RMCtv : Flexible hours - your questions answered plus important detailed attachments

[clashcityrocker]

... i dont do o-time so cannot be forced to go over

You can if there is a collective agreement that says you can.

[postieblueshirt]

F**K OFF!!!!

[1560loopsayear]

The worst aspect of all the impositions they want to bring into play...it's completely unworkable and you'd never be able to take time off for all your 'over-banked' hours, they would just end up paying you overtime. It's hard enough to get any annual leave outside your allocated choices. No thanks... I like to know exactly what my weekly hours and start/finish times are, and this over everything else will get the from me. Probably what they ultimately want.

[roman]

Bring this in and they’ll be a mass exodus which is probably what they want, especially the older crew.

[postslippete]

The worst aspect of all the impositions they want to bring into play...it's completely unworkable and you'd never be able to take time off for all your 'over-banked' hours, they would just end up paying you overtime. It's hard enough to get any annual leave outside your allocated choices. No thanks... I like to know exactly what my weekly hours and start/finish times are, and this over everything else will get the from me. Probably what they ultimately want.

Thats the main reason why its not very "flexible"

You bank all these additional hours for them but in return they can't guarantee you the time off when you want it!

[denhamhoop]

Let's see when it comes to booking time off which Royal Mail want me to book around 18 months in advance for most of it. Yet they will decide how many hours I am working in any given week in 4 weeks in advance how will I ever know exactly how many hours I am going to need. Will Mystic Meg be doing the annual leave at each office or will my manager be using Tea Leaves and Heather to predict the figure I shall need. This is a company that is shocked every week that the bloke who works next to me is on a Rolling Day off each week yet cannot predict what day it happens.
Totally unworkable I hope if this ever comes to light the extremely thick early starters and run arounds might finally stop working for nothing. It's not just their own throats they cut with their actions

[SMS1969]

I’m confused. If you remove daily absorption to ensure early finish in summer, RM will still be paying overtime to clear uncovered deliveries (from holidays). If the idea is to ensure everything is done every day, how are they saving any money?

I think you will build up a few hours ‘credit’ up to a yet unknown maximum. After the maximum amount of credit they then start paying o/t. I might be wrong though and stand to be corrected

[Hyrrokkin]

Reading all that Q&A bullshit made me realize they got a few 5yr olds,some paper and crayon and made this rubbish up.
What a complete load of unworkable,convoluted made up s**t
Of course this is all worked out in RM favour

[postieblueshirt]

I’m confused. If you remove daily absorption to ensure early finish in summer, RM will still be paying overtime to clear uncovered deliveries (from holidays). If the idea is to ensure everything is done every day, how are they saving any money?

I think you will build up a few hours ‘credit’ up to a yet unknown maximum. After the maximum amount of credit they then start paying o/t. I might be wrong though and stand to be corrected

This is the part I don't get..what if you don't want overtime? Is it now going to be mandatory to work/take overtime?

[yubin282]

Does anyone work in these mythical offices where people get finished hours early in the summer? Our office is that stretched that half the days the duties that we are meant to absorb don't get done as there's no time.

I noticed there was no answer to the question about delivering under street light. It can be dark up here at 3pm in the winter. He has no clue about the health and safety risk of being out when it gets dark. There are so many potential trip and slip hazards that can't be seen. And you can bet anything that any accident will be our fault.

There's a a few in my office who are done before 11 on Mondays (actual finish time 2.15pm)

Aided by their partner coming in 90 minutes early.

Meanwhile people like myself are prepping 2 part timers who come in bang on time, so i have to packet bags etc (fair enough i have time)

So as i do that others are already leaving.

Then i go round and finish my own duty and tie it up, then its break time.

So before i leave the office there already at least 60 minutes ahead of me.

[DGH]

I’m confused. If you remove daily absorption to ensure early finish in summer, RM will still be paying overtime to clear uncovered deliveries (from holidays). If the idea is to ensure everything is done every day, how are they saving any money?

The idea isn't to save money on any given day. It's to ensure all mail is delivered every day with the minimum possible amount of overtime being paid over a period (and allowing for offices to be 'run lean' - ie with not enough hours, so that other costs can be kept down).

It's just lose-lose for us.

If you save half an hour on a Tuesday, that's just time they'll get you to work back later. If you hardly ever make any time, it's no skin of RM's nose - they'll allow you to bank 10 hours and just pay excess over that.

