Retirment at 60

[Murdoch]

You can retire at 60?

Can take your pension at 55 (I believe) if you really want to.

Yeah, this was a post to encourage debate about whether 60 should be set as a limit for FT rounds.

Not whether you can retire at 60 if you so wish.

[NWpostie]

I hope to retire at 60 it will depend on how much I will get.

[LaggyBand]

You can retire at 60?

Can take your pension at 55 (I believe) if you really want to.

Yeah, this was a post to encourage debate about whether 60 should be set as a limit for FT rounds.

Not whether you can retire at 60 if you so wish.

We have people in their 60s who still seem to get on ok, but this is largely to do with 35+ years seniority and getting the better-on -the-body rural rounds.

We had one guy start, he looks early 60s, daren’t ask, and as a result of having no seniority he’s a part time reserve working docket to get by, and yeah, he’s not doing so good.

So in short, I think with the seniority system and rural walks with say 350 drops, it can work out fine.

[Murdoch]

Maybe their moaning because when they joined the job was totally different and at least their was a half decent pension. Now the jobs f****d and the pension is crap and the new one ( if it ever comes in) won't be much better. And do you honestly think RM are going to make you up to full time. No chance. Why would they when they are getting all the work done on docket. He'll they even get your to deliver letters for free these days, it's called lapsing. I know people will say it's to fill the hours but deep down, you'd know your ding shafted. And I think it's crap. But RM don't want fulltime anymore. Most companies don't and that's why most workers have to rely on stage support while in work which is a tragedy.

Yeah it's about everything, all the changes that have happened since privatisation. And yeah lapsing is a major problem for those that have been there for years, they complain incessantly about it. I cover about 12 full-time rounds as a reserve, I know all the workloads, the ones that moan tend to have the lightest rounds. With that said, I totally get it, if I were in their shoes I'd moan all the time too, it's in their own interests to. The more you complain and be awkward the less s**t you have to put up with, everything within RM is a battle.

My issue is the two-tiered system RM have developed with regards to their staff.

It'll be interesting to see what happens going forward with FT rounds (i'd like more action from the Union on that). Personally I've used every trick in the book to get my hours increased, I've refused to do overtime, and cut off at the most awkward of times. I've transferred DO stating clearly I was only doing so for more contracted hours, I also encouraged the other reserves in my office to do the same, we left our office down the shitter, so much so they had to match my new hours so I wouldn't leave. Any new start that joins, I point out how much they are being f****d over and tell them of their rights. I laugh my ass off when we use agency staff and they either leave after a day, or are so crap we can't use them. Thankfully there seems to now be a ban on using agency staff.

I'd encourage anybody on a crappy contact to withhold their overtime at specifically targeted times (xmas is a good time), if they are in a position to do so financially.

[Murdoch]

We have people in their 60s who still seem to get on ok, but this is largely to do with 35+ years seniority and getting the better-on -the-body rural rounds.

We had one guy start, he looks early 60s, daren’t ask, and as a result of having no seniority he’s a part time reserve working docket to get by, and yeah, he’s not doing so good.

So in short, I think with the seniority system and rural walks with say 350 drops, it can work out fine.

Yeah, that's true. If the office has enough of those types of rurals to go around.

Not many of those exist, we have maybe two Rurals I would consider easy on the body (and yes they both have 30 odd years with the company), the rest of them I find worse than the rounds I walk 10 miles a day on, sitting on your arse driving down bumpy tracks with crap suspension, getting in and out of the van all day. Still a very physical job.

[LaggyBand]

We have people in their 60s who still seem to get on ok, but this is largely to do with 35+ years seniority and getting the better-on -the-body rural rounds.

We had one guy start, he looks early 60s, daren’t ask, and as a result of having no seniority he’s a part time reserve working docket to get by, and yeah, he’s not doing so good.

So in short, I think with the seniority system and rural walks with say 350 drops, it can work out fine.

Yeah, that's true. If the office has enough of those types of rurals to go around.

Not many of those exist, we have maybe one two Rurals I would consider easy on the body (and yes they both have 30 odd years with the company), the rest of them I find worse than the rounds I walk 10 miles a day on, sitting on your arse down bumpy tracks, getting in and out of the van all day. Still a very physical job.

Yeah you’re right they can still be physical, just in different ways.

Bottom line is being a postie is a physical job. If you don’t want that for your 60s then you need to plan ahead and get out. Or just be miserable, thats a popular system people use.

[colcestrian]

I am 53 and have been doing this job for 23 years and there is no way my body is going to take me into my sixties doing this job. I am currently training for my hgv license so when my body says that's enough I will have something to fall back on. If I can carry on my ultimate plan will be to take my pension at 60 and work 3 days a week on agency work. I know hgv work can be long hours but it will be nowhere near as physical as being a postie.

[baldrick]

Not everyone can afford to retire at 60. Some may have not worked for RM long enough to get a pension they can live on until they get any State pension. Others are still paying off mortgages.
Though you are right about some not knowing what they would do with their time, and some don't want to spend all day with the wife!

[clashcityrocker]

Bottom line is being a postie is a physical job. If you don’t want that for your 60s then you need to plan ahead and get out.

I think the original point was this is the duty of a union to negotiate on our behalf.
It shouldn't be up to us on an individual level.

[LaggyBand]

Bottom line is being a postie is a physical job. If you don’t want that for your 60s then you need to plan ahead and get out.

I think the original point was this is the duty of a union to negotiate on our behalf.
It shouldn't be up to us on an individual level.

Yes sounds lovely, but I reckon you’d be safer relying on your own plans rather than the union to save the day.

[Celgar]

Should we have everybody shot once they turn 60?

