This could have easily been resolved with a lot of common sense.
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Liverpool Echo
Royal Mail
Four Royal Mail posties were 'unfairly dismissed' over pub breaks with 'tea, coffee and cakes'
All four workers were offered compensation in what has been deemed "a damning criticism of Royal Mail management."
News
Edward Barnes Local Democracy Reporter
10:39, 22 Feb 2025
Royal Mail's Prenton Delivery Office where the workers were dismissed
Royal Mail's Prenton Delivery Office where the workers were dismissed(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Four postal workers at a Royal Mail delivery office in Prenton were unfairly dismissed in a row over work breaks linked to pubs in Wirral, a judge has found. Royal Mail said it has now reached a resolution over the case.
In 2023, a row broke out between Royal Mail and workers at its delivery office in Prenton after a number of postal workers were suspended for breaks at two Wirral pubs, the Caernarvon Castle and the Swan. This led to disruption to mail deliveries for weeks and the issue was raised by Oxton’s Liberal Democrat councillors and Birkenhead’s then-MP Mick Whitley.
Six of the 12 postal workers originally suspended were later sacked. However, this was later reduced to four workers following an appeal but the Communication Workers Union (CWU) still voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action. The LDRS originally reported 11 workers had been suspended, not 12, but this was due to one worker resigning during the process.
All four workers had “an unblemished employment record” and later appealed their dismissals. Following hearings in September and October 2024, Employment Judge Shotter decided all four workers had been dismissed unfairly and would be owed compensation.
Employment tribunal hearings were held over September and October 2024 with a judgment issued in December 2024. A remedy hearing was scheduled for February 27 and 28 2025 but Royal Mail said the case has now concluded.
Paul Martin had worked for Royal Mail for nearly 20 years, Robert Stewart had been there for 21 years, and Ian Vermiglio had been there for five. George Rogers was the longest serving and had been there for 44 years, first starting work for the company in 1979.
Councillor Stuart Kelly started a petition supporting the postal workers which was signed by hundreds
Councillor Stuart Kelly started a petition supporting the postal workers which was signed by hundreds
Royal Mail heard oral evidence from Jake Nurse, its operations performance lead as well as Rebecca Rees, the independent case manager who heard the appeals. Oxton councillor Stuart Kelly, who started a petition over the issue, said: “This is excellent news for the postal workers who were unfairly sacked for the offence of taking a break. 2,000 people signed a petition of support when they were suspended.
“The judgement is a damning criticism of Royal Mail management and it gives an insight into the low morale and pressures within the Prenton office.”
Postal workers were issued suspension letters on June 23 telling workers there had been further investigations into absence and accused them of acting intentionally to delay mail. Workers were told not to discuss details with colleagues.
After the suspensions, workers went to a nearby McDonald's and contacted the CWU for advice though this meeting was initially denied by some workers. The claimants said they had not opened the suspension letter yet but the tribunal deemed it reasonable management believed some staff had “tried to mislead a manager".
However the tribunal found issues within the process with workers treated differently and “confusing” evidence, adding Royal Mail’s “failures gives rise to a procedural and substantive unfairness falling outside the band of reasonable responses.”
Judge Shotter said he agreed with Royal Mail's submissions that “a considerable amount of duplication" in the four claimant’s written statements "casts doubt on the accuracy of the truthfulness of the information conveyed in their statements because they did not rely in the main on their own words.” However the judge was satisfied the postal workers' claims put forward were credible and sided in their favour.
Judge Shotter said: "It is unfortunate the witness statements do not appear to reflect the actual words of the individual. The claimants were cross examined on this and I was satisfied that the claimants gave some repetitive evidence due to the overlap of the facts, and the evidence they gave on disputed matters was largely credible when they used their own words and responded to questions.
"When it came to the issue of contributory fault I was not satisfied they had breached a management instruction on the balance of probabilities, but wholly satisfied the first, second and third claimant had been dishonest in the fact finding meeting."
With the exception of Mr Vermiglio, the other three workers had their compensation reduced by 25% due to initial denials about the meeting in McDonalds.
Royal Mail was criticised for no clear policy around breaks, blaming workers for social media posts they were not accountable for, confusing evidence which was “incomplete and non-existent” in one case, and unfair and unreasonable decisions.
The independent review process also failed to put a “fundamental unfairness right" in relation to the suspensions. Management were also criticised for jumping to conclusions about the purpose of the meeting held at McDonalds though this was not helped by the initial denials.
Judge Shotton also found employees were not liable for negative comments on social media and manager Jake Nurse “did not properly investigate or objectively take into account the historical background of postal workers meeting outside the office [before signing off] after their shift, including in the Caernarvon Castle, with the knowledge and approval of managers.
“Jake Nurse has totally disregarded the part played by managers who were either offering to meet employees at the Caernarvon Castle or turning a blind eye to the fact that meeting in the Caernarvon Castle was custom and practice to such an extent that cake and hot drinks were made available to employees.”
The tribunal found the Prenton delivery office was “poorly performing against a backdrop of redundancies, insufficient numbers of employees resulting in a backlog on delivering the mail and mental health concerns amongst employees was a serious health and safety concern as there had been a suicide." Judge Shotter also found “employees and managers did not always get on” with a “deteriorating relationship” between the two.
Up until October 2022, workers were entitled for a 40 minute break without informing managers. However from then, posties were provided with a list of approved places to take breaks while out on shift.
One of these was the Caernarvon Castle pub “who welcomed the postal workers by providing them with tea, coffee and cakes during their break” with no question of alcohol being consumed. Managers were aware of this and it became a popular stopping off point on the way back to the depot.
However by March 2023, the relationship between managers and postal workers soured and in June 2023, staff were told they could no longer take a break at the Caernarvon Castle but there was no reference reportedly made about other pubs or public car parks. Around 15 postal workers were told there had been complaints on social media about mail backlogs, which was later described as a “load of cobblers” by one worker.
Workers then moved to the car park opposite the Swan pub in Prenton which they believed to be a public car park. The tribunal said no reference had been made about this being out of bounds.
A complaint was then raised by manager Chris Nichol after he saw six to seven vans at The Swan to Mr Nurse. However the tribunal considered Mr Nurse “not independent and was biased against the claimants when he considered whether they were guilty of gross misconduct.”
The tribunal said data “reflected that all those present at the Swan car park were parked up for a shorter period of time than their allocated break, and as the Swan car park was on the way to the Prenton office there could be no question of intentionally delaying the mail.” Judge Shotter said there was no basis for this accusation and it should have cast doubt over Mr. Nichol's evidence.
The workers were dismissed on August 11, the day the LDRS broke the news story about the suspensions. A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We have reached a resolution with the claimants and the case has concluded.”.
