Thinking of leaving RM to work on the bins. Is the grass greener?

[postiewhite]

Mate of mine left RM 8 months to work for the local council for the bins. The shift patterns are Tuesday to Friday so every week you have a Saturday, Sunday and Monday off on a 37hr contract. The hourly rate isn't as good as RM however he told me its job and knock and has always been this way so he says they actually do around 30hrs for £21k a year which probably works out as good if not a bit better. I do 30hrs now and my top wage is £20k.
Ive been in this job 9yrs and im sick of how things are going and how we are ill treated. Ive always said that I'll never work a sunday either and this day could be become a working day for us all at some point.
My mate says its hard work and describes it like being on a postal round for 7hrs rather than 5 but they are done for around 1.30pm and it is only a 4 day contract. The biggest thing was that his stress levels have halved since joining the council plus he loves these 3 day weekends every week!!!
Having said all that im all very cautious because im terrified of making a jump sometimes but then I look at the long term picture of how the management, CEO and money grabbing shareholders give us no respect at all and I think things will get much worse in the next 5 yrs.
Im 50 next, feel fit in myself. Has anyone else thought about a new challenge and are fed up with what is around the corner with this job?

[postman2014]

Isn't a 6 month career break an option for you? Royal mail offer between 6 months to 2 years and gives you a chance to try the other job and if you don't like it you come back to your same contract. Upto the com/dom to authorise but remind him if he refuses it I might take 6 months sick leave to "clear my stress" they would rather you take the unpaid leave than pay you sick money out of their budget.

[P13]

Isn't a 6 month career break an option for you? Royal mail offer between 6 months to 2 years and gives you a chance to try the other job and if you don't like it you come back to your same contract. Upto the com/dom to authorise but remind him if he refuses it I might take 6 months sick leave to "clear my stress" they would rather you take the unpaid leave than pay you sick money out of their budget.

You are not allowed to work while on a career break

[Numberone63]

Isn't a 6 month career break an option for you? Royal mail offer between 6 months to 2 years and gives you a chance to try the other job and if you don't like it you come back to your same contract. Upto the com/dom to authorise but remind him if he refuses it I might take 6 months sick leave to "clear my stress" they would rather you take the unpaid leave than pay you sick money out of their budget.

You are not allowed to work while on a career break

Yes this is true. I’ve booked a 6 month career break for next May-November and I’m ‘not aloud’ to work/earn.

[Jefferson Starfish]

Isn't a 6 month career break an option for you? Royal mail offer between 6 months to 2 years and gives you a chance to try the other job and if you don't like it you come back to your same contract. Upto the com/dom to authorise but remind him if he refuses it I might take 6 months sick leave to "clear my stress" they would rather you take the unpaid leave than pay you sick money out of their budget.

You are not allowed to work while on a career break

Yes this is true. I’ve booked a 6 month career break for next May-November and I’m ‘not aloud’ to work/earn.

Best keep quiet about it then!

[priority102]

Mate of mine left RM 8 months to work for the local council for the bins. The shift patterns are Tuesday to Friday so every week you have a Saturday, Sunday and Monday off on a 37hr contract. The hourly rate isn't as good as RM however he told me its job and knock and has always been this way so he says they actually do around 30hrs for £21k a year which probably works out as good if not a bit better. I do 30hrs now and my top wage is £20k.
Ive been in this job 9yrs and im sick of how things are going and how we are ill treated. Ive always said that I'll never work a sunday either and this day could be become a working day for us all at some point.
My mate says its hard work and describes it like being on a postal round for 7hrs rather than 5 but they are done for around 1.30pm and it is only a 4 day contract. The biggest thing was that his stress levels have halved since joining the council plus he loves these 3 day weekends every week!!!
Having said all that im all very cautious because im terrified of making a jump sometimes but then I look at the long term picture of how the management, CEO and money grabbing shareholders give us no respect at all and I think things will get much worse in the next 5 yrs.
Im 50 next, feel fit in myself. Has anyone else thought about a new challenge and are fed up with what is around the corner with this job?

You are answering your own question here. As a postie, walking the streets with a sometimes heavy bag on your back, knocking doors in all weathers, many where no one is in, Saturday working and future Sunday (IT WILL HAPPEN, not if but when). Not to mention the politics and atmosphere at the office. The future? As far as you can see, the same if not worse.

