Discussions

I am retired Navy with 20 years of honorable service. I was wondering how the "Payback your military time" works. I am an RCA who only gets 24 hours a week and need to know what I have to do to switch to a craft that pays at least 40 hours per week.

rcox357 - From what I understand it would not be in your best interest to buy time in the PO with your Navy retirement. The way I heard it, you would be converting your military time to postal time and would lose it. (ie, no retirement check from the Navy) The best option would be to continue drawing your retirement and wait for a full time position. Then build a retirement with the PO so you can get 2 of them.

I'm not sure if the new Postal Reform Bill changes any of that since the PO no longer has to pay the military retirement of PO career employees.

I would definately research it fully before making a decision.

Happy New Year to Everyone!

I have installed new forums at PEN for everyone to utilize. I respectfully request that you at least try them out. You may find our new forums here:

http://www.postalemployeenetwork.com/phpforum/index.php

Why new forums? simply because PEN does not own our current forums - they are owned by Quick Topic. This limits our ability to manage the forums - not only that, but we must pay Quick Topic for use of these forums. We own our new forums. Please give them a try. In the near future we may cease using Quick Topic forums altogether.

THANKS!
Rick Owens
Postal Employee Network

Hey guys, check out Ron's book about his expeiences in the processing plant. He is also a retired Navy Senior Chief trying to make life better in the P.O. As the saying goes "your best bet is to hire a vet"
http://deepinsideliteblue.com/

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I am retired US Navy with 30% disability rating trying to get hired by the USPS. The USPS web site has only RCA job openings and I have taken the exam and waiting for a call. I would like to get a permanent job. Are they kept shrouded in secrecy? I'm in Reading, PA and looking for City Carrier or Clerk position, F/T or PTF. The Lacaster, PA district office has a bad phone number and can not get through. Can my fellow veterans help me out in putting me in the right direction?

Don MacKenzie

Don - If the RCA position is the only opening listed, then that is technically the only opening. Most full time positions (Rural Carrier, Clerk, City Carrier) other than maintenance are not opened up to the street. Best thing I can offer is to go to each post office you are looking at working in and seeing if they have a list posted for the public on various positions. All rural carriers are hired from the RCA's already employed. I believe city carriers come from the PTF's or from other full time employees who sign up for the test from within. In fact a lot of city carriers are actually PTF's. There are some employees that are hired from the street to work in the post office (TRC?)and are usually used the same as RCA's but can work the city route too and I think get paid a low hourly wage.

nothing wrong with starting out as an RCA if you get the interview. it's a good way to see if you actually like the post office life and to see how the other jobs you are interested in work. hang in there.

Tom ... not sure where you get your info but all city carriers start out as PTF's at the very least. You can be hired as a casual but still must become a PTF first. Never seen anyway around that. It is part of the seniority process. You'll become a full time career carrier when a vacancy occurs due to retirement, someone quitting or dying.

Don the 30% disability rating may work against you as far as becoming a carrier. It is the postmasters discretion to hire who he wants. If he/she believes that you cannot perform the required duties they may pass you over. Nothing is written in stone but again it is the PM's choice.

and I think that's probably why I said "I believe city carriers come from the PTF's" and "a lot of city carriers are actually PTF's". The other part about "from other full time employees who sign up for the test" comes from people I have asked, who actually probably don't know, but told me anyway.

And I can say, as a 70% veteran myself, my VA rating did not hamper my ability to get my RCA job. I was at the top of the hiring list, I interviewed well, and was selected for the position. The medical determination is made by doctors in the personel office who evaluate the VA documents that your rating is based on. They ask you questions about the various injuries and then they make the decision as to whether or not your disabilies will interfere with your job performance. The post master never sees and cannot see the basis for your rating and all they know during the interview process is that you have 5 or 10 pt preference. Your driving record will have more of an effect on your ability to get the job than your VA rating will.

Just as a side note there is a major physical requirement difference between an RCA and a city carrier.

Like what?�A;�A;�A;----- Original Message ----�A;From: QT - <qtopic+35-kTt8ybUwj7yVe@quicktopic.com>�A;To: QT topic subscribers <qtopic+subs@quicktopic.com>�A;Sent: Thursday, February 8, 2007 9:00:44 AM�A;Subject: Veterans�A;�A;�A;--QT-------------------------------------------------------------�A; Reply by email or visit�A; http://www.quicktopic.com/35/H/kTt8ybUwj7yVe/m56�A;--------------------------------------------------------------- -�A;�A;Just as a side note there is a major physical requirement�A;difference between an RCA and a city carrier.�A;_________________________________________________________________�A;To unsubscribe: http://www.quicktopic.com/35/X/kTt8ybUwj7yVe�A;Start your own topic in 20 seconds: http://www.quicktopic.com |QT�A;�A;�A; �A;________________________________________________________________ ___________________�A;Do you Yahoo!?�A;Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.�A;http://new.mail.yahoo.com

Edited by author 02-08-2007 10:03 PM
Don, I'll let Mr . answer from here on out. He obviously knows more about it than I do.

Edited by author 02-12-2007 09:50 PM
yes can anybody give me a answer to this question please, i'm a RCA still in my probation period, can i still receive a notice for a PTF carrier if i have taken both the 460 and 473 test.i have been trying to get a answer to this question and nobody can give me a straight answer. thank you for your help.

Yes you can!! I was informed of this by the HR manager at the Harrisburg, PA office. I too just got hired on as an RCA and I am also on the register for PTF City Carrier.�A;�A;Don�A;�A;�A;----- Original Message ----�A;From: QT - Todd <qtopic+35-kTt8ybUwj7yVe@quicktopic.com>�A;To: QT topic subscribers <qtopic+subs@quicktopic.com>�A;Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 6:55:23 PM�A;Subject: Veterans�A;�A;�A;--QT-------------------------------------------------------------�A; Reply by email or visit�A; http://www.quicktopic.com/35/H/kTt8ybUwj7yVe/m59�A;--------------------------------------------------------------- -�A;�A;yes can anybody give me a answer to this question please, i'm a�A;RCA still in my probation period, can i still receive a notice�A;for a PTF carrier if i have taken both the 460 and 473 test.i�A;have been trying to get a answer to this question and nobody can�A;give me a straight answer. thank you for your help.�A;_________________________________________________________________�A;To unsubscribe: http://www.quicktopic.com/35/X/kTt8ybUwj7yVe�A;Start your own topic in 20 seconds: http://www.quicktopic.com |QT�A;�A;�A; �A;________________________________________________________________ ___________________�A;Do you Yahoo!?�A;Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.�A;http://new.mail.yahoo.com

Thank you Don for that information and good luck at your RCA job and hope you hear something soon about a PTF carrier notice.

Does anyone know how military leave works for a PTF city carrier who is a National Guard reservist? He has been an employee for approximately nine months. He asked his managers about military leave and no one seemed to know the answer as to whether/not he was entitled to the leave. I am an HR officer with the federal govt. and our reservists are entitled to 15 days a year. I thought that it would be the same for USPS employees as well. Is the ML entitlement only for employees who have been with the postal service for a certain period of time? Your assistance would be greatly appreciated. Are there regulations available for postal employees to review?