National Agreement for the Implementation of the Road Transport Directive and the Introduction of the Professional
Driver
Background
The
Nationally Agreed Framework to facilitate Negotiations/Consultation between Royal Mail and the CWU in respect of the Working
Time Directive and Road Traffic Directive due to be introduced in April 2007, recognised the following key factors of consensus.
The Network and Area Distribution
functions are the glue that holds the whole Royal Mail operation and its product offerings together and the removal of the
postal articles exemption from the European Transport Legislation will have a significant impact on the operation and the
people who perform the work.
Against that
backdrop both parties agree that the Network and Distribution functions need to be reliable, economic, efficient, flexible,
transparent and on time every time. We recognise that we need the appropriate
and competitive terms and conditions that enable the recruitment and retention of drivers of the right calibre and the retention
of existing staff.
Royal Mail and the CWU understand
the need to recognise both parties’ strategic goals and work together to ensure the right solution is quickly and effectively
implemented.
1. Introduction
The
new driving legislation due to be implemented by the 2nd April 2007 will restrict the current working arrangements
applicable to drivers within Royal Mail who drive vehicles fitted with a tachograph.
These changes will limit the number of hours that drivers will be allowed to work which will also limit the earnings
opportunities in respect of access to overtime.
Royal
Mail has no option other than to implement this legislation however both Royal Mail and the CWU believe that we should take
this opportunity to develop a highly professional distribution network focused on customer service, performance and quality
that will provide security of employment. Both parties also recognise and are
committed to introducing improved terms and conditions in a new Professional Driver Package that enable the retention of the
current drivers affected and future recruitment. The following agreement details
the revised working arrangements and terms and conditions to establish a flexible, high-performing distribution business that
meets customer needs first time every time.
2. Scope
This
agreement is applicable to all CWU represented grades in Royal Mail Network & Area Distribution who drive vehicles fitted
with a tachograph and the terms supersede National/Local Agreements in respect of the specific aspects contained within it. All other National/Local Agreements not included, specified or amended by the terms
remain unchanged and in place.
3. Objectives
3.1. To ensure full compliance with the legal requirements of the RTD/EU Hours by
2nd
April 2007.
3.2. To introduce the Professional Driver with improved terms and conditions.
3.3. To mitigate the impact of the legislation on drivers’ earnings opportunities.
3.4. To introduce compliant duty patterns that reflect the workload, are attractive
and provide a good work-life balance/family friendly attendances.
3.5. To put in place the required system of monitoring and recording of drivers and their
hours of work.
3.6. To establish the process for effective consultation and negotiation for the
implementation for the changes required to the working arrangements, duty patterns etc.
4. Professional Driver
Royal Mail
will introduce new terms and conditions for all drivers affected by the legislation and there will be three new grades/pay
rates for individuals performing duties/work appropriate to the following licences:
4.1. MGV Drivers with a C1 licence
4.2. LGV Driver with a C licence
4.3. LGV Driver with a C+E licence
If
an individual voluntarily selects a duty schedule at a lower grade when there is a vacancy of their grade available they will
be paid at the lower grade.
The
full details of the revised terms and conditions and associated working arrangements are contained in Appendix 1 for Network
Drivers and Appendix 2 for Area Distribution Drivers.
5.
Driver Responsibilities
Royal
Mail and the CWU are seeking to develop a highly professional driving workforce which sets benchmarks in the logistics industry
for meeting customer needs, flexibility and the evolution of a working culture which gives people
the opportunity to take collective responsibility and make decisions together about the best way to get the job done.
Both
parties are committed to the development of a highly professional driving workforce and drivers will have the following responsibilities:
5.1. To attend their workplace ready to commence work
with all of the appropriate personal equipment and documentation in line with Royal Mail policies and legal requirements (e.g.
Protective clothing, tachographs/digital tachograph card).
5.2. To carry out driving duties for which they have
the competence and appropriate licence.
5.3. To ensure that they do not work more than
48 hours per week averaged over the agreed reference period. This is a legal
responsibility of each driver and breaches may make the driver liable for prosecution and discipline under Royal Mail’s
Conduct Code.
5.4. To ensure that they do not undertake any employment for another employer that
may affect their ability to perform their contract of employment with Royal Mail. It
is prohibited and all drivers will be required to sign a “Declaration” at the commencement of each reference period
and on a daily basis. This will be to confirm that they have not undertaken work
for Royal Mail or any other employer which would result in them working in breach of the Road Transport Directive or EU Hours
(Royal Mail will retain records of these declarations in line with legal standards).
