Czech Post Office lacks delivery staff

The Czech Post Office in Prague currently lacks dozens of delivery workers, especially for letters.

There are also employee shortages in other critical areas, and the Czech Post Office (Česká pošta) is using a recruitment campaign to look for temporary brigade and new full-time employees.

Due to staff shortages, branches are opening fewer service windows, so customers will wait longer in lines. Workers are also lacking at the depots, where uncollected packages are accumulating.

The delays also apply to official letters and notifications that should have overnight delivery. If the addresses do not know about them or do not receive them in time, the deadline given by the authority or court may expire, which may result in forfeiture of property.

“We have received many complaints. The worst situation seems to be on the right bank of the Vltava River, specifically in Letňany, Vinoř, Prosek, Střížkov and Libeň. Customers complain that the mail deliverers do not go every day, so we've got to monitor the situation. If the mistake is confirmed, which has happened in the past, the Post Office may be fined,” Czech Telecommunication Office.(ČTÚ) Martin Drtina said, according to daily Pražský deník,

Customers, including authorities and courts, can recover the price of the shipment or receive compensation, as technically they enter into a contract with the Post Office for each letter or package.

In Prague, the Post Office lacks 9 percent of letter delivery workers and 8 percent of package delivery workers.

Unions representatives say this has a negative impact on employees who have to deal with more work. The unions have long complained that the wages at the Post Office are Kč 5,000 lower than the national average. Wages went up 7.1 percent in April. In Prague, there is a recruitment fee of Kč 15,000, which unions say is not sufficient.

The Czech Post Office faced liberalization of the market in 2013, and since then has lost about Kč 6.9 billion. One of the unions that deals with postal services delivered a petition calling for changes to the law so that the costs of basic postal services will be fairly reimbursed. The petition was given to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The union is waiting for a public hearing.