TEMPORARY staff at Royal Mail have gone postal over claims of poor organisation by its recruitment agent, while two Christmas workers have been arrested on suspicion of stealing.

Staff brought in over the busy Christmas period for Royal Mail by Angard Staffing have told the Adver that many were turned away on their first day, some were originally given the wrong shift times and others have not been paid.

The claims come as two temporary workers were arrested on suspicion of theft on Thursday, after allegedly being caught opening packages and attempting to steal the contents, believed to be mobile phones.

The 19-year-old and 20-year-old, both of Swindon, were arrested at the Groundwell Industrial Estate depot at 5.19am before being release pending further enquiries.

In response to the complaints by temps, the company said: “We are, of course, very sorry if anyone feels the recruitment process has not met the high standards Royal Mail always seeks to achieve – we are very confident that would be the view of a very small minority.”

Mike Webster, 21, of Park North is one of the temporary staff, who said there was confusion due to the service from Angard Staffing, which is part of Royal Mail.

The father-of-one said: “I’ve was told to start at three different times – first it was nights, then it was 11am to 7pm and also on different dates.

“I started on November 28 and I haven’t been paid yet. It is supposed to be a week in arrears and I’ve told my manager, but it hasn’t been sorted.

“It’s so hard to get hold of them – even Royal Mail managers have problems getting hold of them. There’s no answerphone and they don’t reply to emails.”

Sarah Thomas, 21, of Lawn, said there had also been confusion over her shift patterns, while her sister Holly, 25, was turned away on her first day.

“I am appalled by the treatment we have received during the recruitment process and all the problems that have occurred,” she said.

“At my initial interview at the beginning of November we were confirmed to be working the 7.30am to 2pm shift from December 5 to December 24.

“Eventually we received an email from Angard, to confirm our 10pm to 6am shifts. We immediately emailed to inform them we had been put on the wrong shifts, but received no reply.

“Someone from the agency called and suggested I turn up at the previously agreed shift with the paperwork from the interview confirming the actual shift time.

“Around half the people, including me, who had turned up were not on the list of names provided to Royal Mail and almost all had had issues with the recruitment process.”

Royal Mail spokesperson Sally Hopkins said: “Royal Mail’s Christmas recruitment campaign is the biggest of its kind in the country. We have had a tremendous response to the 18,000 temporary roles Royal Mail has been seeking to fill this Christmas, with more than 110,000 applications.

“As well as its unique size, Royal Mail’s recruitment of temporary workers differs from other large companies in that it conducts a criminal records security check.

“We do this because of the paramount importance of protecting our customers’ mail.

“The vetting procedure does mean, however, that it can take a few weeks before the provisional offers of jobs we make to applicants can be confirmed. We explain this carefully to applicants. We are sorry if any applicant has found the process frustrating.

“Our approach throughout the recruitment campaign has been to treat all applicants fairly and with respect – and that includes ensuring they get an answer to their inquiries, including when their application has been unsuccessful “We are very confident the majority of applicants will feel they have been treated fairly.”

In relation to reports seasonal workers have not been paid, she said: “The vast majority of temporary staff have been paid. We are aware of some seasonal workers who have not been paid.

“We have taken this up with the various agencies we work with to resolve the problem. As many seasonal workers in this position as possible have been contacted to reassure them plans are in place to pay them within the next few days.”

She said she could not comment on whether any arrests had been made, but ‘Royal Mail’s policy is a zero tolerance stance to any form of dishonesty’.