Shared duties am I responsible

[matthew68]

So my partner has been off sick for a few weeks and now covers guy is off, due to lack of staff like everywhere I’ve been told to fail my walk one day and don partner walk next and take tracked parcels for other walk then next day do opposite, I’ve had enough going over and told dom today that I have signed for my walk and should not have to keep doing two days Mail and partner round, he says I’ve signed for shared duty but is he technically correct as I’ve only actually signed for my duty. If it’s shared or not with no partner why am I having to keep covering his walk? Rep is on holiday at moment but I’ve told dom I’m not covering other walk anymore as I haven’t signed for it and refused to do it today which had double I just said get someone else to cover it and just did mine and finished on time, only some of other walk got done on overtime and he says I have to do it tomorrow or it will be a disciplinary, but when I signed for my walk why so I have to keep doing partner walk?

[Shirtbuttons]

Just do as instructed up to your finish time. I don’t look at it as my walk anymore. I just deliver wherever I’m told to until my finish time. I won’t go over either.

[PostalWorker13]

Regardless of if you have signed for the duty or not, you have a start time and a finish time.

You have absolutely no obligation to complete a workload that is unmanageable. If the workload cannot be done in your allocated hours and you do not want to work the overtime, then it is tough luck for them I’m afraid. What are they going to discipline you for, doing your job and finishing on time?

We have more and more people in our place giving up their overtime and starting to take their days off. It’s not like you get any thanks for it anyway!

Get the union on it anyway once he’s back, classic bully boy tactics!

[IloveMYredTROLLEY!]

Being asked to alternate between the van share frames sounds like a reasonable request to me.

However, overtime is optional. If you want to finish on time and feel the workload will take you over, having taken account of your paid meal relief (40mins for more than 7 hours and less than 9 hours1min), approach your lino and tell them. Ask them if they want you to prioritise anything within your contract hours and then do that to the best of your ability until it's time to head back, typically ~15mins plus any unused meal relief before the official end of your contract hours.

[Woody Guthrie]

The only thing I would say is how is the position throughout the rest of the office?

Speak to your rep and make sure people are not being refused overtime while you're being forced to struggle through this.

This type of deliberate failure should only occur if all other resourcing options have been exhausted, it shouldn't be used to save money and certainly shouldn't be normalised under the cover of a reasonable request.

[iHateD2Ds]

Be careful, your manager may take you down the conduct code for refusing a reasonable request.

It's demoralising I know getting hammered with two days mail every day but try and switch off ,take it steady and just work to time.

Some senior managers are deliberately understaffing Delivery Offices and relying on good will of the workforce to complete on OT.

[matthew68]

Ok thanks for replies I have stopped working my days off and now cutting off on time like you said just do my hours and soon go on strike as I’ve had enough of being put on like so many nowadays

[LaggyBand]

Mate you’ve gotta get outta your head “my job I signed for it”. Sorry. In these circumstances what your gaffer is asking is normal. All you can do really is work to time; or alternatively you could try the old “I’m willing to do his tracked on docket so long as you let me do my round first” or some variation of that. Or if you’re a docket fiend go with something like “my round first, then his tracked and half round on docket and I’ll alternate which half I take each day on his” (prepared to be knackered but making dat paper)