ANNOUNCEMENT : ALL OF ROYAL MAIL'S EMPLOYMENT POLICIES (AGREEMENTS) AT A GLANCE (Updated 2021)... HERE
ANNOUNCEMENT : PLEASE BE AWARE WE ARE NOT ON FACEBOOK AT ALL!
Meal Relief...??
-
razor
- Posts: 132
- Joined: 05 May 2009, 15:29
- Gender: Male
- Location: Rockin' all over the world
Re: Meal Relief...??
Me and my mate have ours once we have bagged up, we are pretty fast at throwing off so we get bagged up then sit on our frames eating our butties whilst the rest of the DO are still throwing off/bagging up. We normally have about 15-20 mins then f**k off out on delivery.
-
redlineseason
- Posts: 5
- Joined: 09 Nov 2009, 22:31
- Gender: Male
Re: Meal Relief...??
Royal Mail are dead sneaky. Nobody even informed me about breaks when I joined. Would have me working through it if I hadn't asked about it.
Right. I just need this clearing up. A few questions!
I am on a 20 hour contract. BUT because of the nature of my walk (lots of businesses etc) there is a lot to prep, it takes a long time to tie up and a long time to deliver. So our management asked me to come in at 9 every day, and they'd pay me that extra hour. So for starters, I don't know if that means that that is one 5 hour attendance, or only counts as a 4 hour attendance, due to the extra hour being overtime. 20 minute break and 30 minute break are different kettles of fish, so it'd be handy to know!
However, 5 hours still isn't enough, so I usually end up going over by around an hour. My manager can't understand this (however much I try to break down how long things take to do...). I'm going to start cutting off at 2 and letting them deal with that extra hour's delivery in an attempt to make them listen that the duty is too long. So if I start at 9, take 20 minute's break, 1 hour 30 in prep/bundling etc, take 5 minutes to get back the office at the end of the duty, I should only be taking out 3 hours and 5 minutes of delivery in order to finish at 2, right?
Right. I just need this clearing up. A few questions!
I am on a 20 hour contract. BUT because of the nature of my walk (lots of businesses etc) there is a lot to prep, it takes a long time to tie up and a long time to deliver. So our management asked me to come in at 9 every day, and they'd pay me that extra hour. So for starters, I don't know if that means that that is one 5 hour attendance, or only counts as a 4 hour attendance, due to the extra hour being overtime. 20 minute break and 30 minute break are different kettles of fish, so it'd be handy to know!
However, 5 hours still isn't enough, so I usually end up going over by around an hour. My manager can't understand this (however much I try to break down how long things take to do...). I'm going to start cutting off at 2 and letting them deal with that extra hour's delivery in an attempt to make them listen that the duty is too long. So if I start at 9, take 20 minute's break, 1 hour 30 in prep/bundling etc, take 5 minutes to get back the office at the end of the duty, I should only be taking out 3 hours and 5 minutes of delivery in order to finish at 2, right?
-
lainey
- Posts: 178
- Joined: 26 Sep 2009, 22:49
- Gender: Female
Re: Meal Relief...??
do the full timers not double prep in your office ?
-
lainey
- Posts: 178
- Joined: 26 Sep 2009, 22:49
- Gender: Female
Re: Meal Relief...??
you must be covering a full time shift if it takes 5hrs to deliver , you are on a 20hr cotract so they are taking the piss 
-
coxie
- EX ROYAL MAIL
- Posts: 1336
- Joined: 09 Oct 2009, 14:57
- Gender: Male
Re: Meal Relief...??
redline season, you take your break and then you take out however much your manager asks of you, but if you feel its too much inform him, if he insists take it out and when your finish time comes you cut off and take it back if he wont let you book anymore OT. Remember to cut off in time to allow you to travel back and clear up to take you to your finish time, so cut off 15 to 20mins early depeding on how long it takes you.
-
redlineseason
- Posts: 5
- Joined: 09 Nov 2009, 22:31
- Gender: Male
Re: Meal Relief...??
It's a 4-4 hour 15 minute walk depending on how heavy it is. I have an e-HCT.
