POL00088900 - Template ‘invitation to interview’ letter with extract from SPM contract
Confidential
Date
Dear
Re: Assessment for the position of
subpostmaster
In connection with your application assessment form
for the position of subpostmaster, I have arranged for
your interview to take place at [Insert place] on [Day
and Date] at [Insert time]. Please allow for the
interview to last approximately two hours and feel
free to bring your partner along to the interview if
you wish. A map of how to reach us is enclosed.
At the interview you will be asked to give examples
and cite previous instances where you have
demonstrated skills relating to particular competency
areas. There will be detailed questions on these skills
and where it is not possible to explore real examples,
the interviewer(s) may explore relevant attitudes and
experiences.
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I also attach, as appendix 2, a brief summary of the
conditions of the Subpostmasters Contract, for your
attention. Please note that the summary does not
represent the complete terms and conditions of the
Subpostmasters Contract and may not be relied upon
by a subpostmaster. It only covers certain sections of
the Contract and should not be used in place of a
thorough review of the Contract. You will receive a
full copy of the Contract if you are successful in your
application assessment and business interview as
part of the appointment process.
Evidence of Identity / Right to Work in the UK
At the interview you must produce documentary
evidence of your right to work in the UK [which will
also act as evidence of identity] together with proof
of your address. Please bring this letter to the
interview along with one of the following
identification documents (originals only) listed in
appendix 1
Please return the attached slip confirming your
attendance at the interview in the enclosed pre paid
envelope. If you are unable to attend, pl ntact
the Human Resource Contact Centre on
_I Anew appointment will be arranged for you
on as possible.
At the time of writing, the following references,
needed to support your application, are still
outstanding.
[Insert list of outstanding references
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Please note that until and unless we receive
satisfactory references in respect of the above, we
will not be able to approve your application. It is,
therefore, in your interests to contact your referees
and urge them to respond, or in the case of
bank/employer references to obtain copies and bring
these to interview.
Yours sincerely
Contracts and Service Manager
Post Office Ltd
To: Contracts and Service Manager
From:
Application assessment for subpostmaster
I will/will not* be able to attend the interview on
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at
* Delete as appropriate
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APPENDIX 1
Proof Of Right To Work In The UK - Acceptable
Documents
You must produce either any one of the documents
shown below in List 1 or two documents from either
of the combinations shown in List 2.
LIST 1
e A passport showing that the holder is a British
citizen, or has a right of
abode in the United Kingdom.
e A document showing that the holder is a
national of a European Economic Area country
or Switzerland. This must be a national passport
or national identity card.
e Aresidence permit issued by the Home Office to
a national from a
European Economic Area country or Switzerland.
e A passport or other document issued by the
Home Office which has an endorsement stating
that the holder has a current right of residence
in the United Kingdom as the family member of
a national from a European Economic Area
country or Switzerland who is resident in the
United Kingdom.
e A passport or other travel document endorsed
to show that the holder can stay indefinitely in
the United Kingdom, or has no time limit on
their stay.
e A passport or other travel document endorsed
to show that the holder can stay in the United
Kingdom; and that this endorsement allows the
holder to do the type of work you are offering if
they do not have a work permit.
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e An Application Registration Card issued by the
Home Office to an asylum seeker stating that
the holder is permitted to take employment.
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LIST 2
FIRST COMBINATION
A. A document giving the person’s permanent
National Insurance Number and name. This could be
a: P45, P60, National Insurance card, or a letter from
a Government agency.
Along with one of the following documents
listed in sections B-H:
B. A full birth certificate issued in the United
Kingdom, which includes the
names of the holder’s parents; OR
C. a birth certificate issued in the Channel Islands,
the Isle of Man or Ireland;
OR
D. a certificate of registration or naturalization
stating that the holder is
a British citizen; OR
E. a letter issued by the Home Office to the holder
which indicates that the
person named in it can stay indefinitely in the United
Kingdom, or has no
time limit on their stay; OR
F. an Immigration Status Document issued by the
Home Office to the
holder with an endorsement indicating that the
person named in it can
stay indefinitely in the United Kingdom, or has no
time limit on their stay;
OR
G. a letter issued by the Home Office to the holder
which indicates that the
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person named in it can stay in the United Kingdom,
OR
H. an Immigration Status Document issued by the
Home Office to the holder
with an endorsement indicating that the person
named in it can stay in
the United Kingdom.
SECOND COMBINATION
(i). A work permit or other approval to take
employment that has been issued
by Work Permits UK.