5.5. Drivers will be required to undertake vehicle checks in accordance with Royal
Mail standards and where practical, assist in identifying solutions to resolve issues arising to ensure that the mail is moved
safely and legally.
5.6. To carry out
minor vehicle repairs/maintenance tasks where necessary as agreed as suitable for a trained driver to carry out (e.g. replace
bulbs, top up fluids/oil/water as required).
5.7. To undertake appropriate work under the direction
of the local manager when attending a Royal Mail site. This may include loading
and unloading, consolidation of mail in cages, and any work that supports the distribution and processing operation.
5.8. To provide a satisfactory level of customer
service e.g. seeking where possible to resolve any enquiries/issues they may have relating to the posting and collection of
mail.
5.9. To feed back to their manager any issues or concerns
that have arisen during their shift e.g. faulty vehicle, problems with their routes, customer issues, accidents or other incidents
using end of day de-briefs.
5.10. To perform their work to Royal Mail’s standards and seek
to improve performance .
6.
Business Responsibilities/Collective Agreements
6.1. It is recognised that the Road Transport Directive
also places legal responsibilities on the business to ensure full compliance of the following in respect of their drivers
covered by the legislation.
Ø Their driving hours
Ø Their working hours
Ø Their meal relief’s
Ø Accurate monitoring and recording of the above
Ø A Collective Agreement should the standard 17 week reference period be changed
Ø A Collective Agreement if the night shifts are to be extended.
Breaches
may make the business/individuals liable for prosecution and discipline under Royal Mail’s Conduct Code.
6.2. The business will therefore, following joint
consultation with the CWU, deploy a robust monitoring system for the recording of drivers and their work/driving hours.
6.3. Royal Mail will retain records of employee’s
declarations that they have not undertaken any work for another employer that would breach the Road Transport Directive or
EU hours.
6.4. To enable maximum
flexibility for the business and the employees the following collective agreements have been reached in line with the legislation:
Ø The reference period as defined under the legislation will be extended to 26
weeks.
Ø Night workers hours will be extended to the maximum permitted limit (without
breaching any rest break rules).
7. Tools for
the Job
Royal
Mail are committed to providing any advances in new technology that are appropriate to improve safety, quality of service
and productivity and enable the distribution network to perform at the highest levels.
7.1. The aim will be to deploy these at pace but
there will be full consultation with the CWU on these technical developments to ensure employees’ concerns are taken
into account prior to their introduction.
7.2. Currently two systems Distribution Management System (DMS) and Paragon, have
been agreed for implementation over the coming months and the deployment details are contained in Appendix 3 associated to
this agreement.
8.
Resourcing
Professional
Drivers will be classed as a specialist role in line with the Way Forward Agreement and Royal Mail will therefore resource
vacancies by the following process:
Resourcing
Process/Criteria
Ø Initially the selection will be from a list of suitable internal candidates
holding the relevant licence.
Ø No current record on an individual’s licence of dangerous driving or
drink driving (includes accident/speeding/tacho offence history).
Ø Less than 6 points on driving licence.
Ø Good conduct and attendance record.
Ø Individuals who hold a driving licence who are suitable in line with the selection
criteria who wish to be trained.
Ø Experience at previous driving level (normally a minimum of 2 yrs).
Ø Preference may also be given for experience with other relevant vehicles such
as PSV.
Note:
work is continuing on “risk awareness” testing which may in future following successful trials be used as an additional
selection tool.
8.1. Where no internal candidates exist or they
are unsuitable, external resourcing will be applied using the above selection criteria.
(There will be no requirement for Royal Mail to wait for an internal candidate to complete their training).
8.2. If there is no suitable candidate on the internal
list then there may be an immediate decision to resource externally.
9.
Driving Training
Both
parties wish the Professional Driver duties to be viewed as desirable roles within the business and Royal Mail is committed
to providing driver training for internal applicants to ensure a robust resourcing process and adequate reserves are available. Investment in driving training is however a significant cost to the business and it
is essential we ensure that it achieves the best return.
9.1. Previous agreements committed to ensure that
all employees across the Royal Mail Group would be able to maintain and update their existing skills and that they should
be afforded the opportunity to develop new skills based on personal ambitions and aspirations.
Those agreements clearly recognised that jobs such as LGV driving required skills that individuals could well aspire
to.
9.2. The evolving approach towards the professional
driver as depicted in this and past agreements has also recognised that the ability to acquire such skills should be fairly
and equally available to all. Against that backdrop both parties agree that there
has to be a structured and systematic process which supports the aspirations of individual employees in conjunction with the
needs of the business to maintain an efficient operation.