As a bin operative, walking the streets putting bins onto the back of the lorry, lorry takes the weight lifting them up to empty, take off, put bin back by customers gate (or just leave in the street as they do where I live ), done. Job and knock (they can't lapse bin rounds to keep you out longer lol, imagine telling customers "your normal bin day is Thursday but put your bins out Wednesday just in case we finish Wednesday's round 30 mins early" ), 3 day weekend every week to look forward to. Done by 1.30pm on the other 4 days. Slightly less money but less tax/NI/stress.

Would your mate go back on the post?

Mmmmmm!

18 months or so ago I was in exactly your position with the same thoughts and I had just completed 25 years. I took the leap and it is the best decision I made.

[postman2014]

Isn't a 6 month career break an option for you? Royal mail offer between 6 months to 2 years and gives you a chance to try the other job and if you don't like it you come back to your same contract. Upto the com/dom to authorise but remind him if he refuses it I might take 6 months sick leave to "clear my stress" they would rather you take the unpaid leave than pay you sick money out of their budget.

You are not allowed to work while on a career break

Who says? Even on the request forms there is do's and don'ts and if doesn't mention other employment. Even a quick Google search says you can work while on a career break. But as its up to the doms discretion I wouldn't put it as the sole reason for taking it. Just blag it

[ted_e_bear]

Mate of mine left RM 8 months to work for the local council for the bins. The shift patterns are Tuesday to Friday so every week you have a Saturday, Sunday and Monday off on a 37hr contract. The hourly rate isn't as good as RM however he told me its job and knock and has always been this way so he says they actually do around 30hrs for £21k a year which probably works out as good if not a bit better. I do 30hrs now and my top wage is £20k.
Ive been in this job 9yrs and im sick of how things are going and how we are ill treated. Ive always said that I'll never work a sunday either and this day could be become a working day for us all at some point.
My mate says its hard work and describes it like being on a postal round for 7hrs rather than 5 but they are done for around 1.30pm and it is only a 4 day contract. The biggest thing was that his stress levels have halved since joining the council plus he loves these 3 day weekends every week!!!
Having said all that im all very cautious because im terrified of making a jump sometimes but then I look at the long term picture of how the management, CEO and money grabbing shareholders give us no respect at all and I think things will get much worse in the next 5 yrs.
Im 50 next, feel fit in myself. Has anyone else thought about a new challenge and are fed up with what is around the corner with this job?

You are answering your own question here. As a postie, walking the streets with a sometimes heavy bag on your back, knocking doors in all weathers, many where no one is in, Saturday working and future Sunday (IT WILL HAPPEN, not if but when). Not to mention the politics and atmosphere at the office. The future? As far as you can see, the same if not worse.

As a bin operative, walking the streets putting bins onto the back of the lorry, lorry takes the weight lifting them up to empty, take off, put bin back by customers gate (or just leave in the street as they do where I live ), done. Job and knock (they can't lapse bin rounds to keep you out longer lol, imagine telling customers "your normal bin day is Thursday but put your bins out Wednesday just in case we finish Wednesday's round 30 mins early" ), 3 day weekend every week to look forward to. Done by 1.30pm on the other 4 days. Slightly less money but less tax/NI/stress.

Would your mate go back on the post?

Mmmmmm!

Sounds great to me, surprised his stress levels haven't disappeared never mind halved, if there's actually a vacancy available I'd jump at it if I were you.

[WASD]

You'll want to check if it's through the council and not another company as it can vary. However, all the council and sub contractors always seemed happy enough when i've spoke to them.

It's not a clear cut answer, but RM will still be here even if it doesn't work out for you. However i bet if you didn't like it, you'd just try somewhere else again anyway.

RM isn't likely to get better for years i expect. The low lifes of RM will always be here, and so will the managers as many simply aren't cut out for anywhere else. It may get easier as mail drops and parcel routes are more common. But least on the bins you are secure and only have to worry about emptying the bins, no scanning, dogs, securing mail and vans. It's a smelly job however.

RM has its perks, but there's little pride left in the job and we are merely just numbers, those on different rounds every day are even just numbers to customers now too.

Leaving a job that can be good is never easy, but the more jobs you do the more experience you gain which sets you up for the next job.

