Kent Royal Mail postman fired after being ‘one minute late’ with delivery in Ashford

A Kent postman was fired from his job after being just one minute late with a special delivery.

Robert Lockyer, from Ashford, was based at the local delivery office in Tannery Lane and had worked for Royal Mail for 28 years.

In October last year, he was dismissed after management accused him of “gross misconduct”.

Mr Lockyer was making a special delivery at a high street bank on September 12, 2018.

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Special delivery items are guaranteed to arrive by 9am or 1pm the following day and Mr Lockyer had made around 1,500 of these in his career.

Because Mr Lockyer claims he was made to wait in the queue with other customers at the bank, it was 1.01pm by the time he was able to obtain a signature on his personal delivery assistant to confirm it had been delivered.

The postman claims his watch and the very same personal delivery assistant data proves he started queuing at the bank four minutes before deadline.

A formal conduct meeting was held by delivery office manager John Peter on October 5 and the experienced postie was dismissed.

Sue Knight-Smith, independent casework manager, heard his appeal and upheld the decision after Mr Peter explained his “continual failure to follow correct procedures”.

She explained “to suggest the dismissal was for being one minute late was not a true reflection of what actually happened” and that Mr Lockyer “chose to ignore the noon PDA alert and left the delivery until the last moment” despite being aware of bank protocols.

He claims it was “unintentional” and “should not have been visited with disciplinary action”.

An employment tribunal heard the case on July 22 and dismissed the claim for unfair dismissal after Mr Lockyer’s withdrew his claims for unpaid wages and redundancy payment.

The tribunal noted that his conduct at work had “not been entirely satisfactory” and that it was “clear from the evidence that the claimant was a challenging employee”.

On May 31 last year, he was issued with a serious warning valid for 12 months for failing to secure his vehicle.

Then three months later, he was issued a suspended dismissal penalty valid for 24 months for failing to obtain a signature and follow ‘sign for’ procedures.

At this point, Mr Lockyer was told “going forward any breach of standards will lead to your dismissal”.

The tribunal concluded: “Mr Peter found the claimant guilty of having made the late delivery, then went on to find that the combination of the disciplinary offence in question together with the recent disciplinary history led to a finding of gross misconduct.

“He also had regard to the claimant’s attitude towards management.”

Mr Peter also admitted making a late delivery in isolation would usually result in a one or two year penalty but determined Mr Lockyer should be dismissed after “totting up” his disciplinary history.

In a statement made via the Communication Workers Union after the tribunal hearing, Mr Lockyer said he was “bitterly upset” at the “harsh” treatment of him by the company.

“I can’t believe what has happened to me – all I wanted to do was to do my job,” he added.

“I really hope the union can make this right. I just want to get back to work.”

Mark Baulch, of the Communication Workers Union, called the decision to fire Mr Lockyer as “probably one of the most outrageous dismissals by Royal Mail and Tribunal verdict I’ve ever heard about”.

“Make no mistake, this union is appealing this decision legally and, in the meantime, we’ll also be taking up this case with the company at the highest possible level,” the CWU outdoor secretary added.

“If someone actually arrives inside a commercial premises, with the delivery item within the deadline specified, then there is clearly no delay on the part of the delivery worker – in this instance, the delay is obviously due to the unusual procedure of the bank itself in telling our member to queue alongside the other bank customers.

“How on earth our member could be considered to be at fault here is completely beyond me – this is why the culture within the workplace must change, once and for all.

“We’ve got to achieve justice for Rob Lockyer – we cannot allow such unfairness to go unchallenged.”

Royal Mail have been approached for comment.

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