How hard do we actually work compared to other jobs

[themoog]

LOL at some of the sob stories on here!

I used to work nights in a craft bakery before I was a postie. I used to start at 6pm and would sometimes work through till 9am the next day. That's 15 hours. I regularly used to work, on average, over 60 hours a week, 6 days a week...and I was omly paid a flat wage of £200 per week before tax.

Now...I regularly go home at least an hour before my finish time every day (generally 2-3 hours on a Tuesday and Saturday), I rarely work above 50% of my capabilities and I get paid far more than I ever did when I was a Baker. In short, I now average 30 hours a week and get paid for 40.

The problem is that some people have been Posties for too long and if they were to go get a job somewhere else they'd soon realise how easy it is with Royal Mail.

[opgpat]

LOL at some of the sob stories on here!



Now...I regularly go home at least an hour before my finish time every day

Good for you but in our DO of 100+ there might be a small handfull who can say the same. Vast majority are out working hard/fast as they can go to get finished in time. Duties like your will be all gone v soon. And I'd question the standard of your delivery with those early finishes. Are you doing a missort run or shoving them in a box? Are you getting all your signatures? Are you dumping parcels on doorsteps? Overweight bags?

[opgpat]

I don't find "isolated out on your rounds" to be stressful.

Me neither what I meant was if u have a run in with lm just before going out you can be pissed off for 4hrs thinking about it. I can anyway!

[themoog]

LOL at some of the sob stories on here!



Now...I regularly go home at least an hour before my finish time every day

Good for you but in our DO of 100+ there might be a small handfull who can say the same. Vast majority are out working hard/fast as they can go to get finished in time. Duties like your will be all gone v soon. And I'd question the standard of your delivery with those early finishes. Are you doing a missort run or shoving them in a box? Are you getting all your signatures? Are you dumping parcels on doorsteps? Overweight bags?

I work in an SPDO. The largest round has 505 calls. The rural rounds all have less than 350 calls. There are 11 rounds (6 town and 5 rurals) of which I know all 11. We are only now getting RM2000 frames. It's not hard to see where I make the time up is it?

But you go ahead and question my standard of delivery...considering that in 7 years of doing the job I have never had a complaint against me, I never leave stuff on peoples doorsteps, I only sign for specials and recorded deliveries IF the customer has written to our office and given me permission to do so and overweight bags are not an issue because I either use a trolley or split the bags down and return to the office.

It's not a hard job...trust me.

[axeman]

bet you use your own car as well and come in early running where you should be walking jumping over fences etc, etc royal fail has far to many 'i can do it boss' types who regularly flout all h&s issues in order to make a bit of time .......This will soon be gone you will work your time and of course if you continue to make an hour or so royal fails lino's will fill that up to so the eventual outcome will be you doing more than everyone else !!!!

[Lounge Lizard]

Or maybe it's one of those SPDOs that doesn't see a manager from one year to the next.

[DGP1]

I am one of those lazy managers, as disgruntled call us. I work around 10 hours a day, every day. I am in before all of the staff and still here when most go home.

As for the job being hard, yes it is physically hard walking the streets with heavy bags of mail but it doesn't compare to being on a production line for eight hours a day with a 30 minute break. The money used to be poor at RM but jobs in factories pay a hell of a lot less. I would be prepared to take a delivery job rather than go back to a factory as I used to. I admit delivery work is far harder than it was when I started 23 years ago but once out of the door you are your own man/woman with nobody over your shoulder.

I'm sorry if I upset you with my sweeping statement about managers but in my office the managers are usually the last in and the first away plus 2 of them take every Saturday off and whenever they are there all they do is hide in their office drinking coffee and reading newspapers (I only know that because I had the misfortune to have light duties for a week and that really opened my eyes to how little they actually do).

[darth]

delivery wise i would say is physically demanding more so now we are absorbing more.indoor work is more high pressure and as the managers come under pressure it is putting more and more stress on the staff.compared to other places i used to work as a chemical weigher ,full face mask ,rubber suit for a leather works(sounds like a sexual perverts dream job) and the weights i used to shift were very heavy but done in short blastsand vey dirty.unlike postal delivery which is weights over a long period. i used to work in retail also to management grades and cannot believe the culture of management in royal mail which appears to thrive on isolating people ,nephotism and out and out favourtism for individuals 9in which the conduct code doesnt exist). if i was to start in royal mail now i doubt i would stick it as the newbies who dont know better and put up with a whole lot of sheete.however i will say one thing is we do deserve our money contrary to our chief executive.

[krussel]

I am one of those lazy managers, as disgruntled call us. I work around 10 hours a day, every day. I am in before all of the staff and still here when most go home.

As for the job being hard, yes it is physically hard walking the streets with heavy bags of mail but it doesn't compare to being on a production line for eight hours a day with a 30 minute break. The money used to be poor at RM but jobs in factories pay a hell of a lot less. I would be prepared to take a delivery job rather than go back to a factory as I used to. I admit delivery work is far harder than it was when I started 23 years ago but once out of the door you are your own man/woman with nobody over your shoulder.

