Mail man's 'small' £57,000 bonus

UNION leaders have attacked Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier for describing as 'very small' a £57,000 bonus payment he received for just two months' work.

Crozier, who is on an annual salary of £500,000, is Britain's best paid civil servant. The former Football Association chief executive received the bonus for his first two months at Royal Mail, when he worked as a postman in Kingston, Surrey, to find out what life was like for the workers. The money, which came on top of £83,333 pay for this February and March, could have paid the salaries of more than four postmen.

When Financial Mail questioned Crozier about his earnings earlier this year, he said: 'I will be getting a bonus, but it will be very small. I have not been here that long.'

A union spokesman said: 'These sort of bonuses are completely unjustified. If he had really wanted some proper work experience, he should have been paid the same as an average postman, which is £262 a week.'

But Financial Mail has learned that while Crozier might describe the bumper payment as a 'bonus', it is part of a disguised 'golden hello'. A senior source at Royal Mail said: 'It was not for his performance - it was part of the package to get him to come. This is normal practice in industry. I can understand why the unions may be angry.'

The revelations about directors' bonuses will inflame postal workers who are being balloted on industrial action in a dispute over pay. They have been offered a 4.5% rise over 18 months, with the possibility of a further ten% if they achieve certain productivity targets.