I left RM once before (pre privatisation), and came back a few years ago, and i'm leaving again. I still like it to an extent, but it's just a royal mess still
I thought working weekends again wouldn't be such a big issue, and it wouldn't if the annual leave system was any good, but reality is just being able to plan your life as and when around weekends is great. Having a Monday off also gives the option of going to places while everyone else is at work and you've still had a busy weekend.

[P13]

Isn't a 6 month career break an option for you? Royal mail offer between 6 months to 2 years and gives you a chance to try the other job and if you don't like it you come back to your same contract. Upto the com/dom to authorise but remind him if he refuses it I might take 6 months sick leave to "clear my stress" they would rather you take the unpaid leave than pay you sick money out of their budget.

You are not allowed to work while on a career break

Who says? Even on the request forms there is do's and don'ts and if doesn't mention other employment. Even a quick Google search says you can work while on a career break. But as its up to the doms discretion I wouldn't put it as the sole reason for taking it. Just blag it

Have a read of the post below mine

[norris9]

Yes this is true. I’ve booked a 6 month career break for next May-November and I’m ‘not aloud’ to work/earn.

You can simply get 6 months off? so, if I just ask for a 6 month career break then I should be able to just get a 6 month holiday? obviously unpaid.

[Acca Dacca]

Yes this is true. I’ve booked a 6 month career break for next May-November and I’m ‘not aloud’ to work/earn.

You can simply get 6 months off? so, if I just ask for a 6 month career break then I should be able to just get a 6 month holiday? obviously unpaid.

Yes, you can ask

Not guaranteed to have it granted though

[smok3y666]

Working the bins? At least you won't go hungry or have to visit food banks

[Tman]

Our bin men (supposedly) had an easier life when run by the local council, but since the collections have been put out to contract the poor sods run round grabbing the wheelie bins and moan constantly about the targets/collections they have to do. Back in the Winter we had an early evening collection due to a wagon breaking down that morning.
Never yet seen a postie running around delivering mail though, so yes, the grass would appear to be very much greener...

[postiewhite]

Mate of mine left RM 8 months to work for the local council for the bins. The shift patterns are Tuesday to Friday so every week you have a Saturday, Sunday and Monday off on a 37hr contract. The hourly rate isn't as good as RM however he told me its job and knock and has always been this way so he says they actually do around 30hrs for £21k a year which probably works out as good if not a bit better. I do 30hrs now and my top wage is £20k.
Ive been in this job 9yrs and im sick of how things are going and how we are ill treated. Ive always said that I'll never work a sunday either and this day could be become a working day for us all at some point.
My mate says its hard work and describes it like being on a postal round for 7hrs rather than 5 but they are done for around 1.30pm and it is only a 4 day contract. The biggest thing was that his stress levels have halved since joining the council plus he loves these 3 day weekends every week!!!
Having said all that im all very cautious because im terrified of making a jump sometimes but then I look at the long term picture of how the management, CEO and money grabbing shareholders give us no respect at all and I think things will get much worse in the next 5 yrs.
Im 50 next, feel fit in myself. Has anyone else thought about a new challenge and are fed up with what is around the corner with this job?

You are answering your own question here. As a postie, walking the streets with a sometimes heavy bag on your back, knocking doors in all weathers, many where no one is in, Saturday working and future Sunday (IT WILL HAPPEN, not if but when). Not to mention the politics and atmosphere at the office. The future? As far as you can see, the same if not worse.

As a bin operative, walking the streets putting bins onto the back of the lorry, lorry takes the weight lifting them up to empty, take off, put bin back by customers gate (or just leave in the street as they do where I live ), done. Job and knock (they can't lapse bin rounds to keep you out longer lol, imagine telling customers "your normal bin day is Thursday but put your bins out Wednesday just in case we finish Wednesday's round 30 mins early" ), 3 day weekend every week to look forward to. Done by 1.30pm on the other 4 days. Slightly less money but less tax/NI/stress.

Would your mate go back on the post?

Mmmmmm!

18 months or so ago I was in exactly your position with the same thoughts and I had just completed 25 years. I took the leap and it is the best decision I made.

Thank you. Definite food for thought.
What happens regarding the pension pot I have built up with RM? Does this easily transfer into the council pension pot or is it best to start a new pot? Im not great with decisions like this.