Old Dirty Base Time - Part I

Greetings brothers and Sisters and thank you for taking the time to read my article.  Just as we get closer to the end of another USPS Fiscal year with even less mail volume than usual; it seems so Management has even less patience.  More and more every day I get involved with Work Room Floor arguments about making base street time, leave times and extension of street time.  In this low mail volume environment, it is very important to understand what it is that you are responsible for. 

Using a time projection or applying an arbitrary amount of time does not change the letter carrier’s reporting requirements outlined in Section 131.4 of Handbook M-41, City Delivery Carriers Duties and Responsibilities; the supervisor’s scheduling responsibilities outlined in Section 122 of Handbook M-39, Management of Delivery Services; or the letter carrier’s and supervisor’s responsibilities contained in Section 28 of Handbook M-41. The letter carrier’s reporting requirements outlined in Section 131.4 of Handbook M-41 read, in relevant part, as follows:

131.4 Reporting Requirements

131.41 It is your responsibility to verbally inform management when you are of the opinion that you will be unable to case all mail distributed to the route, perform other required duties, and leave on schedule or when you will be unable to complete delivery of all mail.

131.42 Inform management of this well in advance of the scheduled leaving time and not later than immediately following

the final receipt of mail. Management will instruct you what to do.

131.43 Complete applicable items on Form 3996, Carrier-Auxiliary Control, if overtime or auxiliary assistance is authorized in the office or on the street.

131.44 Report on Form 1571 all mail undelivered—including all mail distributed to the route but not cased and taken out for delivery. Estimate the number of pieces of mail.

131.45 Do not curtail or eliminate any scheduled delivery or collection trip unless authorized by a manager, in which case you must record all facts on Form 1571.

131.46 Before you leave the office, enter on Form 1571 the mail curtailed; when you return, add any ail which was not delivered, and which was returned to the office. Follow any special local procedures set up to identify errors and corrective actions for mail returned because it was out of sequence.

3996-Section 28 of Handbook M-41 outlines the procedures for letter carriers to fill out PS Form 3996, Carrier—Auxiliary Control, and to submit it to the supervisor when the letter carrier estimates that the daily workload cannot be completed in the allotted time. It also details the requirements of the supervisor in Item L of the form.  Section 122.33 of Handbook M-39 requires a supervisor to provide a letter carrier with PS Form 3996 upon request once the supervisor has been verbally informed why the request is being made. That section states:

122.33 The employee, upon request, will be provided a Form 3996, Carrier - Auxiliary Control, after the supervisor has been verbally informed as to the reason for the request. The employee shall not be denied the form and, upon request, a duplicate of the completed form will be provided the employee.

Postal Record

Article 41, Section 3G of the National Agreement reinforces the carrier’s rights and management’s responsibilities related to the PS From 3996. It states:

G. The Employer will advise a carrier who has properly submitted a Carrier Auxiliary Control Form 3996 of the disposition of the request promptly after review of the circumstances at the time. Upon request, a duplicate copy of the completed Form 3996 and Form 1571, Report of Undelivered Mail, etc., will be provided the carrier.

Letter carriers are responsible for estimating the amount of time it will take to complete their assigned duties, and management has a responsibility to manage that workload within the confines of the handbook language. In attempting to meet wildly inaccurate time projections or arbitrary time allotments, some required office duties are, at times, ignored or overlooked.

If safety, good service and preserving your route is also important to you than understanding aspects of your Fixed Office Time (FOT) and being attentive to those functions is something you should educate yourself on.  Vehicle inspections are often overlooked office duties. Letter carriers should be afforded time to properly inspect their delivery vehicle according to USPS Notice 76, Expanded Vehicle Safety Check, every day before operating the vehicle.

Vehicle inspections should be performed as soon as possible after clocking in to allow letter carriers to promptly report vehicle deficiencies to management. Sections 832 and 842 of Handbook M-41 state:

832.1 Inspect vehicle as described on Notice 76, Expanded Vehicle Safety Check (see exhibit 832.1) for deficiencies, body damage, or inoperable items. See section 842 for reporting defects.

842.1 Reporting Defects Driver must (a) report all mechanical defects or failures and major body damage on Form 4565, Vehicle Repair Tag (see exhibit 842.1) as soon as noted, and (b) immediately turn in the completed form to a dispatcher or manager. Minor body damage can sometimes await repair until the next regular inspection and need not be reported more than once.

Section 922.51.f of Handbook M-41 indicates how the time for vehicle inspections is credited on the PS Form 1838-C, Carrier’s Count of Mail – Letter Carrier Routes Worksheet, during the route inspection process. The minimum time allowance for performing vehicle inspections is three minutes; however, a proper vehicle inspection may take longer.

As indicated in Section 922.51, this inspection should be performed as part of morning office duties and should receive office time credit accordingly. Notice 76 specifies that letter carriers should perform Items 16 and 17 on the list with assistance from another person if possible.  So, use a fellow Carrier to complete those functions and reciprocate for that Carrier.  Have a Vehicle inspection Buddy!  Vehicle inspections are an important part of maintaining letter carrier safety and should not be overlooked.

