The Post Office has been criticised after it reportedly slashed exit payments for 'hard to place' postmasters who attempt to leave the profession. People in charge of the affected branches have been asked "how they would like to proceed with regards to their Post Office", and a branch near Bristol has been named as one of those impacted.
The Post Office Ltd began a programme called Network Transformation in 2011, which was designed to modernise the service and delivery models provided. For those subpostmasters who did not want to change their contract to one of the new operating models, provision was made in the form of an 18-month ’leavers' payment‘.
In 2014 the money was increased to 26 months due to the programme becoming compulsory. Each subpostmaster had to decide by December 2015 as to whether they wished to convert to one of the new operating models or exit the network. Those who did not sign were asked to sign a conditional resignation form, enabling them to leave the network with their leavers' payment once a new subpostmaster was found.