You _must_ also supply one of the following
documents:
(ii). a passport or other travel document endorsed to
show that the holder is
able to stay in the United Kingdom and can take the
work permit
employment in question; OR
(iii). a letter issued by the Home Office to the holder
confirming that the person named in it is able to stay
in the United Kingdom and can take the work permit
employment in question.
Proof of Address - Acceptable documents
In addition to providing documentary evidence of
your right to work in the UK / Identity, you must also
provide evidence of your address. One of the
following documents must be produced showing your
name and current address:
e Driving Licence
e Paid Gas or Electricity Bill
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Paid Telephone Bill (not mobile)
Paid Council Tax Bill
Paid Water Bill
TV Licence
Bank Statement, must be supported by a
credit/debit card
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APPENDIX 2
BRIEF SUMMARY OF CERTAIN SECTIONS OF THE
SUBPOSTMASTERS CONTRACT
(For use as a guide only)
Contract
Subpostmasters are agents of Post Office Ltd
(formerly Post Office Counters Ltd) contracted to
provide premises and Post Office services.
Subpostmasters are, consequently, NOT employees
of Post Office Ltd. The contract is a personal one,
held by a single individual, even where for example,
several people jointly own the business, or where a
business runs a large number of Post Office®
branches.
Accommodation standards
Under the terms of the Subpostmasters Contract
subpostmasters are required to provide and maintain
accommodation to standards specified by Post Office
Ltd. A subpostmaster is not obliged to attend the
branch personally, but is required, whether there or
not, to accept full responsibility for the proper and
efficient running of the Post Office® branch.
Assistants
The subpostmaster must provide, at his own
expense, any assistance which he may need to carry
out the work in the Post Office® branch. Assistants
are employees of the subpostmaster. The
subpostmaster will be held liable for any failure on
the part of the assistants to provide a proper
standard of service to the public or to apply proper
Post Office® procedures.
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Post Office® Cash and Stock
The subpostmaster, on taking up the appointment, is
supplied with suitable Post Office® stock. The
subpostmaster is permitted to hold Post Office Ltd
cash, which should be sufficient to meet payments at
the branch after due allowance has been made for
unexpected receipts and in accordance with official
accounting and security instructions. The
subpostmaster is expressly forbidden to make use of
the balance due to Post Office Ltd for any purpose
other than the requirements of the Post Office®
service; and he must on no account apply to his own
private use, for however short a period, any portion
of Post Office® cash entrusted to him, nor make use
of the Post Office® cash for payment of wages to his
assistants. Misuse of Post Office® cash may lead to
termination of the Subpostmasters Contract.
Losses
The subpostmaster is responsible for all losses
caused through his own negligence, carelessness or
error, and also for all losses caused by his assistants.
Deficiencies due to such losses must be made good
without delay.
Standards
Post Office Ltd, through its network of Post Office®
branches aims to give customers and clients a high
quality service. Subpostmasters must therefore give
top priority to serving customers quickly and
efficiently, and to fulfilling the documentation
requirements of clients with accuracy and
professionalism. Subpostmasters should ensure that
the time for which customers wait to be served is
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kept to a minimum, and make the necessary
adjustments to the staffing pattern to achieve this
objective
Branch Trading Report
Subpostmasters are required to produce a Branch
Trading report at every period end.
Remuneration
Remuneration is paid from the first day of
appointment until the last day of service, irrespective
of traffic periods. It covers any attendance during
normal hours of business including, in respect of a
mailwork office, attendance in the sorting office both
prior to and after the close of Post Office®.
Remuneration will normally be made up of a sales
related tier payment and either an assigned office
payment, or a core tier payment depending on the
contract type.
Sales Tier Payment
This is a variable volume related payment, normally
paid monthly, based on the main traffic transacted at
the office two months prior to the month of payment.
Assigned Office payment (AOP)
Smaller Post Office® branches will have an assigned
office payment which is set in respect of each
individual office. Once established at an annual rate
it will be paid in 12 equal instalments over a period of
a year. For all offices this payment will remain at this
level and will not be subject to traffic fluctuations.
Core Tier Payment
Commercial Post Office® branches will have a Core
Tier payment. The Core Tier will automatically be
recalculated on the 1April each year, commencing on
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1 April 2005, based on sales performance in the
previous year.
Small Full Time Post Office ® branches with
annual remuneration payments below £14,000
per annum
Most Post Office® branches that fall into this
category have a set annual revision date. To calculate
remuneration for these offices for the next twelve
months, the last four full quarters transactions for
traditional Post Office® business such as postage
sales are multiplied by a value per transaction and
totalled. This becomes the Annual Sales Tier Payment
that is added to the assigned office payment to give
total remuneration for the year. This figure will be
paid monthly in 12 equal parts until the next annual
revision is due. In addition there are a small number
of products that are reviewed monthly, based in the
main on transactions completed two months prior to
the month of payment. Subpostmasters at annually
revised branches can choose to transfer from annual
to monthly calculations for payment of remuneration.
