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Employees who are unable to work because they have caring responsibilities resulting from coronavirus (COVID-19) can be furloughed. For example, employees that need to look after children can be furloughed.
With regard to the Tory party and their new found liking for socialism, I don’t expect that to last long. Even now we have got the usual loons in the party calling for Brexit to carry on full steam ahead!
Broch, I'm not sure that RM qualify for the furlough scheme as we are still fully operational although I totally agree with your sentiment.
I have friends and family who ask what I'm up to and I tell them that life hasn't really changed for me. Some of my friends are on furlough and some are gathering the data/accounts to claim furlough pay and some don't qualify which could be problematic when their savings run out.
By my reckoning (analysing the data from other countries) we may be in lockdown until the end of May which is going to cause a lot of pain mentally and financially.
Hopefully when this is all over and Boris has recovered there will be a total U-turn by the Tory government on cuts to funding for all NHS services. This pandemic has put a spotlight on just how underfunded our NHS trusts are and also how much we rely on the good nature of our medical staff to put in the extra work to keep the country running. We also need to be kinder and more tolerant of each others needs.
What needs to be taken on board that a significant number of absences, Covid 19 related are not taken as sick days. We have colleagues who are taking unpaid leave, using holiday leave to exclude themselves from the workplace.
Many feel that it is an unsafe environment as no delivery office can be set up so that social distancing works. Others have family with underlying health issues that needs them to be shielded. In this case RM will only offer unpaid leave. And others have child care issues, which again RM will only offer unpaid leave or use your holidays.
The obvious answer would be the government backed furlough scheme but RM seem to be reluctant to follow government advice!!!
All in all the workforce are becoming very angry with senior managements intransigence and although posties in general will keep on working the future for industrial relations when this crisis is over does not bode well. IMHO I think the only way to get the workforce back on board is for Rico Back to step down.
@ telso.
You forgot to factor in stupidity.
No. I'm not talking about you.
The front line employees who continually come in up to an hour early each day, even on "light days."
Not forgetting of course the lack of meal breaks taken.
Your figures need adjusting. But I would suggest you do some more research.
Teslo, "the RMG operation was ever only running at 60-70 % efficiency and capacity. Which indicates a poorly run company and very lax management".
I couldn't possibly comment.....lol
Teslo, you need to adjust your figures. RM usually run with around 5% sick leave and this will already be factored in anyway as will annual leave so your figure of £15m to £20m would be 25% lower, plus I'm not seeing anywhere near as many "jaune gilets" on the sorting floor as we have at Christmas.
Broch thanks for the update always great to hear from the frontline. Hopefully you and your colleagues are staying as safe as possible despite all the issues. GL
In my area, agency workers are not bought in to cover the Covid 19 sick absence! Mail and parcels are subject to work planning ie mail is deliberately failed and rolled over to next day. Priority is given to Specials, tracked 24/48, 1st Class and 2nd class parcels in that order. In my office that means all the parcels are cleared and one pairing of a van shares letters are left behind. The next day is the same but the mail from the other pairing is delivered and the other mail is left!
Like everyone says parcels are through the roof and doesn’t seem to be slowing.
It’s not scientific but in normal times you would see plenty of competition on the streets, DPD, Hermes, Yodal etc but now they are noticeably fewer and delivering less parcels. On line retailers it seems are choosing RM as a more reliable service!
Teslo, agency staff (Angard) are bought in on a daily basis on the evidence from national forecasting. Usually any extra hours are offered to the regular workforce first however it is the case that not all regular employees want the overtime or indeed are able to legally perform extra hours due to the 2003 Working Time Directive.
Teslo, "It is also a company that has an estimated 20 % of its workforce currently of sick, whilst parcel volume may be increasing at an exaggerated rate so will labor and agency costs."
I'm not sure where you get your information on RMG but your quotes are of the moment and not the norm. We are currently in a unique situation and scampthedog is quite correct to state that many investors will never see the internal workings of this large business first hand but are still happy to comment blindly.
The current levels of sick leave have been exaggerated by the global pandemic, it usually runs at around 4% to 5% which is normal for such a large organisation.
Agency staff are only used to supplement the permanent workforce where required and are kept to a minimum.
"but there is a business in there trying to get out". Perfectly encapsulated, Charlie!
It is a great pity that the general public don't get to see, with their own eyes, what actually happens regarding the processing of the mail by people like myself. All Joe Public knows of Royal Mail is posties, mail vans, little red postboxes and post offices...all very low key it has to be said. If they could witness the "network" first hand they would then realise what they see in their everyday lives, is, in fact -- just the tip of a gigantic iceberg!
And if you could see the volumes of 1st class and 2nd class tracked parcels flooding the system at present you really would be amazed!!
Nobody, and I mean nobody anywhere, shifts mail in bulk like RMG. This company is a sleeping giant! It will take a couple of years...but when the much publicized problems are sorted out between employer and employee, when the parcel hubs have been firmly established and a new network put in place...then this business will really start to take off.
A good investment for the future? I would say - YES! But a lot of turbulent water to pass under the old shaky bridge yet I would also have to add. I guess it just comes down to that old saying: no gain without the pain!
In a couple of very short years from now £1.37 pence will be a very far back and distant memory.