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Fastest postie charged for being too quick
Published: 3 Jan 13 11:02 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20130103-47117.html
A dedicated German postman who figured out the quickest routes between postal depots to speed up his work has escaped criminal charges and managed to keep his job with just a reprimand for not working to rule.
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The Münchner Merkur newspaper reported on Thursday how the case ended up at the administrative court in Aibling and how the court heard he had ignored post office rules to make his working day more efficient.
He told the court how he had been saving time after working out quicker routes between the postal depots - where mail is held for postmen and women to pick up and then deliver.
Judge Isabella Hubert also heard that he was considered a precise and efficient worker.
His immediate boss admitted knowing at least in part about the man's time-saving methods, and said she had informally tolerated them.
"I admit that some of them are possibly logical," she said - but said they could not be officially accepted as they did not fit the rules.
The court case against him was dismissed, but it was not recorded whether he would have to return to a less efficient way of working.
The Local/hc
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Your comments about this article:
Nothing stands in the way of bureaucracy!!!!
His boss says I tolerated it. It was possibly logical. She could have looked into it as a possible means of becoming more efficient for the delivery system and gave him a bonus.
No, no way , every thing here is based on a pyramid management system , innovation starts only from the top and goes down not from the bottom upward.
Another story that puts into the spotlight companies who hide behind rules for their own advantage. Frightened of work and sfrightened of repercussion.
What a crazy, backward way to run a business. Wonder what its customers and shareholders think of this?
Maybe it was insurance as someone said, maybe it was another issue, but I'll bet that there was something not being said.
As they say 'Ordnung muss sein'
This is, however, an unfortunate side-effect of unions. Since everybody gets paid the same base wage, there is no incentive (and, in fact a dis-incentive) to innovate or improve things. Not only does it get you nowhere, your co-workers will jump on anyone who works harder, or appears to be more effective. In that respect, unions tend to demonize the very people we should emulate.
I suspect the supervisor noticed, asked, and he explained what he was doing, and it didn't involve throwing away mail. With that, the supervisor should have acted to make his actions "officially okay" but dropped the ball. At least the supervisor stood up for him in court.
wa
"Hee also that is slouthful in his worke, is brother to him that is a great waster."
It is sad that the postal worker had a case brought against him simply because he worked out "quicker routes between the postal depots." The Holy Bible teaches that it is a sin to be slothful in one's work.
Sincerely in Christ,
Russell E. Willis
P.S. - Please read Proverbs 23:23.
If that were the case, I'd agree. However, based upon the article, he seems to have simply been cutting time by using short-cuts to go from A to B. He could, for example, avoid riding 20 blocks by taking a pathway through a park or whatever. It's interesting that there is no discussion about him failing service or whatever, so I suspect that wasn't his approach. Also, considering he told his supervisor what he was doing, I doubt the short wait on a drop tag would have been met with acceptance.
My delivery person regularly leaves a drop tag even when I'm home. I have a long driveway and he simply doesn't like to actually work. Each time I go claim the package and fill out a formal complaint since I KNOW I was home at the time, and he made no effort to meet the standards...which include an attempt at the door before leaving the tag. The last two times it's gone to a formal hearing, and each time he's admitted he didn't bother, claiming "it's a long driveway and there's a dog." Of course, I've simply responded with..."it's not that long, and I haven't owned a dog for nearly 20 years." Even the union has trouble defending his actions.
I think your observation is correct, but the "way he did his job" wasn't necessarily bad, nor forcing work upon others. It simply made others look bad, and might have violated some safety rules...which suggests the rules need to be examined to see if they really make sense.
wa
So, the real issue here was not his efficiency, but how his efficiency made others look bad.
Sounds like a union issue. At least in the US it would. Heaven help you if you are a non-union worker and you are more efficient than, or worker longer/harder than, your union co-workers. They'll be filing complaints left and right against you.
I live in a world where Germany makes its living from high quality manufactured goods and it is very, very good at it. And, as an auditor, you surely know that quality production begins and ends with process.
I've also had the privilege of working in all of the countries you mention and many more and found power struggles and a waste of good ideas pretty universal. That they often manifest themselves in Germany as process issues is not a great surprise. In other countries, they appear more as personality issues or status issues or some other problem. It just underlines my point that there probably is - or was - method in the apparent madness of the inefficient postie routing which has been lost somewhere.
Hold on, what if he was throwing away the post should they not of reported him ?,
and try looking at some of the practices the none union parcel services use for example giving times between drops that are impossible unless the driver breaks the legal speed limit (proved on many T.V. shows).
The other classic lorry drivers sent out to work in poorly maintained lorries ,who if they refuse are sacked ,but if they drive and are stopped by the police are responsible and are fined and or banned while the employers get nothing .
In Europe working conditions only improved when unions started or would you wish to return to the "good old days " .
But the rumors we`re getting now is that the German government has lowered the level of required certifications & qualifications to improve employment rates and this is starting to effect quality work across all sectors, is this true? Is the ¦quot;Made in Germany¦quot; going to perhaps loss it`s image?
And I live in France, So I`m not even going to talk about how the unions have condemned us to death!!
To take him to court is just an a$$ backwards mentality....
There are no rules.