Joy- You should be thrilled; PTF is a career position and many places are not hiring career employees now, on TEs (temps). The pay should easily equal your current salary (when you include OT). Most PTFs work more than 40 hours a week all the time. There are many positive and negative things about working for the USPS, but the job is what you make it. I like the good pay, regular increases, 2 weeks paid sick leave, 2 weeks paid vacation, working outdoors, being away from supervision most of the time and getting plenty of exercise. Some negatives are long and often unpredictable hours, working up to 13 days in a row, working Sundays, working outdoors regardless of the weather (+100 to -20, just here in VT), and nonsensical regulations. Of course, since you are already a federal employee, you are familiar with some of these things. Frankly, these days, a career job with this pay is a good job to have.

I am attending a pre-orientation for a part-time flexible city carrier on Monday 5/12. I know that there are a lot of steps to follow. Overall I'd like to know what the starting salary might be just so I know if it is worth my time and effort (all the paperwork-UGH!). I am currently a DOD employee GS-06, step 3 with an annual salary of $39,461. Do they match my salary and if not, will it increase somewhat reasonably? This job would be closer for me than what I commute at the moment so I would defintely save on gas - now paying $3.50/gallon in my neck of the woods and the expense really adds up. Any info about working for the USPS would be appreciated. Thanks much!

I would much rather get 1.5 times my leave than just straight time anyday, maybe that's just me...

/m2732----I follow what you mean.

While it isn't fair of them to violate the contract and steal money from you.

I actually wouldn't mind it. As with most PTF's working 6 days a week i take some fri-sat off when the schedule allows to get a break. I would have no problem with no getting the 8 hours annual on the saturday since i will still work 50 hours the next 5 days. I would rather keep the annual for a full week during prime.

In /m2729, I meant the PO is beating you out of the money, not the local. I need to be more careful about my pronoun reference.

So what are you saying ^*^*^? I am just kidding of'course. I get it egark and believe you are right. I will present this to my steward and see what happens. Thank you!

David /m2728 -- you have already been shown good reason. It is the section of the ELM I showed you. Federal law requires that anything over 40 hours be OT.

Your pres. is wrong. Your local can't contradict the ELM. They are just beating you out of the money.

I appretiate the responses. I did speak with my steward today who in turn spoke with the local president and the info. I received was that exactly what management said. He said that regulars would be paid but PTF's are just credited back the annual or sick leave for any hours that would put them over 40. From reading egark's post I went to the ELM to check it out and It seems to me that the wording states that PTF's should get paid overtime. I also was reading on a local branch's site where they state all the grievances and outcomes and found this specific situation was grieved and the B-team ruled that overtime would be paid. I am wondering if this is something in my local that was agreed to or if perhaps this particular situation was never challenged before (I know very unlikely) and the pres. happens to be wrong. If I can show good reason why I believe i should be paid overtime I have no doubt my steward and pres. would support me. All information helps, so if anyone comes up with anything please send it my way.

David- talk to your steward, I think your local mgt is blowing smoke. That cite from the ELM in egark's post /m2723 would seem to cover it. Reading it carefully, if you have 40 hours of "paid service" then you don't get LEAVE for the remainder of the week. Ergo, any time for the rest of the week must be WORK hours.

Edited by author 05-08-2008 07:44 AM
Thanks NECarrier. I now understand how leave wil not be paid at the OT rate. However, I am being told that no matter if you (PTF) take leave on Sat.-Thurs. and at the end of the week end up with 50 hours or so, that PTF's will only get paid for 40 because they will just credit you the leave back that put you at overtime. They are saying regulars will get paid if they go into overtime including the leave taken (except for Friday)but PTF's will not. I want to know if there is anything in writing that shows PTF's should be paid OT?

/m2724 David: It won't be LWOP, it will just be non-scheduled time. The point is that leave hours cannot be paid at the overtime rate. So if you want to be paid for the leave time, schedule it earlier in the week, while you are still under 40 hours. Then when you reach 40+, it will be work hours and you will get paid at the OT rate.

Thank you for responding egark as it is much appretiated. So does this passage mean if I take annual or sick leave on a Friday, and have worked my 40 for the week by Thursday, I will not get paid anything? Even if i am approved in advance i will not be paid? So I guess it will amount to just taking the LWOP because I already reached 40, right?

As far as me getting paid overtime for a combination of leave and work (providing leave is taken Sat.-Thurs.), is there anything that talks about this?

David /m2722 -- they are lying about the computer. These changes are being made locally. If you have A/L on Monday you get the leave on Monday and O/T on Friday if you go over 40. What you can't do is take leave on Friday if you have already worked 40 by Thursday, even if the leave had been approved. From the ELM :

512.523 Part-Time Flexible

The following provisions concern part-time flexible employees:

a. A part-time flexible employee who has been credited with 40 hours or more of paid service (work, leave, or a combination of work and leave) in a service week is not granted paid annual or sick leave during the remainder of that service week.

Hello Everyone,
A while back I know there was a post about taking annual leave on any day(s) Sat. through Thurs. and being paind overtime for anything over 40 hours. I can't find the post but i thought it said that the leave time is supposed to be counted twords the 40 hours and that anything over should be paid overtime. I am being told that the computer won't allow anything over 40 when leave is taken during the week and will just credit back the leave time. For example if I take 8 hours of leave on Mon. and end up with 47 at the end of the week (including my 8 hours leave) I will only be charged 1 hour leave which would avoid paying overtime. I am being told that Regulars will get paid the overtime but not PTF's. I am not sure if i read the post wrong about this a while back or what. If PTF's should be paid please let me know where to find this information so i can relay the information to my sup..

Thank you!