Letter to Branches

No. 895/12 / Ref. 170/140 / Date: 3rd December 2012

To: All Branches with POSTAL Members

Dear Colleagues,

Christmas and New Year Pay Arrangements 2012/13

Following the issuing of LTB 780/12 to Branches regarding this year’s Christmas and New Year arrangements we subsequently received a couple of queries regarding the pay arrangement over the Christmas and New Year period.

This was also raised at a couple of the Unit Reps’ briefings.

As a consequence an email was sent to Royal Mail on the 19th November raising our concerns. The email is listed below for your reference.

Subject: Christmas Pay Arrangements

Gareth

We have had reported to us that there will be some delays in making the payment of overtime, scheduled attendance and allowances this Christmas due to the shutdown of PSP.

I have listed below the weeks in question. As you can see anything after the 20th December will not be paid until Friday 4th January 2013 when there is a possibility that overtime and scheduled attendance and allowances will be accrued on the 21st, 22ndand 23rdwhich would normally be paid on the 28th December 2012. The first question is - is this true and why? A similar scenario occurs again when anything due for the 28th, 29th and 30th will not be paid until the 11th January 2013. The second question is - what can be done to make sure our members receive their monies on the due date.

In recent years we have had forecast dockets that paid monies up front and then reclaimed by payroll on the agreed pay date. If PSP is not able to accommodate the payments on the due date then can we revert to the advance docket?

Also we have managed to pay what is due on the due date in the last 3 years so what is the problem this year?

I look forward to your earliest reply.

Kind Regards.

Bob Gibson
CWU Assistant Secretary - Outdoor

The reply from Royal Mail which was received on the 26th November is listed below.

Dear Bob

I am replying to your note below as it relates to detailed payroll considerations over the Christmas period.

The payroll processing details in the LTB reflect the position that payroll necessarily has to alter each December due to Bank & Public Holidays, and the consequential impact on the BACS banking system used to transfer payments to employee’s personal accounts. Our primary objective is to ensure that the Royal Mail payroll file, which is one of the biggest weekly files in the country, is safely dispatched through the banking system such that employees receive pay on Friday.

As part of this process we speak to the operators of the BACS inter-bank payment system. The advice we have received is that Monday 24th December is anticipated to be a very heavy traffic day within BACS, and that there may be a risk if the very large Royal Mail payroll file is transmitted on that day. Further, if there were any delays or issues that day, which may well be outside of Royal Mail’s control, there would be no contingency time to make alternate payment arrangements. This year there is a further difficulty in that it has been confirmed that the banking system will not operate in Northern Ireland on 27th December, meaning colleagues in Northern Ireland would most definitely not be paid on Friday 28th were we to run payroll on Monday 24th. With these considerations in mind, we believe the only option to ensure our employees are paid is to run the payroll on the preceding Friday.

To ensure our people receive pay on Friday, this does however necessitate an earlier cut off for variable pay. The bulk of overtime performed in week commencing 17th December will be paid in the following week as usual, with the remainder following in the next available pay period. Eligible employees will have also already received Christmas Supplement payments in their pay on 21st December, and of course overtime earnings from previous Christmas pressure weeks. In this context, and against the practical difficulties and compressed timescales of payroll in December noted above, we will not be issuing advances this year. In fact, we have not issued advances of pay in December for many years, and previous experience has shown the vast majority of employees do not elect to take advances, preferring for payment to be processed through the normal payroll processes as soon as is possible rather than have to manage their personal finances post-Christmas as advances are recovered. It also goes without saying that there are processing implications – estimated at around £15 per advance, and a finite limit as to the number of advances any company can push through the banking system during this busy period – that make advance payments impractical in what is already a demanding December payroll schedule.

I trust this additional information clarifies why there is no practical alternative to the December payroll schedule as outlined in the LTB, and why we will not be issuing advances to employees within the Christmas period.

Regards

Glyn Rees

Reward Development Manager


Branches will clearly see that Royal Mail is not prepared to consider advanced dockets to their employees for the reasons listed above.

We are obviously aware that this will be disappointing news for many of our members; however under the circumstances we do not believe that it is possible for the Union to change their position.

This is of course regrettable and we have made our disappointment known to the business.

Any enquiries to Bob Gibson’s Office, quoting reference 170/140.

Email Address:

Yours Sincerely

Bob Gibson

CWU Assistant Secretary