Working Off The Clock
It continues to amaze me that I receive calls from letter carriers telling me that a letter carrier is working off the clock. This usually happens when a carrier is seen working prior to their begin tour or after ending their tour. When this occurs more often than not, the supervisor turns a blind eye toward the incident.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement has language in it that states management should not allow employees to work off the clock; this includes allowing employees to work through their 10-minute breaks. The National Agreement states in relevant part;
Article 41.3.K. Supervisors shall not require, nor permit, employees to work off the clock.
Rest Breaks. 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, December 22, 1988, C-08555)
In some instances, however, these rights are being violated. Either manager(s) are allowing carriers to work off the clock (thereby receiving no pay for work performed) or carriers are volunteering to do it. In either case it is wrong.
It is simple to correct the first (file a grievance). It is more difficult to correct the second. Any carrier that willfully performs work without being paid is not only violating the National Contract but also hurting their fellow carriers as well. (Not to mention any carrier who works off the clock is in essence working for free). Why work for free when you should be getting paid for the work?
When a letter carrier works off the clock several adverse situations occur. First when a carrier works off the clock the time is not recorded as time worked on the assignment and such information will in all probability not be available to properly adjust a route. In essence the carrier who works off the clock has successfully taken time away from a route that cannot be accounted for. This not only hurts the Carrier assigned to the route but the overall office as well. Including potential Carriers (PTF’s and CCA’s) wishing to become full time or Career.
Second when a carrier works off the clock it may deprives other carriers (CCA’s PTF’s) of an 8-hour day/40-hour week and or deprives other carriers of potential overtime. This occurs because the hours a carrier works off the clock do not get recorded as Work Hours and less assistance is used in the office. When less assistance is used in an office then actually needed more auxiliary assistance is available thus less hours are available for Overtime Desire List Carriers or Work Assignment Carriers. In addition to that, carriers who work off the clock may actually contribute to more pivoting in the office because work may be being done on a route off the clock that prevents the route from having an 8 hour day. This may force a carrier on a route to have insufficient work on their assignment for an 8 hour day thus making them have to work on other assignments to make an 8 hour day.
Lastly any carrier who works off the clock discredits the hard work other carriers do because it will appear that those carriers who work off the clock performance is better than the carriers who do not undermine the wages and work rules.
Wages and work rules are negotiated by the Union. They are agreed to by your employer, the United States Postal Service. No one should violate these rules. Shop Stewards police the contract but it is every letter carrier’s obligation to protect those rules. If you are working off the clock – STOP IT. Any carrier who knows of another carrier working off the clock should inform their Shop Steward. The shop steward in turn should inform the supervisor to follow the National Contract and file grievances to have the supervisor’s stop carriers from working off the clock. Those that are working off the clock can expect that if you do not stop working off the clock after a successful grievance has been filed on Article 41.3.K above, your supervisor will attempt to discipline you.
