Don't mess with bonuses!

April Fool's Day (April 1) has passed this year, but the wave of anger directed at the Royal Mail postal company in the UK has not ended, stemming from a disastrous joke related to the company's salary.

Sky News reported that on April 1, a branch of the Royal Mail postal company in Gloucester ( UK ) posted a poster announcing that the company had reached an agreement with the Communications Workers Union (CWU) to increase wages by up to 11% for employees and offer many other benefits, including buying a new fleet of vehicles and recruiting 10,000 more employees.

The branch even encouraged staff to share the announcement on social media. The message then spread to other Royal Mail branches across the UK.

The story might not have gotten so far if the prank hadn’t happened at a time when many Royal Mail employees were on strike over low pay and unsatisfactory working conditions. After discovering that the Royal Mail Gloucester branch’s announcement was an April Fool’s Day joke, they were furious. Many employees felt that the Gloucester branch manager was unprofessional and that no matter what day it was, it was inappropriate to joke about wages and benefits with workers.

On several forums, Royal Mail employees posted comments expressing outrage, and called for the manager behind the prank to be fired. “There are some weird jokes but they are funny and don’t hurt anyone. But they are making a terrible joke on people who are stuck in a pay and mental crisis,” wrote a Royal Mail employee.

A Royal Mail spokesman said the poster had now been removed and the company had apologised to its staff. In a statement, Royal Mail said: “We apologise for any distress caused by a prank that went wrong at one of our branches. The poster has been removed and the branch manager has apologised.”

It is unclear how those involved in the incident feel when their joke is called by many netizens as the “worst hoax” of this year’s “April Fools’ Day”.

NINH GIANG

No joke

QĐND - April Fools' Day (April 1) is a day when everyone has the right to lie and think of harmless jokes to tease others, adding humor and joy to life. But this April Fools' Day, lying could cause great trouble.