Tue, 24 Jan 2012

Royal Mail pay ‘disaster’ could lead to tribunals and raises questions over in-house management of temp workers

A number of Royal Mail temporary staff claim they are owed money and are disputing wage calculations from the Christmas period – raising both payroll and temp-worker issues.

The Guardian has reported that a growing number of workers whose pay disputes have not been resolved are now considering employment tribunal claims.

Royal Mail moved the management of temp staff to an in-house recruitment agency last year, Angard Staffing Solutions, which has already had problems coping with 110,000 applications for 18,000 temporary jobs over Christmas.

And unions have been fiercely critical of the agency branding the recent pay debacle a “disaster”.

“It has been a terrible failure of the payments system and it has been a disaster for everyone affected,” said Dave Ward, the Communication Workers Union deputy general secretary for postal.

Royal Mail says it remains confident in the agency but has acknowledged there were issues with the payment of some temporary staff that it had aimed to resolve by 11 January.

A spokesman said: “To the best of our knowledge, any outstanding pay – and the vast majority had already been paid before last week – has now been paid. But if anyone has any queries, they should contact the helpline number (0845 460 7318) as we are determined to resolve any queries as quickly as possible.”

Payroll issues

Employment consultant John Pinder from Wolters Kluwer, says the case raises two important points for payroll managers.

“It is important that businesses ensure advertised pay rates are adhered to once the employee starts work. Arguably the rates advertised [by Royal Mail] were contractually binding and so the ‘amount properly payable’ under legislation,” he said.

“It should also be remembered that claims for unauthorised deductions of wages at an employment tribunal can now include an additional award to compensate for ‘any financial loss sustained…which is attributable to the matter complained of’ (the deduction of wages).

“Claimants can ask the tribunal to award further compensation for any losses/expenses/financial hardship incurred as a result of the employer’s failure to make the correct payment.

“It would be in the employer’s best interest therefore, to ensure that all non payments are rectified as soon as possible to avoid having to pay out any additional amounts.”

In-house failing

And Tom Hadley, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s director of policy and professional services, says the case is an example of how moving the management of temp staff in-house can be problematic.

“A lot of organisations have looked to create more of an in-house mechanism, but we have seen that running a temp bank can be more complicated than it seems,” he said.

“There are a lot of things that go into managing an in-house offering that sometimes can be underestimated. We have also seen over recent years that often once you factor in all the costs of running an in-house offering, especially when you start looking at all the regulations that cover temp workers, it may not actually work out cheaper than using an outside provider.”

See also:

• Can you be fired for posting your CV on LinkedIn?
• How to deal with any further strikes
• Agency workers’ rights boosted over Christmas