Hold mail- Letter carriers also should be afforded the proper amount of office time to process hold mail. Mail may be held for many reasons, including customers being temporarily away or on a 10-day hold in anticipation of processing a change of address. The procedures for processing hold mail vary based on the type of mail and the reasons for the hold. These procedures are explained in depth in Chapter 2 of Handbook M-41. Whatever the reason mail is being held, letter carriers should process this mail on office time.  Handbook provisions instruct management to have letter carriers retain hold mail at the carrier case. This language is found in Section 117 of Handbook M-39:

117.1 Workroom Floor Layout

k. Hold Mail. Instruct the carrier to place hold mail in a central location only when space is not available at the carrier’s case.

Letter carriers also must retrieve accountable items and special services mail on office time. Accountable items are keys, postage due, customs duty and special services mail. Letter carriers receive these items in the morning from the accountable clerk. These items are handled in accordance with Section 261 of Handbook M-41:

Section 261.11 Accountable items are keys, postage due, customs duty, and special services mail.

Section 261.12 Generally, carriers are required to call at the finance cage for accountable items. They may be called in groups by all of route numbers or by passing a paddle (see “Paddle System” in the Glossary). At some offices, the items are delivered to the carrier at his/her case.

Handbook M-41 makes clear that the processing of these items should be credited to office time. Letter carriers should ensure that they are on office time when handling accountable items, whether in the morning before leaving for the route or in the afternoon upon returning. When a Carrier receives a customer forward, it is necessary to log these forwards on a PS Form 3546 Forwarding Order Change Notice; The pink rectangular cards on the side of the case.  Section 241.2 of the M-41 states:

Section 241.2 Entries from PS Form 3546 On receipt of PS Form 3546, Forwarding Order Change Notice, enter appropriate data from PS Form 3546 on PS Form 3982, Changes of Address. Place PS Forms 3546 in designated location for delivery to CFS.

10-minute breaks.  City letter carriers are entitled to two paid 10-minute rest breaks during each eight-hour workday. One of these rest breaks may be taken in the office-on-office time if your local branch has chosen this option. The negotiated two 10-minute break periods are the required minimum.  Longer breaks may be established by past practice or by the local memorandum of understanding (LMOU). Letter carriers are required to take the negotiated breaks. The Joint Contract Administration Manual (JCAM) on page 41- 28 explains this requirement as follows:

National Arbitrator Britton ruled that the Postal Service must ensure that all employees stop working during an office break. Contractual breaks must be observed and cannot be waived by employees (H4N-3D-C 9419, Dec. 22, 1988, C-08555).

If your Office has an office break, letter carriers must take this break on office time. During the route inspection process, letter carriers receive credit for this office break on the PS Form 1838-C, and it is included in the office time evaluation for each route. Letter carriers should never skip their negotiated rest breaks whether they are taken in the office or on the street.

BUT WAIT THERES MORE!  If you act now, you get PM Fixed Office time for the low price of completing P.M. office duties!! In some locations, supervisors instruct letter carriers to complete their assigned p.m. office duties within a predetermined amount of time. Oftentimes, afternoon office duties can be unclear for city letter carriers. Section 4 of Handbook M-41 specifies what duties letter carriers should perform as p.m. office functions after clocking back in from the street. The Supervisor’s responsibilities can be found in Handbook M-39. Those duties include the following:

Section 127 Office Work When Carriers Return from Route The carrier unit managers must observe and direct carrier activity when carriers return from the route. Observe such things as:

a. See that carriers promptly clock in on return to office.

c. See that clerks are available to check in accountable items as efficiently and promptly as possible.

As indicated, handbook provisions state carriers should clock back into the office immediately after unloading their vehicle and before disposition of collected mail. This is indicated in Section 42 of Handbook M-41:

42 Disposition of Collected Mail Place the mail collected on designated table or in receptacles.

Sorting of outgoing collection mail and all other end of day activities should be conducted on office time. Letter carriers also should return accountable items to the clearing clerk for proper clearance while on office time, as indicated in Section 43 of Handbook M-41 and Section 127.c of Handbook M-39 cited above. See the following sections of Handbook M-41 for detailed explanations of the p.m. office duties pertaining to accountable items:

43 Clearance for Accountable Items

431 Keys

432 Registered and Certified

433 Insured Mail

434 CODs

435 Customs Duty Mail

436 Postage Due

Processing of undelivered mail also should be performed on office time, whether this mail is processed in the morning or in the afternoon upon return from the route. Section 44 of Handbook M-41 explains this requirement:

44 Undelivered Mail

441 Processing Undelivered Mail Follow procedures listed in part 24 to process forwardable and undeliverable mail (1) that you didn’t process before leaving the office and/or (2) that you picked up on route. After processing, place this mail in throwback case, as explained in part 24.

442 Completing PS Form 1571

442.1 After return from your trip, obtain PS Form 1571, Undelivered Mail Report, from unit manager.

442.2 Add any mail which was not delivered but was returned to the office.

442.3 Sign the form and give it to a unit manager.

There is no set time in which the above duties must be performed. These duties are equally as important as morning office or street duties. Letter carriers still are responsible for estimating the amount of time it will take to complete their assigned duties. Likewise, management still has a responsibility to manage that workload within the confines of the handbook language.

If letter carriers are not allowed to perform office duties, or if they are not afforded adequate time to perform these duties, the Shop Steward or branch officer should be notified so they can investigate and, if appropriate, file a grievance.