LTB 224/22 – Average Pay on Annual Leave (Holiday Pay) in Royal Mail Group – Joint Statement for Wallington Duties and Back Pay
No. 224/22
16th May 2022
Dear Colleagues,
Average Pay on Annual Leave (Holiday Pay) in Royal Mail Group – Joint Statement for Wallington Duties and Back Pay
Further to LTB 504/21 circulated on 22nd November 2021, Branches and Representatives will be aware that the DGS(P) Department has been in dialogue with Royal Mail Group on various issues that were highlighted following the acceptance of the national holiday pay in Royal Mail Group (RMG) agreement. These talks have coincided with the first six month joint review.
Branches will recall that one of the matters that had been highlighted related to Wallington duties and the regularity calculation for back pay. Representations were made to RMG and numerous meetings have been held with the business in order to seek an agreed resolution. Royal Mail Group figures illustrate that there are circa 2,000 employees on Wallington rotations, although the composition of Wallington duty patterns varies throughout the Country.
The four back pay reference blocks in the June 2021 national agreement each consisted of six broad monthly periods. During the talks the negotiators stressed the point that individuals performing a one in five or one in six Wallington duty pattern, who only performed overtime during the rest week, may well have been disadvantaged by the agreed back pay qualifying criteria, as people on these duty patterns were not aware of the regularity requirement at the time and therefore had no chance to alter the way they performed non-contractual overtime.
Whilst joint evaluations from a number of sites were not conclusive either way, Royal Mail Group accepted the logic for the back pay period only, as going forward everyone is aware of the terms of the national agreement in relation to regularity and what is needed to meet the agreed threshold.
I am pleased to inform Branches and Representatives that the attached Joint Statement (Annex 1) has now been concluded that provides an agreed position on back pay and a revised calculation for Wallington duties that have thus far not received back pay under the regularity calculation contained within the June 2021 agreement. This Joint Statement was unanimously endorsed by the Postal Executive at a meeting on 5th May 2022.
The Joint Statement relates to those on a one in six week off, or one in five week off Wallington schedule. The revised calculation applies only to individuals who were on a Wallington duty pattern for the entirety of the back pay period and have not already qualified for an arrears payment.
During the negotiations a further complication arose due to the fact that each back pay reference period of twenty-six weeks was not exactly divisible by either five or six week blocks. An alternative solution was therefore required that was not perceived as advantageous to those on Wallington duties. The agreed back pay calculation differs for one in five and one in six Wallington duties but is still broken down into four different reference periods.
For those on a one in five duty set, the first reference period is from week 1 to week 25, then week 26 through to week 2, then week 3 to week 27 and finally week 28 to week 52. These are each broken down into five lots of five week blocks with the exception of the last reference period that contains a final six week block. A member would have to perform 10 hours in each block, with the exception of the last six week balancing period where 12 hours would need to be performed to meet the regularity threshold. Weeks 36-39 are excluded from the reference period.
For those on six week Wallington duties, each reference period is broken down into six week blocks from week 1 to week 24, week 25 to week 52, then week 1 to week 24 and week 25 to week 52. The regularity threshold for one in six Wallington duties would increase to 12 hours in each six week period. Once again the period 9 weeks from 36-39 are excluded from the calculation.
The negotiations on this matter have been convoluted and multifaceted. Although it has taken time to conclude a way forward, I am confident that the agreed process will now mean that many more members on these duty patterns will receive back pay. It is the intention that these payments will be made by the end of July 2022, as the focus from the business is to get the second interim payments made before this calculation takes place.
Colleagues will see that this Joint Statement is another that builds upon the suite of agreements already concluded on holiday pay. In closing I would like to thank Branches and Representatives for their patience regarding this matter and Postal Executive members Bobby Weatherall, Tony Bouch and Darren Glebocki for their assistance in bringing this issue to a successful conclusion.
Any enquiries in relation to the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department.
Yours sincerely,
Terry Pullinger
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)