LTB 166/25 – Latest Data for Raising Concerns Agreement

[POSTMAN]

https://www.cwu.org/ltb/ltb-166-25-late ... agreement/

LTB 166/25 – Latest Data for Raising Concerns Agreement
No. 166/2025

8 August 2025

Dear Colleagues,

Latest Data for Raising Concerns Agreement

Attached to this document is the latest data from Royal Mail associated with the Raising Concerns Agreement/process.

Included in this data are the figures up to and including 22nd of July 2025 and are the:

• Total number of cases raised since the launch last October

• The main reasons for the concern being raised

• The outcomes of the concerns

• The number of appeals

• The results of whether the Business are meeting timescale targets as set out in the agreement.

Clearly in sharing this data with everyone we realise this may generate further questions on how the Agreement/process is being applied and we would welcome feedback in advance of the 12 monthly review in October.

We are also aware of a system issue which needs to be addressed as part of that review including a substantial number of cases which were concluded but were not closed down properly from the system. These figures keep recurring in the monthly statistics and will not drop off until the end of the 12 months.

There are a number of cases which have been entered by individuals but have not had a category recorded yet. Whilst recognising there is room for improvement, we are encouraged by the figures for the targets on timescales. So, up to July the 22nd there is a 79% completion rate for cases which are being dealt with informally, with an 84.5% completion rate for cases being dealt with formally. In terms of the 14-day meeting target 80% of cases being dealt with informally have met this target with 94.5% of cases being dealt with formally meeting this target.

There is still room for improvement as detailed, however we do believe we are now getting a greater level of visibility on how cases are progressing which we have not had in the past.

In relation to correspondence sent in to the Department on this issue we have had a number which have highlighted Management’s misinterpretation of other agreements, for example Trimble, which are being raised by our members through this process. We have brought these to the attention of Royal Mail and they are being dealt with accordingly.

We do need to advise Branches of a change of wording in the investigation section of the formal stage bullet point 7.

The current wording is:

Following the formal investigation, the investigating manager will communicate the outcome to the employee raising the concern and to the employee responding to the concern giving their rationale for the decision. This will be set out clearly in a decision report which includes reference to how the evidence they gathered throughout the investigation supports their decision.

Which we have changed to this wording:

Following the formal investigation, the investigating manager will communicate the outcome to both the employee who raised the concern and the employee responding to the concern, providing the rationale for the decision. The employee who raised the concern will receive an outcome letter and a decision report outlining the rationale for the outcome. The employee responding to the concern will receive an outcome letter that includes the rationale relevant to their involvement. In both cases, the rationale should reference how the evidence gathered during the investigation supports the decision.

The reason for this change was because the individual responding to the concern only received an outcome letter, whereas in future they will receive a full rationale for the decision reached. This was especially important should cases move to discipline.

This anomaly was brought to our attention from a Branch and we are grateful to them for pointing this out to us in order for us to rectify.

In conclusion we believe the process is generally working well. We have recognised areas for improvement as we move towards the first 12 monthly review and as such, we would welcome feedback from Branches.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Bobby Weatherall Acting Assistant Secretary email hmaughan@cwu.org or lpietrzykowska@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Bobby Weatherall
Acting Assistant Secretary

[tansorboy]

I would like to raise a concern about the whole of Royal Mail.

[Tiggy76]

I would like to raise a concern about the whole of Royal Mail.

[Subman]

I would like to raise a concern about raising concerns.

From experience the process goes like this,

OPG raises concern
OPG gives a statement via a phone or video call
Raising Concerns person goes to (normally) manager.
Manager gives statement
Raising Concerns person believes manager.
Raising Concerns person looks for ways to make the concerns disappear.
OPG is unhappy
OPG makes an appeal
Appeals manager repeats the process of believing manager and bluffs their way so the issue disappears.

Raising Concerns; Concerns

Cases should be raised face to face.

The Raising Concerns person should not limit the investigation to an OPG making a statement and the manager making a statement and then a decision is made. There should be a greater degree of back and forth between the OPG and the Raising Concerns person.

Even though the process is flawed I still believe that individuals should raise concerns through this process. It can provide a paper trail, particularly in relation to unacceptable behaviour or pressure from managers which may contribute to an incident or accident.

[Hyrrokkin]

The whole process is a scam - a box ticking exercise they have to follow by the law but cover up most of the time.

A complete joke

[Subman]

The whole process is a scam - a box ticking exercise they have to follow by the law but cover up most of the time.

A complete joke

[Mr Rush]

Some proverbs that come to mind:

Sticking one's head above the parapet.
Painting a target on one's back.
Don't rock the boat.
If you stand up like a nail you will be hammered down.

etc, etc, et cetera.

[makingsounds]

Same old same old, managers investigating managers. Totally corrupt system of managers circling the wagons around each other.