It's not a bad idea.
It would save the NHS and the exchequer billions.
We could see an end to youth unemployment.
If we could only find a way to make human flesh palatable it would go a long way to solving world famine as well.

If humans eat human flesh I think they go mad. I'm not quite sure how it works though.

[rehabron]

I can’t believe some of the posts on here. Should we have everybody shot once they turn 60. Some of us older posties would put some of you younger ones to shame. Absolutely dreadful thing to say

I knew somebody would take it personally.

But seriously, do you really want to be doing a physical job full-time well into your 60s? Working yourself into an early hip replacement or heart attack.

The biggest problem is that Royal Mail doesn't facilitate any method for older people to step down the workload as they get older, if they could drop down to a couple days a week it would be a godsend for our office. But they won't give up their cushy contracts and accept any of the shite ones RM currently offer. I don't blame them, who would want to accept a 20 hour contract over 5 days.

And you say this as if I'm only shitting on old people, I'm not, I'm watching our office become more and more angry. Younger folk can't get on the housing ladder even though with overtime we end up working full-time, no lender will lend you 100k when you can only show them a 20 hour contract. The older folks are becoming more and more worn down, I've witnessed a major decline in some of them, as a result they spend most of the time moaning, yet they don't want to retire because they clearly don't have a clue what they'd do with themselves, or aren't quite ready to give work up completely. Yet they are all financially secure enough that they don't need the amount of money they get from a FT round.

Have you considered if these oldies as you put it retired from the f/t duties at 60 RM would break up their duties to fit p/t contracted hours to save holiday pay remuneration and you as a part timer looking for more hours might not be better off.
Additionally not being able to claim their state pension until reaching 65 years of age and which is continually increasing does their pension benefits and lump sum give a reasonable standard of living which they have been accustomed to even being price indexx linked.
Your point on reducing their workload by reducing their working days could come under the MTSF buy down of hours but as HMRC want their pound of flesh from that payment amount it does not have the same incentive as it had in the past.
The amount employees who are now having to leave the business under IHR terms due to their anatomy being unable to sustain the workload and the times given to complete their workload is also continually increasing and this is a matter for mangement and union to address.

[Murdoch]

Have you considered if these oldies as you put it retired from the f/t duties at 60 RM would break up their duties to fit p/t contracted hours to save holiday pay remuneration and you as a part timer looking for more hours might not be better off.

First things first, the Union need to act on the Holiday pay issue. It's a f***ing disgrace. RM are on an extremely shaky legal footing when they say the "overtime is voluntary" and thus they don't need to pay equivalent during holidays. I'd encourage everybody to take it to grievance, and pester their union rep about the issue.

If that issue was sorted, like it should have been ages ago. The appeal of handing out only PT contracts would be significantly diminished.

I have considered that the FT rounds in my office will drop hours when the person on the round retires. Realistically, they'll probably drop by an hour or two, to between 37 & 36 hour duties, which is still more than what I'm on at the moment and that will have parity with FT within the next couple of years anyhow. If you're saying you think they'd drop down further than that and be completely split up into part-time duties, well it's highly unlikely in my office due to the nature of the locations. But, I'd enjoy the fight in my office if that does happen, I'd be seriously f***ing pissed off.

We've already lost loads of reserves because of the PT issue, we lost a reserve that was trained on about 15 rounds, they're now in another office doing a collection route on far more contracted hours. Treating your staff like s**t costs RM more in the long run, rewarding good staff with good contracts is business 101. I know Royal Mail management is dumb as s**t, but surely even they will understand that, eventually. Even if we have to repeatedly hit them on the noggin with it. And I'm the kind of c*** that's willing to do that.

[k979aaa]

Have you considered if these oldies as you put it retired from the f/t duties at 60 RM would break up their duties to fit p/t contracted hours to save holiday pay remuneration and you as a part timer looking for more hours might not be better off.

First things first, the Union need to act on the Holiday pay issue. It's a f***ing disgrace. RM are on an extremely shaky legal footing when they say the "overtime is voluntary" and thus they don't need to pay equivalent during holidays. I'd encourage everybody to take it to grievance, and pester their union rep about the issue.

If that issue was sorted, like it should have been ages ago. The appeal of handing out only PT contracts would be significantly diminished.

I have considered that the FT rounds in my office will drop hours when the person on the round retires. Realistically, they'll probably drop by an hour or two, to between 37 & 36 hour duties, which is still more than what I'm on at the moment and that will have parity with FT within the next couple of years anyhow. If you're saying you think they'd drop down further than that and be completely split up into part-time duties, well it's highly unlikely in my office due to the nature of the locations. But, I'd enjoy the fight in my office if that does happen, I'd be seriously f***ing pissed off.

We've already lost loads of reserves because of the PT issue, we lost a reserve that was trained on about 15 rounds, they're now in another office doing a collection route on far more contracted hours. Treating your staff like s**t costs RM more in the long run, rewarding good staff with good contracts is business 101. I know Royal Mail management is dumb as s**t, but surely even they will understand that, eventually. Even if we have to repeatedly hit them on the noggin with it. And I'm the kind of c*** that's willing to do that.

They only look at a spread sheet of where their next bonus is coming from so as you say they will lose staff and have new staff which they can bully into doing it sooner or later they will meet a bigger psychopath other than themselves who has nothing to lose!

[sequinn]

I am heading towards 64 and have worked for Royal Mail for 20 years. I am one of those women who will have to work until I am 66 before I can retire and collect my state pension. I would love to retire and hand my 32 hour job to a younger person but I just can’t afford to until my state pension kicks in. I find it hard going on heavy days and don’t look forward to Christmas at all.