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Branch Office Staffing Agreement
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NATIONAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN POST OFFICE NETWORK AND THE
COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION FOR STAFF CONTRACTUAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS,
AND FOR RESOURCING AND STAFFING OF
BRANCH OFFICES
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1.
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BACKGROUND
1.1.Not
for publication
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2.
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KEY PRINCIPLES
2.1.This
agreement is underpinned by a set of
key principles, which are jointly recognised by both parties:
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Customers should be able to rely on Branch Offices for consistent and
excellent service, supported by a culture of excellence in everything that
PON do.
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It is not acceptable for PON to fall
short of this standard if it is to be able to make the necessary commercial
recovery.
·
The future existence of PON, and hence its ability to offer job security,
depends on a step change in service and efficiency levels.
2.2. Post Office Network aims to be a good
employer offering long term employment opportunities to full and part time
staff, with fair terms and conditions of
employment for all. This
agreement will contribute to PON’s commercial recovery, and help to promote
the long term viability of Branch Offices and employment. CWU recognises
PON’s continuing aim to introduce change without the need to resort to
compulsory redundancy.
2.3.
This agreement is aimed at seeking a better way of resourcing Branch
Offices, consistent with the flexibility, efficiency and service needs of
the Business, and reflecting a joint desire for fair employment practices
and equality of opportunity.
2.4.
This agreement will help foster better Industrial Relations at both local
and national level.
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3.
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STRUCTURE OF THE AGREEMENT
3.1.
Many of the issues discussed and agreed between PON and CWU impact on the
way in which Branch Offices are resourced, and how structured core duty
patterns are derived, agreed and introduced. This in turn is a strong driver of
performance in individual outlets.
These issues are addressed through the agreed Flexible Attendance System contained in Section 5
along with annex A and other agreed changes to Branch Office Staffing Arrangements.
3.2.
PON and CWU recognised that there was a need to agree changes to the terms
and conditions of employment of staff in Branch Offices in order to
facilitate the successful implementation of the Flexible Attendance System
and the Branch Office Staffing Arrangements. Section 6 of this agreement deals with
the agreed changes to terms and conditions of employment
3.3.
The individual elements of the Branch Office Staffing Arrangements are
contained in this agreement in Section 7 along with Annex D. These elements
reflect the many issues that need to be taken into account in defining the
appropriate staffing mix and duty pattern in a Branch Office, and will be
deployed consistently throughout PON.
3.4.
In concluding this agreement PON and CWU recognised a number of other issues, which needed to be
addressed. Sections 8 - 12 of this document deal with these.
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4.
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APPLICATION
4.1. This agreement applies to Postal Officers,
Postal Assistants*,
Retail Assistants and Customer Service Advisors employed in Branch Offices
only, although it is agreed that both parties will open a dialogue about
extending appropriate sections of this agreement into other areas of CWU representation.
4.2. The CSA grade exists as part of the
business grading structure. PON
recognises that CWU have collective bargaining and representational rights
for the CSA grade CWU are free to
raise claims and issues, including terms and conditions of employment,
relating to the new grade in exactly the same way as for long established
grades.
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5.
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FLEXIBLE ATTENDANCE SYSTEM
5.1. A new Flexible Attendance System has been agreed which is detailed
fully at Annex A . This system
is designed to increase the resource available to meet peaks of demand,
whilst also helping outlets to recycle hours more easily from times when
less staff are required. As a consequence the drive to increase the number
of part time posts will cease, and PON fully accepts that one significant
effect of this agreement will be the reversing of the previous trend, to a
position over time where full time staff constitute a majority of the workforce.
5.2. In order to monitor this part of the agreement PON will provide
CWU headquarters with quarterly reports on the numbers of full and part
time staff in post for all CWU represented grades.
5.3. It is agreed that the Flexible Attendance System will be
applied consistently throughout the Branch Office network, replacing any
existing local arrangements. This
system will introduce a new mandatory measure of flexibility into all
Branch Offices. It is not envisaged
that it will be necessary to vary the hours of all full time staff from
their scheduled core duties on a regular basis.
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6.
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CHANGES TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS
6.1.1. As part of this agreement it is agreed
that it will no longer be the practise for all Postal Officers, Postal
Assistants, Retail Assistants and Customer Service Advisors working in
Branch Offices to be paid for the time spent on meal relief. This has the effect of reducing the
number of hours a full time member of staff is paid for by 5 per week,
whilst not reducing salary levels.
As a result, this has the effect of increasing the hourly rate of
pay.
6.1.2.
Part time contracts will be reduced by the number of hours currently paid
for meal reliefs. Where an existing
part time contract is for more than 36 hours per week (35 hours per week in
London)
the individual should be offered the opportunity to move to a full time net
hours contract wherever possible.
6.1.3.
Part time staff that, on rotation of duties, currently have constant gross
hours per week will move to constant net hours per week with their revised
contracted net hours being based on the average number of net hours in their
current duty rotation, rounded up to the nearest half hour.
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6.2
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6.2.1.
It is agreed that the length of the working week will be reduced by one hour
for all full time Postal Officers, Postal Assistants, Retail, Assistants
and Customer Service Advisors working in Branch Offices.
6.2.2.
The overall effect of these two changes to contracted hours is to bring the
full working week to 35 hours inside the London Weighting area and 36 hours
elsewhere. This will be introduced
with effect from 2nd
July 2001 as part of the revisions in each
Branch Office necessary to align duties to the terms and conditions that
form this agreement.
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6.3
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6.3.1.
The reduction to the number of hours paid in a working week will automatically
flow through into the hourly pay rate for both full time and part time
staff. This will have the effect of
increasing hourly rates by c.17% and on the maximum of the scales will have
the following effects net of counter allowance:
6.3.2.
No current part time member of staff will be financially disadvantaged by
the introduction of this contractual change. i.e. The gross pay for their new
contractual hours will not be less than their current gross pay,
consequently there will be no negative impact on reckonable pay for pension
purposes.
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