working for royal mail - any postmen/women here?

t3rm3y

so where is the future then? theres got to be something that will be sending peoples letters?
the physical work will nto be a problem - the hours are fine, i currently work 9-5.30 so if i only have to work 6 or 7hrs that is a perk
i have applied and did both assessments but was unsucessful. i guess i iwll just have ot keep trying then, but avoid the christmas tremp role it sounds. thanks peeps.

custardy

t3rm3y wrote: »

so where is the future then? theres got to be something that will be sending peoples letters?
the physical work will nto be a problem - the hours are fine, i currently work 9-5.30 so if i only have to work 6 or 7hrs that is a perk
i have applied and did both assessments but was unsucessful. i guess i iwll just have ot keep trying then, but avoid the christmas tremp role it sounds. thanks peeps.

The future? a casual/part time workforce
You say the hours are fine
well there are offices on 7am starts no,part timers on 9/10/11am and later starts
Don't assume for one minute that things in RM are fixed

want2bmortgage3

I wouldnt recommend it, most of the rounds are too big. they have been made bigger recently due to revisions (van sharing) and an increasing number of "tear-!!!!!!" usually young men who run around deliveries, jumping fences, walking over grass, leaving parcels on doorsteps, not getting signatures, etc etc. This makes the posties who do a proper job look slow, and take an hour or more longer than their duty time. Ok you might think, but getting paid the overtime has become difficult so you are likely to work over your time every day for nothing.

Thanet62

Take everything from the likes of "Custardy" with a pinch of salt, a typical union fixated dinosaur that riddle RM and have hamstrung every attempt at modernisation.

I have worked for RM for two years as a casual and the work is great and after 12 weeks your paid the same as the dinosaurs (which really upsets them). If you put your head down and crack on the time flies and the money is good...just because the system is moving to casual / part time doesn't mean NO JOBS. Get in and get on. Ignore those who only want the pay at the end of the month for little effort.

I have always said that at Royal Mail the only thing that appears to have changed since the 1970's are the cars in the carpark!

custardy

Thanet62 wrote: »

Take everything from the likes of "Custardy" with a pinch of salt, a typical union fixated dinosaur that riddle RM and have hamstrung every attempt at modernisation.

I have worked for RM for two years as a casual and the work is great and after 12 weeks your paid the same as the dinosaurs (which really upsets them). If you put your head down and crack on the time flies and the money is good...just because the system is moving to casual / part time doesn't mean NO JOBS. Get in and get on. Ignore those who only want the pay at the end of the month for little effort.

I have always said that at Royal Mail the only thing that appears to have changed since the 1970's are the cars in the carpark!

Well since you are throwing out the abuse
For one you prove my point. a casual workforce
no doubt you work in a Mail Centre?
whats your contract term?
I don't recall saying there were no jobs?

mazza111

A couple of points - Abbydog. 2 words. Cut off. Why in the name of God would you do any work without being paid for it?

Thanet - Actually, casual posties don't get the same money. They get a rise after 6 and then 12 months (at least that's what it was like when I was there). Pay at the end of the month? Are u management? Or is this another new thing custardly?


I must admit- I enjoyed when I was out and about but picked up an injury that left me indoors most of the time, I did enjoy the banter with the customers.


Keep applying when you see positions advertised. It's the only way to get through the application process.

And I sincerely hope Angard have got their act together for this Christmas

Thanet62

The Agency Working Directive of October 2011 now allows Casuals to earn the same a similar graded person after a 12 week qualifying period. So to answer Mazza111 you will get the same IF you are a casual postman employed by an agency after 12 weeks.
No I'm not Management and its just weekly paid so quaint and old fashioned I forgot people still get it.

Its obvious also in the postings from disgruntled posties that "going the extra mile" has no meaning n their universe where the rest of us have to prove our worth day in day out in a time of austerity.

I'm just glad some of you are not airline pilots, train drivers or god forbid surgeons who unlike you don't all down tools as soon as the factory bell goes.

Now IS the best time to join RM so anyone reading this should consider it and realise that a new broom is approaching. You might have to work for a living but as a previous post stated its better than the dole!

custardy

working for nothing is going the extra mile? how much unpaid work are you doing?

mazza111

Thanet62 wrote: »

The Agency Working Directive of October 2011 now allows Casuals to earn the same a similar graded person after a 12 week qualifying period. So to answer Mazza111 you will get the same IF you are a casual postman employed by an agency after 12 weeks.
No I'm not Management and its just weekly paid so quaint and old fashioned I forgot people still get it.
I'm just glad some of you are not train drivers airline pilots, or god forbid surgeons who unlike you don't all down tools as soon as the factory bell goes.
Its obvious also in the postings from disgruntled posties that "going the extra mile" has no meaning n their universe where the rest of us have to prove our worth day in day out in a time of austerity.

forbid surgeons who unlike you don't all down tools as soon as the factory bell goes.

Now IS the best time to join RM so anyone reading this should consider it and realise that a new broom is approaching. You might have to work for a living but as a previous post stated its better than the dole!

So a casual who has just been there 5 months won't get the same money as an old donkey as u so put it because RM don't get a payrise until they've been there 6 months and 12 months (IIRC)

Don't tell me about working overtime. I was doing 70 hours a week at RM during the run up to christmas, but I wasn't daft enough to do it for nothing. For every hour that you do unpaid, it's an hour less they put down that they need in the office. Why on earth should someone give up an hour of their time without being paid.....


It's up to RM to get the timings right of the duties. Having a pc program to work out speeds etc just doesn't work as has been proven by Abbydog. Everyone works at different speeds, and someone who's been in the job for 40 years may not now be able to walk as fast as a 20 year old. Come back and tell me in 40 years time that you can do the same job in the same time as a 20 yr old.

Although in theory van sharing should make things much easier, georoute and pegasus just don't work and needs major tweaking to make them work. If people are working unpaid overtime to do it then it's showing that the route is not right.

Keep in mind that these dinosaurs as u like to call them have been doing duties all on foot for years, even when there were 2 deliveries /day. I wonder who has it easy now

As I've said, I enjoyed my time with RM, really wasn't the job for me because of an underlying condition I didn't know I had. I'm glad I got out when I did.

want2bmortgage3

mazza is right, if one person is prepared to work for nothing, whether it's coming in early to start sorting, or staying out late delivering then this means that it is expected of anyone else who does that delivery round.

the geo route laptop program is a waste of time, we've had a bloke in the office sat on the laptop for several months, supposedly revising the jobs. at the end of the day they have decided to just split up an existing job and lump a bit of it on 10 other jobs. this means that there are 10 vans driving to this one estate every day to do about 30-50 calls each. does that makes sense?

finally, it's not a good job if you have opinions, any ideas/suggestions don't get acted on. i realised early on that a lot of time is wasted on van driving jobs, getting out of the van, opening gates, driving or walking up a long driveway, closing the gate again. why not encourage customers to fit a mail box by their gate, or ask them to leave gates open. if you have 45 calls with this arrangement and each one takes 1 min 30 to get to the door and back then that would save an hour.