Royal Mail taken to Court of Appeal

Sub-Postmasters have taken their three-year fight to be paid the national minimum wage to the Court of Appeal. The Inland Revenue has also joined the test case brought against Royal Mail.

Failure by Royal Mail to win the case could spark a deluge of claims from 16,000 sub-postmasters seeking the minimum wage and benefits under the Working Time Directive, including holidays.

In the hearing, which began yesterday, Tim Brennan, QC, argued for the Revenue that sub-postmasters should be classified as homeworkers as defined by the Minimum Wage Act.

As part of the appeal, Ken Hayward, sub-postmaster of Belthorn Post Office, near Blackburn, will argue for the right to four weeks’ paid holiday under working time regulations.

Mr Hayward also wants his hourly rate raised to Pounds 4.20 an hour, in line with the national minimum wage, compared with the Pounds 3.65 he is currently paid under a scheme based on the hours the post office is open and the number of items that are sold.

The appeal comes as the Government has announced details of a Pounds 450 million rescue package for rural post offices.Sub-postmasters believe that many rural post offices risk closure because of poor pay.

Figures from Royal Mail show that 978 rural branches have closed in the past three years. Royal Mail’s recovery plan could be wrecked and ten thousand jobs lost if the postal regulator presses ahead with his current price control plans, according to the Amicus. The union, which represents postal managers, has accused Postcomm, the regulator, of failing to carry out a proper price review. It claims that the review has not compared Royal Mail’s operations with those of other national postal groups.