Ive known some really good managers in my time, ones who more than earned my respect, who were not affraid to roll up their sleaves and take out a whole belated delivery if it became the only option left. I ve also seen managers treated poorly(and bullied) by their section managers to the point of them going long term sick and out the door

The newer type of management i am not quite so sure


Quote: Now...I regularly go home at least an hour before my finish time every day (generally 2-3 hours on a Tuesday and Saturday), I rarely work above 50% of my
capabilities and I get paid far more than I ever did when I was a Baker. In short, I now average 30 hours a week and get paid for 40. Quote

My friend i wish you the best luck and really hope your office can hang on to this way of working This is how i was working 10 years ago and i loved it


I ve been thinking about the changes in the job today and i think its the loss of 2 deliveries which has made it seem harder to me. Under 2 deliveries we had a canteen (now lost) which i would stop at around 9.30 am for a hot snack and a chat with the lads. It broke up the day into two halves. Even if you got a large 2nd mail the rounds were smaller so you did not walk so far.

[ramsay ladders]

Difficult question to answer as the same job is different to different people and how 'hard' u work is related to how much u enjoy a job I'd say.

But you can say physically it must be the most damaging daytoday job you can do. Couldn't count the number of guys with permanent limps or bad backs in our office. Mentally it can be very stressful just for the fact that you are isolated out on your rounds so can't de-stress with a chat or shared joke with workmates.

I actually find working on my own quite enjoyable but then I have had lone working jobs for the past 15 years so I guess that is what I am used to.

[islfor]

EASY......Do The Job Properly and Work Your Contracted Hours you will feel a lot better.
STOP coming in early
DO take a full meal break
STOP running
WEAR your seat belt at all times
NO mail in front of van (even to immediate delivery point)
WEIGH your bags (keep to the matrix given)
DONT run on delivery
CUT-OFF when your workload is unachievable
Keep to these guidelines given by ROYAL MAIL your job is easier....believe you me......stop being their goffer for more savings you fools !!!!!
:cfo :mfo :lfo

[opgpat]

But you go ahead and question my standard of delivery... I never leave stuff on peoples doorsteps,
It's not a hard job...trust me.

OK I see what's going on here - you are NOT doing the same job that most of us are doing! 350 delivery points?!!? My duty has 590 and it's very average in our DO. The pegasused ones are touching 700 I think, not sure. When your DO gets sorted out you will see what a hard job this can be. Would love to see your face when u get your first 700 drop round welcome to the club! You will start doorsteping packets then because it'll be the only way you will be able to finish on time.

[ramsay ladders]

EASY......Do The Job Properly and Work Your Contracted Hours you will feel a lot better.
STOP coming in early
DO take a full meal break
STOP running
WEAR your seat belt at all times
NO mail in front of van (even to immediate delivery point)
WEIGH your bags (keep to the matrix given)
DONT run on delivery
CUT-OFF when your workload is unachievable
Keep to these guidelines given by ROYAL MAIL your job is easier....believe you me......stop being their goffer for more savings you fools !!!!!
:cfo :mfo :lfo

Hopefully not being a niave newbie here but how does taking a full meal break affect things? The way I look at it is if I only take a 10 minute break then I get finished 30 minutes earlier. It is not affecting the job I do and my DOM knows I am doing this. I am still doing my contracted hours at the end of the day.

[Yahoorsur]

Very interesting replies to this question,there's obviously a difference of workload between some walks,in the dim and distant past,I worked as a Roof Tiler,and take it from me, at the time (25 years ago),that job was only second to being a brickie's labourer in terms of how phsysically demanding it was,running up ladders with 8 tiles on your shoulder,loading up roofs ,theres no comparison between what I do now and what I did then,there's no way on this green earth that I could go back to doing that job.
However one of my friends joined the police a few years ago,after finishing training and working for a few months,we were talking one night,and he said,that 'I will never have to work as hard again as i did with Royal Mail',now obviously police face challenges on a daily basis that we will never have to face,but here was a lad who had been 9 years a postie and was making a comparison betwwen the physical aspects of the job and reckoned that being a postie was hard work
My conclusion?,we work hard,but receive a good remuneration for that(always with the caveat ,that we deserve more,always more).I like the delivery side of things,you are on your own most of the time,and myself being a miserable wee git,prefer to work on my own.And if you do the job properly,watch the bag weights,dont take your car etc etc,then it really is a good job.

[vigilante]

I am one of those lazy managers, as disgruntled call us. I work around 10 hours a day, every day. I am in before all of the staff and still here when most go home.

As for the job being hard, yes it is physically hard walking the streets with heavy bags of mail but it doesn't compare to being on a production line for eight hours a day with a 30 minute break. The money used to be poor at RM but jobs in factories pay a hell of a lot less. I would be prepared to take a delivery job rather than go back to a factory as I used to. I admit delivery work is far harder than it was when I started 23 years ago but once out of the door you are your own man/woman with nobody over your shoulder.

yes factory work must be horrible.
As for working ten hours a day thats your choice!
Nobody over your shoulder when your out-----we have enough intimidation in the office for two and a half hours to make up for that.
i have also been followed out on the rounds especially when I couldnt complete!