Viewing 23 posts - 1 through 23 (of 23 total)
  • Being a Postman.
  • lotto
    Free Member

    Has anyone had a career with the Post Office? Specifically delivering mail on foot. What are the hours like? How much weekend working is involved? What is the average salary?  Are the positions hard fought for? Is there relative security? Like to hear of any experiences.

    Houns
    Full Member

    I was a postie for a year until was “medically retired”. Really enjoyed it. Had a 20 hr contract but plenty of hours going. I was ‘flex’ so covered days off/sicknesses, 99.9%of time I was on the same round as I was covering someone who was off long term sick.

    PostieRich will be along to tell you more about it but I think there aren’t any full time shifts, all the old school staff have these. I imagine competition for jobs is fairly high but the online tests weed most out.

    It is job n nock so the faster you do your round the sooner you finish and get to go home (paid until rota’d finish) but that only ever happened in spring when it was a little quieter, you can forget finishing early at this time of year!

    i’d do It again in a heartbeat, the only thing I didn’t like about the job is the customers lying about not receiving their parcels (when I left it in a fairly secure place out of sight of anyone)

    was weekly paid, picked up £250+ per week. Hours were contracted at 09:20-14:20 Wed-Sat but as mentioned there’ll be plenty of hours going for o/t during busy times and hours/days depend on needs of office where you’ll be based (the early starts usually done by the old school staff)

    therealthing
    Free Member

    What qualifications do you need?

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    Flaperon
    Full Member

    Mainly the ability to sneak up to the front door and slip a ”While you were out” card through the letterbox without the occupiers noticing. 😁

    My current postman is excellent, however.

    Houns
    Full Member

    Trust me, posties would rather deliver the package than return it to the delivery office

    rene59
    Free Member

    They need to have it with them in the first place though. Those cards must get written up at the depot half the time.

    qwerty
    Free Member

    My wife’s been a postie for a year now, but not a postman.

    She likes it, her contracted hours are something like 08:00 – 14:07, she actually works from 07:00 – around 15:00 most days.

    Flat rounds are preferable round here as the constant steep paths will hurt your knees!

    Lots of rural rounds covered by solos in a van, she tends to double up & split a round with another, makes your day as to who you work with.

    Lots of bants, fresh air, & weather.

    Her office work on a seniority method for leave & getting the pick of rounds.

    She hasn’t met Pat yet, or his cat.

    hodgynd
    Free Member

    The main qualification ..certainly in the North East is that you must never ever make any attempt at cleaning the inside of the post van ..

    therealthing
    Free Member

    The main qualification ..certainly in the North East is that you must never ever make any attempt at cleaning the inside of the post van ..

    The North East beginning where exactly?

    n0b0dy0ftheg0at
    Free Member

    Chances are your contract will be ~25 contracted hours per week over five days, in theory coming in to a round ready to tie up and deliver. Your shift will include at least a 20min paid break (30mins if you work past 5 hours, 40mins if you work past 7 hours), that very few in the depot will take, in an effort to leave for home earlier. Many will ignore security, as well as health and safety protocols, in an effort to make the contract hours workload look more achievable than they often are. It’s not bad pay for unskilled work, but it’s almost certainly more physically demanding than you perceive before doing the job.

    hodgynd
    Free Member

    😁..go away

    ( therealthing )

    handybar
    Free Member

    My friend is a postie. It seems to be a good job if you have kids, as he will come home after his round, fall asleep, then be able to pick up the kids from school for 3pm.

    Christmas is manic. The round you get makes a big difference – the older troopers jealously guard their routes I’m told. There seems to be a lot of banter and almost a postie code where they look after each other.

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    my mate used to be a postie and he was always too shagged to be any good on bike rides, was always calling off halfway through the planned route saying he was knackered, we’re talking like 10 miles into a 25 miler, damned annoying.

    novaswift
    Free Member

    I like the job once I’m out the office and on my round. The banter in the office is great but RM are becoming a real corrupt shower o work for. Time and motion man wandering round with a clipboard, guys being docked overtime and a generally shit attitude from management.

    RM issued a profits warning one week before staff were able to sell their shares tax free knocking over a quid off each share. Fifteen and a half years I’ve been there and Ive never seen it so busy despite what RM report.

