Is it time to revive the 35hr week?

[Woody Guthrie]

Remember that?
We had a clear flight path and then we'll..we didn't.

With the USO reform on the table and fatigue being a major issue perhaps it's time for the union to demand a standard 35hr week for full-time equivalent, this would make more of the attendance patterns viable in most offices, help to mitigate fatigue and would if taken off the end mean that the working day doesn't necessarily mean finishing at dark o'clock.

It would also by happy coincidence elevate our hourly rate of pay away from the minimum wage level helping with legal compliance (see I'm thinking of the business).

In fact why stop at 35......

[kazardaimenu]

35 seems a workable figure for a 4 day week or 9 day foughtnight. Would be worth trialing and then pushing it through.

[ted_e_bear]

Well I'm up for that providing they create duties you can comfortably complete in the time provided.

[HattonNeil]

Royal mail have already reneged on the deal to go to 35 hours full time which would have meant an hourly wage increase for all of us. And new full time employee's are on a 40 hour contract.Can't see this happening to be honest.

[postslippete]

The time to really push the shorter working week is NOW. Get rid of the seasonal variations which are short-changing staff if they happen to have most of their annual leave in the summer and have a standard working week on a set number of reduced hours. Surely it's the best way forward for a 4 day week to work considering that there will be longer outdoor spans and savings made through automation.

[chickenwittle]

Well I'm up for that providing they create duties you can comfortably complete in the time provided.

I can never understand this comment when talk of a 35 hour week comes around, oh but I can’t complete now etc. so what , we have a start and finish time.

[clashcityrocker]

A move to a 35 hour week with no loss of pay is about a 5 - 6% pay increase but with no extra money in your pocket.
A move to a 35 hour week and an inflation busting pay rise? Sounds too good to be true.

[ted_e_bear]

Well I'm up for that providing they create duties you can comfortably complete in the time provided.

I can never understand this comment when talk of a 35 hour week comes around, oh but I can’t complete now etc. so what , we have a start and finish time.

I was suggesting less actual work to accommodate a shorter working week, surely that's a better scenario than the usual nothing that happened historically, pretty sure most people would like to have to do less work for the same pay.

[Jefferson Starfish]

Dreaming......

[chickenwittle]

Well I'm up for that providing they create duties you can comfortably complete in the time provided.

I can never understand this comment when talk of a 35 hour week comes around, oh but I can’t complete now etc. so what , we have a start and finish time.

I was suggesting less actual work to accommodate a shorter working week, surely that's a better scenario than the usual nothing that happened historically, pretty sure most people would like to have to do less work for the same pay.

It’s irrelevant because Royal Mail will always be looking for savings so shortening duties for a 35 hour week wouldn’t last long , they would soon start lapsing duties again so you will never have a doable duty, regardless of hours.

[Woody Guthrie]

A move to a 35 hour week with no loss of pay is about a 5 - 6% pay increase but with no extra money in your pocket.
A move to a 35 hour week and an inflation busting pay rise? Sounds too good to be true.

I don't see how one has to preclude the other.
As you point out yourself a shorter working week for full-time staff is cost neutral to the business as long as productivity is maintained and most studies have shown that this is the case, in mitigating fatigue it could also be argued that not only does it help to maintain productivity it also would have a positive impact on sick absence.

Although there would be a cost associated with part-time staff the union has made it clear that it doesn't believe the number of part-timers is sustainable under USO reform and believes that a predominantly full-time model works best, having that bar set at 35hrs makes it easier and more cost effective to achieve this aim.

[thedonkey]

I don't see how one has to preclude the other.
As you point out yourself a shorter working week for full-time staff is cost neutral to the business as long as productivity is maintained and most studies have shown that this is the case, in mitigating fatigue it could also be argued that not only does it help to maintain productivity it also would have a positive impact on sick absence.

How can productivity be maintained by a reduction in hours to 35, when deliveries can't be completed with the current hours?

[Woody Guthrie]

How can productivity be maintained by a reduction in hours to 35, when deliveries can't be completed with the current hours?

By improving the indoor productivity which lets be honest is a s**t show of inefficiency in most offices.

Deliveries don't have to get longer when the indoor gets shorter , the whole day can get shorter instead.

We've let Royal Mail drive the narrative on automation right from when sequenced mail became a thing that the only way to maintain full-time jobs was to increase deliveries, now I think most of us realise we've come to the end of the road with making duties longer, we need a change of direction.

[GRS]

How can productivity be maintained by a reduction in hours to 35, when deliveries can't be completed with the current hours?

By improving the indoor productivity which lets be honest is a s**t show of inefficiency in most offices.

Deliveries don't have to get longer when the indoor gets shorter , the whole day can get shorter instead.

We've let Royal Mail drive the narrative on automation right from when sequenced mail became a thing that the only way to maintain full-time jobs was to increase deliveries, now I think most of us realise we've come to the end of the road with making duties longer, we need a change of direction.

Dream on…….most of the stresses on delivery have come about since the shorter working week came in. Any responsible business would fit a person’s amount of work around their available working hours. RM have cut the working hours then increased the amount of work to be done in that time. The amount of stress this has caused people is beyond belief, I’m not just talking about walk lengths but what you do in a day such as - scam items during prep, less staff so more sorting, scanning on delivery, customer collects, age verification, later starts so scurrying round doing 1pm specials before starting delivery etc etc etc.
Now I know people will say just work your hours etc etc and not clear your work but the stress comes from dealing with just that and having to go to the COM EVERY day and having to go through the same conversations. Remember not everyone will find it easy to have that conversation and confrontation on a daily basis.

Basically if anyone thinks a shorter working week will happen or help people then IMO they are mistaken as all you’ll do is increase the stress.

[sweepster70]

A move to a 35 hour week with no loss of pay is about a 5 - 6% pay increase but with no extra money in your pocket.
A move to a 35 hour week and an inflation busting pay rise? Sounds too good to be true.

I don't see how one has to preclude the other.
As you point out yourself a shorter working week for full-time staff is cost neutral to the business as long as productivity is maintained and most studies have shown that this is the case, in mitigating fatigue it could also be argued that not only does it help to maintain productivity it also would have a positive impact on sick absence.

Although there would be a cost associated with part-time staff the union has made it clear that it doesn't believe the number of part-timers is sustainable under USO reform and believes that a predominantly full-time model works best, having that bar set at 35hrs makes it easier and more cost effective to achieve this aim.

It's not cost neutral to Royal Mail. We (Network drivers) get an extra hour's pay every time you loose an hour.