Workers have accused bosses of telling them to take parcel deliveries (Image: Getty)
Workers claim they have been told by bosses to record packages as “attempted deliveries” without bothering to knock on people’s doors.
Staff allege that their managers encourage them to label deliveries as “inaccessible” without making an effort to take them from A to B in a self-interested bid to line their own pockets, according to reports.
Customer operations managers at the postal service get their mid-year bonus by hitting targets for the number of packages leaving Royal Mail depots, making it in their interests to ensure a maximum number of departures – but not necessarily arrivals, sources told .
Posties being told not to bother knocking on doors to deliver parcels could mean presents and cards failing to arrive before .
Government minister for postal services Justin Madders was reportedly “disturbed” by the claims and called on Royal Mail to launch an investigation on Monday night.
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Royal Mail is currently required to deliver letters six days a week to all 32 million UK addresses (Image: Getty)
One rural postal worker said they ran out of time to deliver between 30 and 40 parcels each day, and had been told by bosses to scan them as “inaccessible” rather than attempt to drop them off at a later date.
Another said they had heard managers tell workers to mark such parcels as “inaccessible” on three or four occasions in the last month alone.
They told The Telegraph: “I can’t honestly say I know what would happen if I refused to do it, as I never have.
“Obviously, it probably is unethical to do something like that, as it is dishonest – and the customer is expecting their parcel.
“I don’t feel comfortable doing it. There is a culture of greed from the managers, and they just care about their bonuses.”
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Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky got the green light to buy Royal Mail this month (Image: Getty)
Despite being handed a fine of £10.5 million this month for missing first and second class delivery targets, a spokesperson for Royal Mail told The Telegraph they were poised to deliver 99% of items sent before the last posting dates for pre-Christmas arrival.
They added: “There is no bonus incentive that would encourage items to not be delivered. This would be counter-intuitive to our business as a delivery company.
“A property is only identified as ‘inaccessible’ if we cannot access the building, it is unsafe to deliver, or adverse weather prevents delivery.”
The government gave the green light to the Royal Mail’s takeover by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky last week, marking the 500-year-old delivery service’s transferral to foreign ownership for the first time.
The deal includes a raft of legally binding agreements including a pledge to keep the company’s headquarters and tax residency in the UK.
Royal Mail has also been undergoing a review by regulator Ofcom since January and proposals have been floated to ditch Saturday deliveries for second class letters while keeping first-class post six days a week.
Under its service obligations, the postal service must currently deliver letters six days a week to all 32 million addresses in the UK for the price of a stamp – something Royal Mail officials have repeatedly described as financially unviable.