BRT&G Agreement – Seasonal Variation 2025 Further Update
Dear Colleagues,
Further to LTB 074/25, issued on 14thApril, which confirmed that both parties have agreed to suspend Seasonal Variation for 2025 due to the significant unknowns and uncertainties concerning USO Reform activity.
After the LTB was circulated, the Department received numerous enquiries from Branches in terms of when this suspension of Seasonal Variation will be reflected in the PSP system and, therefore, individual members’ annual leave cards. At that time, Royal Mail was unable to confirm the direct timelines as to when PSP will be updated to reflect the agreed suspension of Seasonal Variation, but did confirmed that the PSP system was still reflecting and deducting annual leave based on the original Seasonal Variation design, a 15-week High Season and a 15-week Low Season, as set out in Appendix 1 of the Business Recovery, Transformation & Growth (BRT&G) Agreement. This was communicated to Branches and Representatives in ODM 022/25, issued on 17th April.
Royal Mail further advised at the time that given the agreement to suspend Seasonal Variation in 2025, ‘all leave in that period would be reverted to Mid-Season/Contracted hours within PSP in the coming weeks once upgrade has occurred.’
Unfortunately, despite continuously raising this matter with Royal Mail during this period, there has been a noticeable delay in finally reverting leave within PSP back to Mid-Season/Contracted hours.
We have now been advised that the wider and final PSP system update, based on the suspension of Seasonal Variation this year, will now take place in November and will remove the impact of Seasonal Variation from all local Delivery units for 2025.
However, in the meantime, Royal Mail have shared via the attached comms, issued today to all Delivery managers, the following manual corrections to individual employee annual leave records in PSP to ensure they are accurate ahead of November, when a final technical solution will be made. This plan will be briefed locally in units outlining the following changes:
HR Services leave balance corrections
HR Services will run an initial update to correct leave balances for employees whose leave was incorrectly deducted due to the system assuming Low Season. This correction applies to leave taken between May and June.
Updated leave balances will be visible in PSP and the People App from around 11 August.
Impact of the update
As PSP treated employees as being in Low Season instead of Mid Season, the correction will deduct additional time from leave balances. The impact will vary depending on full-time or part-time status and the number of leave days taken.
Ongoing monthly adjustments
HR Services will repeat the correction process monthly, at the start of each month, to maintain accurate leave balances. Each update will reflect corrections for the previous month.
These monthly updates will be visible in PSP and the People App from around the second week of each calendar month.
September onwards
From September, the effect will reverse, and employees may see leave time credited back, depending on leave taken.
November onwards
The manual process will continue until the permanent technical solution is deployed in November, which will fully remove the Seasonal Variation effect from the system.
These changes in PSP will not impact current planned and booked annual leave arrangements for individuals.
This period of ongoing delay has not been a helpful development, but it is now hoped that this further clarification will end any remaining confusion in this regard and confirm the steps to correct leave in the PSP system following the suspension of Seasonal Variation this year.
If any member believes that, as a result of these changes outlined above, there have been errors made with their allocated Annual Leave entitlement and / or the changes create additional problems, the business have confirmed that, in the first instance, line managers should be able to assist, as outlined in the attached Royal Mail Comms. Equally, as confirmed above, these changes in PSP will not impact or alter currently planned and booked annual leave arrangements for members.
Any enquiries to the content of this LTB should be directed to the Outdoor Department, email address: Pharacz@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely,
Tony Bouch
Assistant Secretary
LTB 167/25 – BRTG Agreement – Seasonal Variation 2025 Further Update
Att: Seasonal Variation suspension and leave balance adjustments August 2025 v3 CO
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 
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