You've also got to bear in mind that this won't just be the early finishers getting more work, our glorious leader is talking about 'gold standard' performance for delivery. There's also the spectre of you overrunning your agreed overtime and not getting paid for the excess (and don't think that any form of 'cutting off procedure' is in their thinking. It isn't). And if you bring stuff back, Wilful Delay is right there ready to be deployed.

What it realistically means is that if you have a theoretical 9 hour day in winter that starts at 9am, you won't ever be able to bank on finishing by 6pm, you'll have to anticipate going over. And some days you could be going heaps over, maybe an hour and a half or more at Christmas. This will destroy any reasonable ability you have to plan your day - you'll have to presume your finishing time could be an hour after it's meant to be, and you'd probably be wise to allow that you might go past even that . . . but don't worry. RM will pay you non-pensionable overtime should it come to that. You can use that overtime towards paying for childcare, or getting a take away because you're too f****d to go shopping, or whatever you want. It stinks. It's the most dangerous part of the entire 'package' in my view. Anyone who'd agree to this, even in return for 10% and £1000 is mad unless they have no family or any social life to speak of.

[mikep]

To all you idiots , full timers , part timers , floats or reserves who start work early , run around on your duty to either finish early or do ghost overtime within your paid hours , and dont take your breaks.
Thank you for corrupting the system. Your selfishness over the years has corrupted the duty times, increased absorption amounts and will impact greatly on the shorter summer days in this new system. RM will take full advantage of your recorded delivery times to justify the shorter days so that we are expected to work 12 hour days in the autumn/winter.
We have moaned on this site for years about you cretins. You (and we) are about to suffer from your actions.

[kazardaimenu]

''Annual leave will continue to be
booked in hours, the number of hours
that equal a day’s holiday will vary

seasonally so you will find any non-
peak holiday will use less of the holiday

hours and holiday at busier times
would use more of the annual holiday
hours allocation. The positive is that
the hours will go further in the summer
when the company is less busy
increasing the number of potential
holiday days.''

But no lapsing. Nah they'll be paying overtime hand over fist to get all the walks out in the summer.

[yubin282]

To all you idiots , full timers , part timers , floats or reserves who start work early , run around on your duty to either finish early or do ghost overtime within your paid hours , and dont take your breaks.
Thank you for corrupting the system. Your selfishness over the years has corrupted the duty times, increased absorption amounts and will impact greatly on the shorter summer days in this new system. RM will take full advantage of your recorded delivery times to justify the shorter days so that we are expected to work 12 hour days in the autumn/winter.
We have moaned on this site for years about you cretins. You (and we) are about to suffer from your actions.

Well said.

[yubin282]

I’m confused. If you remove daily absorption to ensure early finish in summer, RM will still be paying overtime to clear uncovered deliveries (from holidays). If the idea is to ensure everything is done every day, how are they saving any money?

The idea isn't to save money on any given day. It's to ensure all mail is delivered every day with the minimum possible amount of overtime being paid over a period (and allowing for offices to be 'run lean' - ie with not enough hours, so that other costs can be kept down).

It's just lose-lose for us.

If you save half an hour on a Tuesday, that's just time they'll get you to work back later. If you hardly ever make any time, it's no skin of RM's nose - they'll allow you to bank 10 hours and just pay excess over that.

You've also got to bear in mind that this won't just be the early finishers getting more work, our glorious leader is talking about 'gold standard' performance for delivery. There's also the spectre of you overrunning your agreed overtime and not getting paid for the excess (and don't think that any form of 'cutting off procedure' is in their thinking. It isn't). And if you bring stuff back, Wilful Delay is right there ready to be deployed.

What it realistically means is that if you have a theoretical 9 hour day in winter that starts at 9am, you won't ever be able to bank on finishing by 6pm, you'll have to anticipate going over. And some days you could be going heaps over, maybe an hour and a half or more at Christmas. This will destroy any reasonable ability you have to plan your day - you'll have to presume your finishing time could be an hour after it's meant to be, and you'd probably be wise to allow that you might go past even that . . . but don't worry. RM will pay you non-pensionable overtime should it come to that. You can use that overtime towards paying for childcare, or getting a take away because you're too f****d to go shopping, or whatever you want. It stinks. It's the most dangerous part of the entire 'package' in my view. Anyone who'd agree to this, even in return for 10% and £1000 is mad unless they have no family or any social life to speak of.

Then we get in to the classic argument,

DOM - "your single and don't have any kids, you might as well just work. What are you gonna do all day?"

ME - "what's it got to do with you"