9.3. Clearly recruitment needs will differ from
region to region, however in the interest of a robust continuous programme of training and excellent resourcing planning it
is agreed that all regions will establish and maintain the following;
9.4. Training and development waiting lists of
interested employees, training programmes, reserve drivers lists, actual LGV drivers available. The criteria for embarking on the professional driver career path will be as detailed below;
9.5. Past experience identifies that individuals pass their relevant tests and subsequently
drive more safely if they have gained experience of larger vehicles on a progressive basis (i.e. car, van, 7.5 tonne, 17 tonne,
articulated lorry). This and the resourcing criteria will be taken into account
when selecting people for training.
9.6. Candidates will also be required to sign a training agreement which will agree
to the following (see Appendix 4):
Ø Business funding will be provided for one attempt at the relevant licence.
Ø Failure at the first attempt will result in the candidate being offered a second
attempt which Royal Mail will half fund (one further period of training and test) with the driver funding the remaining sum.
Ø Where a driver successfully passes at the second attempt the money will be
reimbursed in full.
Ø No business funding will be made available for a third attempt.
Ø Where a candidate still wishes to have a third attempt they will be allowed
to do so if they fund it themselves.
Ø Exceptionally at the sole discretion of Royal Mail, where a further independent
assessment indicates that only a minimal amount of further training would result in a pass at the third attempt, Royal Mail
may agree to fund this.
Ø Individuals would be required to accept when they pass the first role offered
to them at a location within a reasonable distance of their home, irrespective of the working hours.
9.7. Employees failing to obtain the C+ E licence will
if appropriate revert to their original Unit.
9.8. In the case of Area Distribution employees
undertaking training for an LGV licence they will be required to undertake and pass both Class C and Class C + E licences. Failure to do so will result in the driver reverting to the role of MGV Driver (i.e.
they will not be permitted to block an LGV role).
9.9. If the individual leaves the business (by their
own choice) within two years of passing a test that was funded by the business they will be required to repay the cost of
their training on the following sliding scale:
Ø 0 to 6 months 100 per cent of cost
Ø 7 to 12 months 75 per cent of cost
Ø 13 to 18 months 50 per cent of cost
Ø 19 to 24 months 25 per cent of cost
9.10. Where a driver loses their licence through illness, Royal Mail will seek to find suitable
alternative employment in a non driving role. The employee will revert to the
terms and conditions of the new role on transfer with the exception of their basic pay (if this is lower) which will be reduced
on a phased basis as detailed below:
Ø Year one they will retain the Professional Drivers pay rate
Ø Year two the difference between the pay rate of their new role and the
Professional Driver
rate will be reduced by 25%.
Ø Year three the difference between the pay rate of their new role and
the Professional
Driver rate will be reduced by 75%.
Ø Year four they will receive only the pay rate of their new role.
9.11. Drivers losing their licence for non-medical reasons (e.g.
drink driving, speeding conviction) will be managed under the conduct code. Each
individual will be treated according to the individual merits of their case.
10.
Professional Driver Training/Performance
Royal
Mail will provide comprehensive training to ensure they are fully equipped to carry out their role to a high standard. This will include the provision of Workplace Coaches which will be deployed in accordance
with the National Coaching and Support Agreement. Coaches will be paid the weekly
pensionable allowance (contained in the National Agreement) for performing this role.
10.1. Royal Mail will also provide the opportunity to develop individuals
whilst recognising the need to balance this ambition for the workforce with the need to maintain efficiency and effectiveness
for our customers.
10.2. In addition to standard training, Royal Mail with the support of the Workplace Coaches
will help and encourage drivers to improve their performance in all aspects of their role because this is key to the success
of our operations.
10.3. End of Day de-briefs will be established to ensure that drivers have the opportunity to
feed back any issues or concerns that have arisen during their shift (e.g. vehicle faults, route problems, customer issues
or other incidents).
10.4. Any outputs of these sessions which may have general application across the unit will
be jointly reviewed by management and the CWU locally to address any underlying problems.
10.5. 4 monthly/periodic meetings will be established between each driver and their line manager
to review performance, discuss development opportunities and identify any training requirements. It is recognised that personal performance levels are affected by many factors including operational conditions
and it is emphasised that these meetings are designed to encourage the individual to achieve and maintain the levels of performance
the majority of staff are able to attain. Where any training requirement is identified,
this will be facilitated as a matter of urgency and performance monitored over the next period. Management and the CWU will jointly review the effectiveness of current training or coaching initiatives
and any inherent operational issues affecting performance.
