Post Office delivers £30 million remuneration improvement for Postmasters
The Post Office has announced a package of remuneration improvements for Postmasters worth £30 million for the 2024-2025 financial year.
The one-off payment is equal to 15% of a Postmaster’s March trading in variable remuneration, following successful performance of Post Office’s online business.
Included in the package, which will be paid in April, is a 21% increase in remuneration for Postmasters handling DVLA transactions, and an increase in Mail remuneration worth around £12 million as a result of Royal Mail tariff increases and remuneration increases for Royal Mail volume-based products, such as pre-paid parcels and returns which will go up by 4.0% in line with CPI.
There will also be an average increase of 9.4% on outreach payments to Postmasters who operate mobile vans as outreach Post Offices to take into account the National Living Wage increase and changes in fuel prices.
Additionally, the Post Office has announced a complementary £3.5 million investment to roll-out high-grade note counters for 2800 of its largest banking branches. This will help automate the accurate processing of cash deposits.
OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE INCENTIVE
Chief Executive of the Post Office, Nick Read said that Postmasters were not immune to the current challenging economic environment, adding the Post Office was “acutely aware” of the impact minimum wage increases have on their costs.
“Following a strong performance for our online business, and thanks to Postmasters’ help in building the brand and delivering fantastic customer service, we have again been able to share this success with Postmasters in the form of a one-off payment,” he added.
Post Office has also announced that it is launching an Operational Excellence Incentive.
Back-office activities, such as cash processing and accounting, take a significant amount of time for Postmasters. In recognition of the growing workload for cash processing, in August 2022, Post Office doubled the per transaction remuneration rate for banking deposits, and last April increased all banking deposit remuneration by a further 20%.
To build on this, Post Office is launching an Operational Excellence Incentive to remunerate Postmasters for the time already spent on back-office activities. By carrying out the existing operational requirements for running a branch, Postmasters will have the opportunity to boost total variable remuneration by up to 5% each month. These payments will be based on meeting the requirements for daily cash declarations, cash pouch remittances, cash holdings and monthly trading period accounting.
The first remuneration payment for the incentive will be made on 30th September 2024. This will be based on activity in the August trading period. Post Office will be sharing with Postmasters more information, training and support guides on the incentive over the coming months.
