forget ,Royal Mail are s---b-gs and everyone needs to know ,ive started telling everyone what they are like and people can not believe it.Will all help when the fight comes back when its over.

The likes of Mike Ashley, Dick Branson and that scarecrow guy from Wetherspoons are getting absolutely slated and quite right too. So far Rico has got off the hook, it’s a shambles the lack of measures which are being taken and the failure to prioritise key mail.

Post by **seesred** » 31 Mar 2020, 20:04

Delsin wrote:So literally you get no sympathy or help, you're supposed to just risk it and hope for the best? I live with two vulnerable family members with letters from the NHS, god forbid anything happens.

I think, for me, it comes down to taking unpaid leave for as long as it takes, and hoping something can be put in place in the meantime, which would allow me to be paid later. Not holding out much hope, though.

guardianangel · Post by **guardianangel** » 01 Apr 2020, 05:33

Well done the union pushing to be the 4th emergency service,look what you have done,opened a can of worms and put the people your suppose to look after at risk.We are not saving lives posting d2ds,s--t mail and catalogue clothing,close now for the sake of just not the employees but the public.

Ren Hoëk · Post by **Ren Hoëk** » 12 Apr 2020, 13:56

Still no update on this situation. I'v seen that the CWU managed to negotiate with BT paid leave for people wanting to isolate with vulnerable people at home. Royal Mail aught to be ashamed of the way they have/are handling this crisis.

Im entering my third and last week of Annual Leave. I told myself and my DOM I would take 3 weeks and see where we are. If I still feel RM are not protecting us properly and the situation nationally is still severe then I will take unpaid special leave . Wanting to preserve whats left of my leave as not having to do a min of 46 weeks in a row without a break. In this job I think that would finish me off.

Post by **rogersh** » 12 Apr 2020, 15:20

Ren Hoëk wrote:Still no update on this situation. I'v seen that the CWU managed to negotiate with BT paid leave for people wanting to isolate with vulnerable people at home. Royal Mail aught to be ashamed of the way they have/are handling this crisis.

I have copy & pasted the following COVID-19 T&FS Information which indicates the change of approach by BT;

3. I live with an extremely vulnerable person, (1.8m who have received a letter from NHS) do I still need to go into work, what are my options?
The CWU has constantly pushed BT to treat the health of our members and their families as a priority and we are very pleased that BT has now changed their approach. Where a member of your household has been identified as high risk you will now be allowed to work from home. Where this is not possible we would expect BT to support you by giving you special leave on full pay. Whilst on special leave with full pay BT will deduct 2 days annual leave for every 4 complete consecutive weeks. You may be required to prove evidence such as a copy of the Shielding Letter the member of your household has received.

Ren Hoëk · Post by **Ren Hoëk** » 12 Apr 2020, 15:54

rogersh wrote:
Ren Hoëk wrote:Still no update on this situation. I'v seen that the CWU managed to negotiate with BT paid leave for people wanting to isolate with vulnerable people at home. Royal Mail aught to be ashamed of the way they have/are handling this crisis.
I have copy & pasted the following COVID-19 T&FS Information which indicates the change of approach by BT;

3. I live with an extremely vulnerable person, (1.8m who have received a letter from NHS) do I still need to go into work, what are my options?
The CWU has constantly pushed BT to treat the health of our members and their families as a priority and we are very pleased that BT has now changed their approach. Where a member of your household has been identified as high risk you will now be allowed to work from home. Where this is not possible we would expect BT to support you by giving you special leave on full pay. Whilst on special leave with full pay BT will deduct 2 days annual leave for every 4 complete consecutive weeks. You may be required to prove evidence such as a copy of the Shielding Letter the member of your household has received.

Thank you. This is what Iv read. Though goes into more detail as per the deduction of 2 days A/L per 4 weeks. I think that is fair and reasonable. We know the CWU are pushing Royal Mail on this matter but so far they don't seem to give a flying F! Rico and the board should be embarrassed over their handling of this entire crisis. Woeful from the very start.

MentalVortex · Post by **MentalVortex** » 25 Apr 2020, 13:50

Just wondering if there has been any update on this.

I have had to take the last 5 weeks off as annual leave because of living with a vulnerable person and 2 children who have asthma, and was expecting to go on unpaid leave from next week onwards (the vulnerable person got one of the shielding letters in (12 weeks shielding) a couple of weeks ago, which takes us into June). I had previously told the DOM the situation and that I would play it by ear as things progressed. I got a text from work today saying that I'm due in on Monday so now I'm not sure what to do. Heard last night that our regional ops manager has been ringing around people who are off, but not sure of the content of those calls (I assume it's fact-finding and putting staff under pressure to come back). Should I just get in touch to say I need to stay off another couple of weeks (unpaid) or should I risk it and go in?

Thanks,
MV