The story behind it is horrendous actually. To me, at least :p
When I started, I slotted straight into a vacant walk. A very good walk. About the right length, nice area, nothing really bad to say about it. After the last walk changes nearly a year ago, I was taken off it. As the walks were then allocated by seniority, I was left to just cover whatever else was around. Some people love that, but I hated it and just wanted my own walk. Then I was offered this e-HCT walk, which was grand. Much shorter delivery span than a normal walk, but much longer prep/tying up time. All in all, what was left for me after it had been thrown in by a full timer was a perfect 4 hour duty. The offer of that was a proper carrot under my nose, so I took it. Then after about two months, in his infinite wisdom, the same manager to offer me the walk decided that my delivery time needed to be increased by an hour to bring it into line with other walks(ignoring my longer prep time), by moving a couple of walks around and giving me some more to do. He wanted me to come in two hours earlier to compensate for it. Which I refused. But the offer was basically I come in the extra hour for it and get paid, and that should cover the extra hour of delivery, or they'd find someone else to do it. I didn't really want to work the extra hour, but I also didn't want to go back to covering other people's walks, not knowing where I'd be going to when I got up every day, and not knowing when my days off were sometimes until the Monday of the week. So I've been shafted by them on it. Dangled that carrot, then whipped it away once they had me where they wanted me.
Only in reality, that extra hour doesn't cover the extra 'hour' of the walk. A light day for me finishes at half 2. A heavy one at 3:45. Only I didn't mind because I do really need the money, and an extra 8 hours a week was something really hard to turn down. Recently I've started to grow really weary of it, and after 6 months of constantly badgering the manager about this 'new' walk not working, nothing at all has happened. He just ignores it, or suggests ways to make it work (which never do) but won't admit that it was just a bad decision. It's like he's trying to hammersmash a square peg through a round hole rather than backing down. Even our Union rep has pretty much admitted that he knows they won't change it and there's nothing he can do. I need the money, but I also need my time back - the hours are what attracted me to the job. So if he won't take the extra off the walk and listen to me, then I'll take it off myself by cutting off every day. It's the only bargaining power I have left really - hopefully they'll realise the problem when they're left with 75 minutes of delivery to do themselves every day. Though they'll likely just toss me back into the cover duties, and find someone else who'll work without question to take my spot. That's why I need to know exactly how much time I have for breaks so I can cut off at the right time. It's a shame because the AWFUL management of this company are putting me on the verge of quitting a job I actually used to quite enjoy due to ignoring and belittling me.
The story behind it is horrendous actually. To me, at least :p
When I started, I slotted straight into a vacant walk. A very good walk. About the right length, nice area, nothing really bad to say about it. After the last walk changes nearly a year ago, I was taken off it. As the walks were then allocated by seniority, I was left to just cover whatever else was around. Some people love that, but I hated it and just wanted my own walk. Then I was offered this e-HCT walk, which was grand. Much shorter delivery span than a normal walk, but much longer prep/tying up time. All in all, what was left for me after it had been thrown in by a full timer was a perfect 4 hour duty. The offer of that was a proper carrot under my nose, so I took it. Then after about two months, in his infinite wisdom, the same manager to offer me the walk decided that my delivery time needed to be increased by an hour to bring it into line with other walks(ignoring my longer prep time), by moving a couple of walks around and giving me some more to do. He wanted me to come in two hours earlier to compensate for it. Which I refused. But the offer was basically I come in the extra hour for it and get paid, and that should cover the extra hour of delivery, or they'd find someone else to do it. I didn't really want to work the extra hour, but I also didn't want to go back to covering other people's walks, not knowing where I'd be going to when I got up every day, and not knowing when my days off were sometimes until the Monday of the week. So I've been shafted by them on it. Dangled that carrot, then whipped it away once they had me where they wanted me.
Only in reality, that extra hour doesn't cover the extra 'hour' of the walk. A light day for me finishes at half 2. A heavy one at 3:45. Only I didn't mind because I do really need the money, and an extra 8 hours a week was something really hard to turn down. Recently I've started to grow really weary of it, and after 6 months of constantly badgering the manager about this 'new' walk not working, nothing at all has happened. He just ignores it, or suggests ways to make it work (which never do) but won't admit that it was just a bad decision. It's like he's trying to hammersmash a square peg through a round hole rather than backing down. Even our Union rep has pretty much admitted that he knows they won't change it and there's nothing he can do. I need the money, but I also need my time back - the hours are what attracted me to the job. So if he won't take the extra off the walk and listen to me, then I'll take it off myself by cutting off every day. It's the only bargaining power I have left really - hopefully they'll realise the problem when they're left with 75 minutes of delivery to do themselves every day. Though they'll likely just toss me back into the cover duties, and find someone else who'll work without question to take my spot. That's why I need to know exactly how much time I have for breaks so I can cut off at the right time. It's a shame because the AWFUL management of this company are putting me on the verge of quitting a job I actually used to quite enjoy due to ignoring and belittling me.