Small Full Time Post Office® branches with
annual remuneration payments above £14,000
per annum
For small Post Office® branches with an annual
remuneration above £14,000, the transactions
undertaken during a cash account period (there are
12 in a year) are multiplied by the value of such
transactions to form a Sales Tier Payment which is
paid monthly, based in the main on transactions
completed two months prior to the month of
payment. For example traffic transacted in January
will be paid in the March payroll period. Sales Tier
Payments will fluctuate depending on whether it is a
four or five-week cash accounting period. The annual
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value of the assigned office payment is divided by
twelve and added to the monthly sales tier payment
due.
Commercial Branches
A new remuneration system for our larger
Commercial Post Office® Branches came into effect
on 1st October 2004. Remuneration payments at
these branches will be made up of a ‘Core’ tier that
has been derived through in depth analysis of the
typical fixed costs associated in running a post
office® branch, and a ‘Sales’ tier, which contains
product payment rates (Sales Tier Payments) for
individual products. The Core Tier will automatically
be recalculated on the 1April each year commencing
on 1 April 2005, based on sales performance in the
previous year. The Sales Tier Payment will be based
on transactions completed in the main two months
prior to the month of payment. For example traffic
transacted in January will be paid in the March payroll
period. Sales Tier Payments will fluctuate depending
on whether it is a four or five-week cash accounting
period.
Mailwork branches
A subpostmaster at a mailwork branch is expected to
supervise the sorting room along with the delivery
staff, dealing with day-to-day problems as they arise.
The subpostmaster is also required to provide
suitable accommodation for the delivery staff and to
ensure that the accommodation at all times complies
with relevant legislation including the Health and
Safety at Work Act.
Premises
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A subpostmaster must provide at his own expense
any reasonable office accommodation and fittings
that Post Office Ltd may require of him, for carrying
out the work of the office.
These fittings comprise, among other things, a
counter, counter drawers and tills for the official
stock of stamps, postal orders, etc., a cupboard or
drawers for forms, a safe or other approved container
(where not provided) affording good resistance to
attack by thieves, a suitable locker to enable secure
posting items to be held in safe custody, a clock and
certain small stores. Certain fittings may also be
purchased on application to Post Office Ltd. More
details and approximate prices can be obtained at
interview.
Restrictions
Some products and services are only available at
certain Post Office® branches. All products and
services are subject to change at any time. There is
no entitlement to compensation for loss of business if
products are ceased, but Subpostmasters must
undertake any other business or duties not currently
undertaken at the branch, if required to do so by Post
Office Ltd.
It is important to the future of the Post Office®
network that all subpostmasters support our products
and services. If you are appointed as subpostmaster,
offering products or services in your private retail
business on the premises in which your Post Office®
branch is situated that compete with our products
and services can reduce the revenue generated by
the Post Office® branch. This revenue provides an
essential contribution to the fixed costs of
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maintaining our network. Without it, we might not be
able to sustain the Post Office® network. If you are
appointed, it will therefore also be in your interest to
support this principle.
If appointed, your contract with us will therefore
contain some restrictions on the products and
services you can sell in your private retail business.
You will not be allowed to sell the following products
and services in your private retail business on the
premises in which your Post Office® branch is
situated: letters, parcels and packages services; bill
payment services; National Lottery products; banking
services (including cheque cashing services and
bureau de change services); and financial services.
In the case of a branch relocation, if you currently sell
any such products or services on your private retail
counter, we would expect you to stop selling these
once you take on the Post Office®. If this is relevant
to you the details will be discussed in full if your
application leads to an interview.
Disability Discrimination Act 1995
As part of the subpostmaster’s obligation to provide
accommodation as required by Post Office Ltd the
subpostmaster has to provide premises which comply
with the Disability Discrimination Act. In addition the
subpostmaster is obliged to ensure that the manner
in which the Post Office services are provided to the
public comply with the DDA.
[Note: The above paragraphs summarise certain
sections only of the Subpostmaster’s Contract. They
are by no means a comprehensive description of the
Contract, and should not be used in place of a
thorough review of that Contract. A subpostmaster
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may not rely upon the points made in this summary,
as they are for reference purposes only.]
The Post Office and the Post Office symbol are
registered trade marks of Post Office Ltd in the UK
and other countries.
Post Office Ltd
Operations
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