Kiwis are being reminded to respect postal workers during the busy festive season following an "uptick" in acts of aggression toward postal workers.
In a statement this morning, NZ Post revealed it had received more than half a million items on November 27, breaking a two-year record. The last highest inbound volume had been on December 14, 2021.
NZ Post's chief people officer Monica Ayers told 1News there has been an increase in the number of acts of aggression and violence towards postal workers of late.
"It's still a really small sample of what happens for our people in their jobs, but we have seen a little uptick in recent times."
Ayers said the organisation has a zero tolerance stance on abuse, violence and discrimination towards all NZ Post couriers, posties and contact centre staff.
"We know that this time of year can be stressful and tensions can be high. We are asking New Zealanders to be patient, considerate and careful, to help keep everyone safe," she said.
She reiterated that customers displaying violent, abusive, racist or discriminatory behaviour may have their deliveries ceased or their contact blocked from the call centre.
"Our message to New Zealanders is to keep an eye out for your couriers and posties — if you see someone being abused, please take appropriate action such as calling the police."
Ayers said the postal teams take "a huge amount of pride" in their work at this time of year, delivering more than 18 million Christmas presents in time for the big day.
Last week, Australia Post revealed more than 50 postal workers per week are being attacked by dogs whilst delivering packages in the lead-up to Christmas.
Ayers said dogs are an identified risk in this line of work, however Australia's increase in dog attacks is not reflected in New Zealand data.
"We haven't seen an uptick or increase in aggressive dog incidents recently, as Australia has reported, but it certainly is a risk we keep an eye on," she said.
Ayers said staff had a lot of training on de-escalation techniques for issues with the public and the specifics of what to do if a dog approaches.
In the final three weeks before Christmas, Ayers wanted to remind people of the postal cut-off dates to avoid disappointment on Christmas Day.
"Parcels sent within New Zealand need to be sent by Monday 18 December for economy and by Wednesday 20 December for courier," she said.
SHARE ME