10.6. All information or data used in reviewing individual performance will remain private and
no league tables of individual performance will be compiled or displayed
Key
Performance Indicators
Ø Arrival to time
Ø Fuel consumption
Ø Compliance with legal speed limits
Ø Compliance with legal weight limits
Ø Vehicle condition
Ø Accident damage
Ø Avoidable vehicle breakdowns
Ø Road traffic accidents
Ø Customer service
10.7. Where standards fail to meet an acceptable level this will be managed by further training
and support or in accordance with the appropriate procedure e.g. Accident Management Policy (Area Distribution only), Royal
Mail Conduct Code.
11.
Flexibility
Royal
Mail is now operating in a highly competitive marketplace and we need to ensure that we are more flexible in future to meet
the new requirements. The details of the flexibility arrangements that have been
agreed in respect of duty patterns etc within Network and Area Distribution are contained within their separate Appendices
1 and 2.
12.
Deployment
This
agreement needs to be deployed at pace in view of the short period now available before the implementation date of the new
legislation.
12.1. Negotiations on the specific duty changes will take place at
Local Level in line with this agreement its associated annexes and the IR Framework, and Royal Mail will make all the appropriate
information readily available to allow full CWU involvement in developing the new duty arrangements.
12.2. In view of the fact these changes are managerially driven due
to the legislation or associated issues MTSF will apply.
12.3. Both parties are committed to deal with these changes in a
manner which encourages individuals to continue on tachograph duties, however with the constraints of delivering an effective
operation we would wish to maximise the opportunity for people to exercise choice. Where
an individual decides they do not want to become a Professional Driver i.e. the change (loss of allowances) is at the individual’s
request, MTSF would not apply.
12.4. Revisions should be targeted to be concluded by the 1st March 2007 and CWU Representatives will be afforded adequate release
time to deal with the revision activity required. In view of the fact this is
a major change on completion of the revision resigns will take place but these should be planned to take no longer than 2
weeks to meet the April 2007 deadline.
12.5. Any instances where there is disagreement about the interpretation
or application of the terms of this agreement will be referred to National Level and the signatories of this agreement for
urgent resolution.
12.6. Productivity savings achieved from the implementation of this
agreement will not flow through to the current National Efficiency Scheme contained in the Shaping our Future Agreement 2006.
12.7. The improved Pay and Conditions in each Unit will be introduced on deployment of the terms
contained within this agreement.
12.8. Following full implementation of this agreement the drivers affected will be covered by
the normal pay bargaining arrangements.
Royal Mail ……………………….
CWU ……………………….
Royal Mail ……………………….
CWU ……………………….
Royal Mail ……………………….
CWU ……………………….
Date
……………………….
Date ……………………….
Appendix 1
Terms and Conditions for Network
1. Introduction and Objectives
1.1.
The Road Transport Directive, due to be implemented by the 2nd
April 2007 will restrict the working hours of drivers within Royal Mail who drive vehicles fitted with a tachograph.
These changes will limit the earnings opportunities in respect of access to overtime.
However, both Royal Mail and the CWU recognise there is also an opportunity to develop a highly professional distribution
network, focused on;
Ø
Customer service and performance improvement
Ø
Supporting security of employment
Ø
Ensuring compliant attendance patterns which, as
far as reasonably practicable are attractive and enable reasonable work/life balance
Ø
Ensuring competitive terms and conditions that will
enable the recruitment and retention of high calibre drivers
Ø
Mitigate the impact on drivers’ earnings
Ø
Creating a workforce operating in a mature adult
to adult modern working environment.
Ø
Establish the process for effective consultation
and negotiation for implementing the required changes to working arrangements and attendance patterns
1.2. Royal Mail and the CWU have therefore agreed a National framework to facilitate
negotiations and consultation over the changes that are required. Consequently both parties have worked together to develop
this agreement that details the terms and conditions and working practices to be adopted at all units to ensure that all affected
Royal Mail drivers are compliant with the legislation and support the development of a flexible, high performing distribution
business meeting customer needs.
1.3. This Annex applies to those grades in Royal Mail Network who drive vehicles
fitted with a tachograph and supersedes all other agreements which cover the same terms, conditions, policies and practices.
1.4. Throughout this agreement, definitions
are provided for fulltime employees. Less
than full time employees will have their terms and conditions pro rata to hours.
2.
Drivers Hours
2.1 Royal Mail and the CWU wish to maximise
flexibility of available hours for drivers and therefore it is ag