    They’ve just paid nearly 6million to buy out the new Chief Executive from his contract from a  company within the same group. I could go on. They are corrupt

    breatheeasy
    Free Member

    Best mate is a postie. Has been for many years so much of this won’t count but theres plenty of Saturday work (its a rolling day off, so you get Monday off instead etc.).

    Always overtime if you want it (he never bothers).

    Whilst it’s mostly on foot, they now have vans to drive about in from street corner to street corner.

    Pay is shocking, be surpised if he was on much more than 20K.

    Obviously early start to whenever you’ve finished the round. They’ve mucked around with coming back into office/finishing and going home so much over the years I get confused with whats the current position.

    But you will get the crappest nastiest routes as last in. Dont hold you breath for a nice one!

    He gets really annoyed with the wet behind the ears management that come in and try and tell them they can knock an hour off the walks if they do them more efficiently (and then have to eat their own words).

    Crack seems decent though, but I wouldn’t say that was a reason for employment.

    And work on doing 10 miles walking a day. Five days a week. Choice of footwear though if you don’t like DMs….

    Houns
    Full Member

    There’s absolutely no way any parcels get left in the DO instead of being taken out on to the rounds (actually I lie, the only parcels that get left behind are for those customers who call to the DO to collect their mail)  and as I mentioned above posties hate bringing them back as you have to sign them back in (which slows you down from getting off home) they’re targeted on how many you bring back… A few times when I finished my round early I got sent back out again to try and deliver parcels i’d brought back with me, even though I knew they wouldn’t be home

    lotto
    Free Member

    10 miles a day must be great for their general health. A definite level of fitness required then.

    carlosg
    Free Member

    Been a postie for 20 years.

    My office work long and short shifts (i.e. shorter hours Mon, Tue and Sat when workload is less) but finish at 14.30 each day depending on workload, RM are phasing out job and knock stating you should work your contracted hours .Full time pay is £432 for a 38 hour week , there is an extra £25 delivery supplement for the junk mail we deliver.

    Management can be very aggressive towards staff , I’ve had good and bad managers as long as you doing what you’re supposed to they can’t bully you. Annual leave is 20 days + bank holidays but you can salary sacrifice to take this up to 30 days. Sick pay once a permanent contract is in place is 6 months at full pay.

    Offices have different arrangements regarding days off , in mine your day out moves on a day each week resulting in a long weekend every 6 weeks if your day off is a bank holiday you can carry it over as an extra day off or be paid.

    Job security is generally good obviously it gets better the longer you are there. It definitely isn’t the easy job it was 10 years ago you’re pretty much full on from the second you start walking but I have always enjoyed it.

    MrSmith
    Free Member

    Trust me, posties would rather deliver the package than return it to the delivery office

    shame they can’t put the post through the right door. every week i deliver letters to a block down the road because we get their post and they get ours despite the name of the flats being very different and in huge letters over the doors.

    postierich
    Free Member

    Mr Smith obviously not very good with the Christmas tips then 🙂 How about talking to the Postie !!

    Aye job is not job and knock anymore! well not in my office as they collapse duties when people call in sick or someone gets suspended and you have to take out extra if your prepped really early. Posties are beginning to do the job as required come in on time not an hour early and  taking breaks as required. I start at 9.40am and finish @ 6pm so I miss all the bitchin in the morning 🙂

    Would i recommend to a friend probably just don’t expect and easy time in your first 6 months until the next people roll through the doors as there is a high turnaround of staff. Workload is effecting my riding I only get out once in a while 🙂

    lotto
    Free Member

    Why the high turn over of staff? Workers sick of management?

    MrSmith
    Free Member

    Mr Smith obviously not very good with the Christmas tips then 🙂 How about talking to the Postie !!

    (I love this piss poor forum software)  I live in a city and the odd occasion I have been in when the post comes it’s always somebody different. Tip somebody to get them to do their job properly? I don’t think so somehow.

    My uncle is a postie and he loves it and gets a big payday come Christmas but that is a rural round that he has done for years. He doesn’t wear shorts in winter though? Very odd?!

    postierich
    Free Member

    High turnover is do to  a lot of people use it as a stop gap for another job,not realising how hard it can be ,piss poor management that only focus on what the computer says !

Viewing 23 posts - 1 through 23 (of 23 total)

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