Managing Disputes, Postal Strike Impact
29 October 2009
Whilst Royal Mail tries to manage its own dispute resolutions very publicly that has even now resulted in them refusing to involve Acas until the strikes are called off, we advise you not to manage any disputes you have in this way and try and nip them in the bud at an early stage before they escalate.
Early intervention and discussing the issues with employees and their representatives can often prevent any industrial action.
Secondly if you are managing any disciplines, grievances, sickness absence issues, redundancies, offer documentation, etc during this time and you have to send any notifications regarding such issues to employees or potential or new employees, don’t rely on the documentation getting there in time or at all. The last thing you want is for an invite to any such hearing, interview or start date to arrive after the date on which it is to be held or the employee is due to start.
You should seek the employee’s permission to provide you with a personal email address and for you to send such documentation in pdf format to them, or obtain a fax number and stating that a hard copy is also in the post. Also look at hand delivering, using local couriers or professional couriers.