Pay rise FAQ's - Royal Mail version

[POSTMAN]

Pay Rise FAQs 160622.pdf

Q&A: 2% Pay Rise for Staff

What is the scope of the lump sum and pay award?
This arrangement covers colleagues in CWU represented grades across Royal Mail Group Ltd
(Royal Mail, Parcelforce and Fleet). It does not cover other group companies such as Property
and Facility Services Ltd, or Angard.

Payment of the lump sum
When will I receive the lump sum?
CWU grade colleagues will receive this in their July 2022 payroll. This means 1st of July if paid weekly or 30th July if paid monthly.

Why am I receiving a lump sum?
To be able to pay quickly, we will pay everyone a lump sum advance, the equivalent to a 2% pay increase on base pay for the period 1st April 2022 to 31st August 2022 for monthly pay, and the period 4 th April 2022 to 28 th August 2022 for weekly pay (21 weeks). This is a non-pensionable
lump-sum subject to tax and National Insurance.

How have you calculated the lump sum?
Basic pay multiplied by 2% multiplied by 21 weeks or 5 months.

Example calculation for OPG on national max basic pay rate:
£458.04 x 2% = £9.16 x 21 =£192.38
This will be pro rated for part time against contractual hours.

I’ve been paid £150, my colleague has received £200, why is that?
Everyone will be paid a lump sum advance that is equivalent to a 2% of their base pay as at the
13th of June 2022. If you work part time or on different incremental pay points this will generate
different lump sum calculations.

Is it possible that you overpay me in the lump sum and claim it back later?
We are calculating the lump sum based on a simple calculation to make payment quickly, there
may be instances where the lump sum is more than the value of the arrears due to unforeseen
individual circumstances, but these are expected to be very rare.

Will you take the lump sum back when the pay award is implemented in full?
The pay award for monthly is from the 1st April 2022, the pay award for weekly is from the 4th April
2022. The lump sum is an advance so we can make payment quickly. It will not be a precise
calculation of your pay increase. When the pay award is implemented in full there will be
readjustments to your pay to consider your individual circumstances (including pensions,
allowances, supplements, overtime).

Does the lump sum include my allowances, supplements and overtime?
No, on basic pay you will continue to receive your allowances, supplements and overtime as per
current rates.

Why does the lump sum not include agency workers?
We can’t pay an advance lump sum to agency workers because they do not have fixed hours of
work or pay. However, in line with our legal obligations we will be flowing through the 2% uplift to
our agency rates and we are working with our agency suppliers to facilitate this.
Implementation of the pay award

What does the 2% increase include?
When we implement the pay award for each person, this will include all relevant allowances,
supplements, and overtime/ scheduled attendance, etc., as well as basic pay.

How will I know when this has been implemented?
We will keep you up to date with the progress and your basic pay will increase. You will see the
increase in your payslip along with any adjustments and the 2% apply to the relevant allowances,
supplements, overtime/scheduled attendance, etc.

Are you forcing this on us?
We have been listening to the fact that many of our people are feeling the impact of the cost of
living now. We also know you have been waiting for more than two months for a pay deal to be
agreed. Given the exceptional times we are in, we have taken the unusual step to pay you an
advance of the 2% pay award in July 2022, with the full pay award implemented at a later date,
backdated to April 2022.
But to be clear, we want to pay more. To do that we need to agree the changes we need to pay
for further pay increases.

Next steps with CWU

Is this the end of the pay talks?
I am sorry to say that the pay talks including under the DRP process have now been exhausted.
We have further talks with the CWU next week to discuss change alone that are needed. We really
hope the talks will progress and ultimately lead to a way of giving our people more.
If subsequent talks collapse, and there is strike action, will you withdraw the 2% pay increase?
No, this is an unconditional offer

What’s happened to the 5.5% pay increase?
As you will be aware, we made an offer to the CWU of a package worth up to 5.5% this year for
CWU grade colleagues. During the negotiations we moved on our original position and made a
2% unconditional offer. However, we told the CWU up to a further 3.5% was available subject to
us agreeing a series of changes and a new ‘above and beyond’ bonus. We were not able to agree
those changes.

