Mandatory Overtime Rules
In many offices on Long Island, Letter Carriers are being mandated to work overtime to complete their own assignments and/or other assignments, and the question is usually, “is management allowed to do this if I am not on the Overtime Desired List (ODL)?” In some limited instances, management could be correct in mandating/forcing overtime, and in other instances, it could be a contractual violation and a grievance should be filed. The overtime provisions in Article 8 of the National Agreement can sometimes be confusing. Let us review each situation below from the language found in Article 8 to see if it applies to you.
If you are not on the Overtime Desired List or Work Assignment List, but it is necessary to complete your own assignment using overtime or auxiliary assistance, management must first seek to utilize auxiliary assistance as discussed below, prior to mandating you to work overtime. This is outlined in the “Letter Carrier Paragraph” cited in Article 8 of the JCAM and discussed below.
In the Letter Carrier Craft, where management determines that overtime or auxiliary assistance is needed on an employee’s route on one of the employee’s regularly scheduled days and the employee is not on the overtime desired list, the employer will seek to utilize auxiliary assistance, when available, rather than requiring the employee to work mandatory overtime.
Management must seek to use all of the following to provide auxiliary assistance:
• PTFs at the straight-time or regular overtime rate
• CCAs at the straight-time or regular overtime rate
• available full-time regular employees such as unassigned or reserve regulars at the straight-time rate
• full-time carriers from the ODL at the regular overtime rate.
However, the memo states that management does not have to use ODL carriers to provide auxiliary assistance if such an assignment would mean that the ODL carriers would be working penalty overtime. In that limited situation—if no auxiliary assistance is available without going into penalty overtime—management can require full-time regular carriers not on the ODL to work overtime on their own routes on a regularly scheduled day. Remember that this limited exception applies only when a full-time non-ODL letter carrier is required to work overtime on his/ her own assignment on a regularly scheduled day.
If you are not on the Overtime Desired List (ODL), and management is requiring you to work OFF your assignment and on overtime status, or work on your non-scheduled day, management must first seek to utilize the ODL up to 12 hours in a day and 60 hours in a service week prior to mandating you. This is supported by the contractual language below.
8.5.D Before requiring a non-ODL carrier to work overtime on a non-scheduled day or off his/her own assignment on a regularly scheduled day, management must seek to use a carrier from the ODL, even if the ODL carrier would be working penalty overtime.
8.5.G Full-time employees not on the “Overtime Desired” list may be required to work overtime only if all available employees on the “Overtime Desired” list have worked up to twelve (12) hours in a day or sixty (60) hours in a service week. Employees on the “Overtime Desired” list:
1. may be required to work up to twelve (12) hours in a day and sixty (60) hours in a service week (subject to payment of penalty overtime pay set forth in Section 4.D for contravention of Section 5.F); and
2. excluding December, shall be limited to no more than twelve (12) hours of work in a day and no more than sixty (60) hours of work in a service week.
An employee on the ODL does not have the option of accepting or refusing work over eight hours on a non-scheduled day, work over six days in a service week, or overtime on more than four of the five scheduled days in a service week; instead, an employee on the ODL must be required to work up to twelve hours in a day or sixty hours in a week before management may require employees not on the ODL to work overtime.
In the circumstance that management has followed by the above provisions, and it is still necessary to assign overtime to complete the necessary work, they may feel it is necessary to mandate Letter Carriers overtime who are not on the ODL. Usually this occurs if your office has a limited number of ODL carriers. However, it must be done on a rotating basis as outlined below.
8.5.D If the voluntary “Overtime Desired” list does not provide sufficient qualified people, qualified full-time regular employees not on the list may be required to work overtime on a rotating basis with the first opportunity assigned to the junior employee.
This rotation begins with the junior employee at the beginning of each calendar quarter. Absent an LMOU provision to the contrary, employees who are absent on a regularly scheduled day (e.g., sick leave or annual leave) when it is necessary to use non-ODL employees on overtime will be passed over in the rotation until the next time their name comes up in the regular rotation.
If your supervisor instructs you or assigns you to work overtime, and you believe it is a violation of the above contractual provisions, follow the instruction of your supervisor, and consult your shop steward to investigate and potentially file a grievance if appropriate.
For further details of overtime provisions, see Article 8 in the Joint Contract Administration Manual (JCAM) cited on the branch website www.nalcbranch6000.com or on www.nalc.org.
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