Crown Office Network – Preference Exercise, TUPE, Bumping & Redeployment Plus Enhanced Financial Terms for Leaving PO Employment
Branches with PO members are advised that the Preference Exercise undertaken amongst the members in the 72 Crowns previously announced with Franchise partners closed last night. The headlines are as follows; the vast majority of our members have indicated they wish to take a financial package via a Settlement Agreement with only 9 members interested in transferring to the new franchise partners via TUPE.
Running in parallel to the Crown Preference Exercise described above, was a further one specifically for our Admin & Supply Chain members for the purposes of “Bumping”. I am able to report that over 60 Crown Office members responded to the Preference Exercise stating they wished to retain PO employment by redeploying into these functions. Thankfully we also had a similar number of Admin & Supply Chain members returning Preference forms saying they wish to leave PO employment which could enable a bump to take place. Accordingly, Mole Meade Postal Executive member and myself are meeting management tomorrow with the purpose of identifying suitable matches for bumping so that job offers can be made to our Crown members seeking to retain employment in the PO. This is an important activity as it will help Crown members move into new roles within Post Office whilst enabling some of our members in Admin & Supply Chain to leave the PO with a financial package.
In line with the Joint Statement as contained in LTB 105/25 of the 27thMay 2025, we have also been in negotiations to enhance the financial terms for Crown members (known as Special Severance terms) for those not wanting to TUPE. The starting point for this is the MTSF terms with a minimum of 6 months’ pay and a maximum of 2 years as laid out in the Ready Reckoner.
The following enhancements have been secured and confirmed:
- To qualify for the full 104 weeks compensation 17 years’ service is now required irrespective of age. This compares favourably with MTSF which is 28 years
- Rounding up of both years of service and years in age for the purposes of the Ready Reckoner calculation. For example, this means some with 12 years and 40 days service will be rounded up to 13 years whilst at the same time the age of the person will also be rounded up to their next birthday. This provides for additional weeks compensation.
- For both Full and Part time members, the financial package will be based on actual hours worked (inclusive of all overtime performed) over the most recent 3-month reference period. This ensures all extra hours worked are included in the calculation.
- The full 3% pay rise from 1st April 2025 will apply to the basic pay used in the calculation.
- Members aged 55+ who were members of the RMPP on 31stMarch 2017 will receive a cash compensation of 104 weeks’ pay regardless of age and length of service.
In closing, Branches will see at Appendix A the provisional dates for the closure of 76 Crowns where a Franchise partner has been announced. These dates have been shared with our members today. In this regard the Territorial Reps are fully supporting all members and are regularly visiting the Crowns to ensure a good presence and profile at this important time. The Reps will of course answer all questions from members and provide necessary support. In this regard, Mole Meade and myself are meeting regularly with the Reps to discuss developments as they occur and any issues of concern that arise from members.
Yours sincerely,
Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 
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