Royal Mail workers have reportedly been told by their customer operations managers to scan items as ‘inaccessible’ when no attempt has been made to deliver them in order to get Christmas bonuses
Postal workers are reportedly being told to fake deliveries so that their managers will still get their Christmas bonus.
A number of Royal Mail staff members have claimed they were told by customer operations managers to scan items as “inaccessible” even when they never attempted the delivery. And Justin Madders, the minister for postal services, is understood to be “disturbed” by the allegations and he has called for an investigation.
The Royal Mail managers are being accused of faking the deliveries so that they still receive their mid-year bonuses, which are believed to be based on the number of letters and parcels that leave depots.
And the immediate impact on customers over the festive period is that they may not receive gifts or other deliveries in time for Christmas and instead get a message saying it was attempted even if it was not.
Of the workers making the claims against managers, one reportedly said he had seen one boss tell staff “three or four times” to scan items as “inaccessible” when it was not the case.
They told the Telegraph: “I can’t honestly say I’d know what would happen if I refused to do it, as I never have. Obviously, it probably is unethical to do something like that, as it is dishonest – and the customer is expecting their parcel. I don’t feel comfortable doing it. There is a culture of greed from the managers, and they just care about their bonuses.”
A further worker in a rural area told the outlet he had up to 40 parcels that had not been delivered at the end of a day and was just told to scan them as inaccessible. And similarly in Scotland another postman claimed they are pushed to make it appear that they have attempted to deliver all parcels.
“Morale is on the floor, there’s a high level of turnover for staff and there’s not enough people to cover overtime,” he said. “The managers will ask [postal workers] to take it all out as they need to report what’s left in the building.”
Job adverts for customer operations managers advertise salaries are up to £49,000 with a “10% on-target bonus”. It means they could receive just under £5,000 a year if they met all targets, while postmen and women would receive just £200 in two £100 bonus payments.
A Royal Mail spokesman told the Telegraph there were no delays this Christmas and claimed: “There is no bonus incentive that would encourage items to not be delivered. This would be counter-intuitive to our business as a delivery company.” The Mirror has contacted the Royal Mail and Mr Madders for comment.
