Post Office employees stress over packages
EMPLOYEES of the South African Post Office are worried that they might not receive their full packages after they were served with letters of retrenchment.
This was after the entity issued 4 700 retrenchment letters to workers and indicated that it was looking to the government for more money to pay out the packages. This is believed to be part of the business rescue plan by business rescue practitioners (BRP).
The Post Office has run at a loss every year since 2013 and has failed to compete with private couriers. It has since recorded over R19 billion in losses. It is believed that cutting staff would reduce the wage bill of more than R1bn.
An employee who works in the sales department, said they were worried that they might not receive their full packages, adding that there was no transparency in the process. She said the company did not pay their pension and medical fund contributions, and workers had not been updated on the matter. Even those who were retrenched previously had not received their money.
“To make it worse, for them it was calculated in their packages and for us, it was not calculated. When you ask HR, they would tell you that they are waiting for a directive from the BRP,” said the employee, who asked not to be named.
The employee also said the company said it would pay R12 for every R100 owed. She said this was shocking as the entity was not clear if the R12 would be paid from the employees’ or the company’s contribution.
“I think there is a possibility that if they owe me R100 000 for my contributions, I might get R12 000. And this is not fair because this is the money owed to me. We were even told that we would receive salary for our pro rata days worked over eight months,” said the employee.
She added that the Post Office cannot afford to lose 4 700 staff members, saying many people had already left, especially last year after the entity struggled to pay salaries.
BRP’S Anoosh Rooplal said the reduction in staff compliment was in line with the reduction in the size of the Post Office that was required if the business was to stand a chance of a sustainable future. Rooplal added that the relevant unions and employee committees had communicated with the Post Office employee base throughout
the facilitation process.
“It was further agreed during the facilitation process that packages would be agreed as per the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and that the retrenchment payments would take place over eight months in three tranches, with the first payment being made in June 2024.
The BRPS have taken over the communication process and have communicated with exiting staff on the details required for ease of exiting the business, registering for UIF, pension details and providing contact details for HR personnel in the various regions,’’ said Rooplal.
He said retrenchments were unavoidable as the failure to cut salary costs and reduce the size of the Post Office would have resulted in the entity failing to pay employees their salaries on an ongoing basis, may have resulted in a possible liquidation in which the business would have been shut down and everyone would have lost their jobs.
Another employee, who took a voluntary severance package (VSP) last year, also said there was no transparency in the process, saying it took about seven months to receive her salary (pro rata) for days worked. She said she was also told that the full pension money would be paid after paying the VSP and she was still waiting to receive the money.
In the letter sent to workers last week, the Post Office said it had been agreed during consultation that there would be positions advertised during the notice period. The company said employees were advised to apply.
Employees were also promised that they would receive their severance pay, notice pay, pro rata days worked and accumulated leave days.
The Sunday Independent tried to get comment from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and the SA Postal Workers Union, which represents workers, but was unsuccessful.
However, in a letter issued on March 22, the CWU said the retrenchments were unavoidable given that the organisation did not have money to pay salaries beyond March 2024.