Why are you ignoring the CWU?
We are not ignoring the CWU. We have been discussing pay and change with them for some
time. We have scheduled further talks with the CWU next week to discuss change alone and we
really hope to make progress on the changes we need to enable us to pay more.
Will the CWU ballot for industrial action still go ahead?
That is a decision for CWU.

What happens to the ‘strings’?
The 2% is unconditional. We have further talks with the CWU next week to discuss the changes
that are needed. We really hope to make progress on the changes we need to enable us to pay
more.

Will the ‘strings’ also be forced on us? When?
We have scheduled further talks with CWU on change alone and we want to reach an agreement.

If a further pay rise is negotiated, how far will it be backdated?
This would be discussed with CWU as part of our talks.

Additional support available
RMCtv : Zareena 'Just get yourself a loan' Brown : Providing our people with support in times of need

[wazer]

On a 35hr week does that work out about £1.50 a day.. WALOB

[citypostie]

The worrying one there is about the strings being forced on us! Not a straight yes but it might as well have been

[bigal383]

f**k u Royal Mail the streets we go it’s disgusting the way your treating your staff and u think u won’t get a massive yes vote

[toonshola]

The worrying one there is about the strings being forced on us! Not a straight yes but it might as well have been

Yep it’s clear they will go through the motions of talking to the union for a few weeks then just force this all on us regardless. Unprecedented and really worrying times.

[Duesouth]

They can stick there 2% pay rise. It's not going to make any difference in the current climate. Still voting yes for strike action as royal mail will walk all over us, and implement a lot of working conditions that will be worse than what they are right now.

[daveyeff]

why are we even having further talks. they've made it crystal clear of the contempt they have shown the workforce. just get the ballot out and f**k em.

[2yearpostie]

Probably best to start and get our heads around what they want, Do i want to work seasonal hours, start at 10am and work 1 in 7 Sundays?, of course not. But I fear a lot of job losses will be coming soon in other industries with the interest rises and we all still have bills to pay.

I just hope that the union can sort it so we only have to meet them half way, maybe a limited amount of season flex (30 mins each way), start times only pushed back by 1 hour and Sundays maybe 1 every 3 months?

[derekm]

£9.16 before tax cheers Royal Mail for your generosity. In a total different planet they live.

[fb1969]

They have missed an FAQ.

Why is the original offer being touted as being 5.5% when the 1.5% cannot apply to the whole financial year? The offer wasn't even made until around two months after the financial year, which means that it can never have applied to the whole financial year. Simon, why do you keep repeating this lie when basic mathematics exposes you as a liar?

As an extra lie. Why is the 2% "bonus" discretionary and not contractual? I can take parcels to a neighbour at my discretion - which means that if I don't want to, then I won't. Given your record as a liar, I can only assume that you will probably decide that you don't want to pay it at all.

So overall, why is this offer being given as 5.5% when it is possibly worth less than 3%.

Simon, you are liar - and not a very good one at that.

[TopperGas]

Probably best to start and get our heads around what they want, Do i want to work seasonal hours, start at 10am and work 1 in 7 Sundays?, of course not. But I fear a lot of job losses will be coming soon in other industries with the interest rises and we all still have bills to pay.

I just hope that the union can sort it so we only have to meet them half way, maybe a limited amount of season flex (30 mins each way), start times only pushed back by 1 hour and Sundays maybe 1 every 3 months?

You only have to assume Simon hopes some staff will think this way, however, the truth is that unemployment is at record lows and there's a particular demand for the more experience workforce, if RM do want to make job cuts they are going to have to pay substantial redundancy payments.

[Edward Hunter]

They are coming for everything they want, big time. They see the squeeze on fuel, food and energy bills as the perfect time to attack our terms and conditions. They know we will be under more financial stress, and hope that this will harm our ability to strike. Disgusting and cynical.An absolute disgrace.

[tractorboy2]

why are we even having further talks. they've made it crystal clear of the contempt they have shown the workforce. just get the ballot out and f**k em.

The union shouldn't even bother turning up. The talks are on change alone.
I don't even want to see any joint statements on anything until this is resolved.

[k979aaa]

Why in gods name do they need us to work Sunday and sick pay and allowances cut's why not just take staff on who will sign for these conditions not impose it on us all simon thompson is more of a dictator than Adolf Hitler. He should reward the staff with the same percentage 3.6% which he gave himself or does he think he is better or more entitled than all of us!