Royal Mail might have a fight on their hands, sometimes famed for being “snail-mail”

it seems the mail company has also been sluggish in its paying temporary staff members taken on during the Christmas season. The couple of months leading up to Christmas and New Year are some of the busiest times for postal companies such as the Royal Mail. In order to meet the demands for its services at this time many casual workers are taken on. However, it seems that a large number of these staff have not been paid correctly, if at all.

According to a number of complaints received by the Guardian, many temporary workers have either not been paid or have been paid at a rate different to that which was advertised for the role. Other workers simply do not agree with the number of hours they have been paid for compared to what they worked. Royal Mail have sited their new internal recruitment service as the source of the issue. We hear a lot about the vast number of applicants per advertised job and it would appear this case was no different. For its 18, 000 advertised jobs the agency received over 110, 000 applications.

An internet site unaffiliated with the company but with the name Royal Mail Chat which deals with issues such as pay queries has crashed twice due to the large number of visitors to it over this problem. Yet, a spokesman for the Royal Mail maintained that whilst yes, there were some issues, most of the workers have been paid and they have been paid correctly. Clearly, the workers feel that this is not the case. The spokesman added that the company did appreciate the need for workers to be paid the correct amount and on time during the Christmas season. Unfortunately, the problem goes even further since some workers have actually been told that they owe the Royal Mail money. In a panic several post office vouchers were handed out to staff as a substitute payment method. This method was used to pay those who were unable to receive their pay via the usual BACs system.

In response to the overpayment of its staff the Royal Mail say that they were careful to explain to workers that reductions for income tax and so on would need to be made at a later date. This is why some workers are now receiving the letters informing them of their liability. Having given themselves an internal deadline of January 11 to ensure all workers have been paid those left unpaid are considering further action. Of the workers who are yet to settle their disputes, they have cited tribunal as the next option. It seems that their enquiries to the in house recruitment team have proved unfruitful and unsatisfactory. We will have to wait for the next few weeks to see whether or not the Royal Mail can deliver a fair solution to all its Christmas temporary workers.