NALC Branch 509
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CARRIER EDUCATION/TRAINING
Here, on the training page, we discuss different issues concerning how we perform our job as mail carriers. Sometimes we just need to refresh our memory about a particular aspect of our jobs. At other times, there are changes to forms or other recent changes or developments. Either way, please brush up on these topics below to better understand our responsibilities as carriers.
FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE ACT (FMLA)
There are times in an employee’s career that you may feel unable to work on a day on which you are scheduled. Maybe you are ill, maybe your child or spouse is ill, maybe there is a family or household emergency such as a furnace dying. Or maybe you have a medical condition which requires periodic treatment. Whatever the case, to management there are only two types of sick days—scheduled and unscheduled. Unscheduled absences, according to ELM 511.41 are any absences from work that are not requested and approved in advance. Failure to report to work on days on which you are scheduled can result in discipline, where management may reference ELM 511.43 that says “employees are expected to maintain their assigned schedule” or ELM 665.41 which states that “employees are required to be regular in attendance” and “failure to be regular in attendance may result in disciplinary action, including removal from the Postal Service.” Unfortunately, if a sick absence is not scheduled, management honestly cares little whether or not the absence was legitimate. Of course, obtaining medical documentation will help ensure that any discipline for “unscheduled absences” will not stick on an employee’s record if it is challenged by the union. However, obtaining medical documentation IS NOT REQUIRED for absences less than 3 days, according to our contract.
There is another tool we have in our arsenal for fighting back against micromanagement and discipline resulting from unnscheduled sick days—the Family Medical Leave Act or FMLA. To be legally eligible for FMLA, and employee must (1) have worked for the employer for at least 12 months; (2) have at least 1,250 hours of service in a 12-month period before taking leave, and (3) work at a location where an employee has at least 50 employees within 75 miles of your employer’s worksite. The law entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 work weeks of job-protected absences during a 12-month period of time (for the Postal Service, the postal leave year, which begins on the first full pay period in a calendar year and ends with the start of the next year.)
FMLA protects you against disciple, enables your health insurance to continue during your absence and offers you protection under federal law for retaliation or removal from your job., and enables you to bring a private lawsuit against an employer in the event of violation of the law through the Department of Labor. If you have any of the following conditions, you may be eligible for FMLA protected leave:
- The birth of an employee’s child and care for that child during the first year after birth.
- The placement of a child with an employee for adoption or foster care
- A serious health condition that makes an employee “unable to perform the functions of the position”
- To care for the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent who has a serious health condition.
- Military Family Leave—Qualifying Exigency Leave (absences having to do with deployment) and Miltary Caregiver Leave (absences having to do with serious illness or injury resulting from active duty
The most common form of FMLA protected leave results from a serious medical condition A “serious medical condition” of a family member is defined in the FMLA regulations as any illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition that involves one of the following:
- Hospital Care: impatient care (defined as an overnight stay), including any period of incapacity or subsequent treatment to such inpatient care.
- Absence plus treatment: a period of incapacity of more than three full consecutive calendar days relating the same condition that also involves:
- Treatment two or more times by a health care provider.
- Treatment (office visit) by a healthcare provider on at least one occasion which results in a regimen of continuing treatment under the supervision of the health care provider
- Pregnancy
- Chronic Conditions requiring treatments:
- Requiring periodic visits for treatment by a healthcare provider.
- Continues over an extended period of time AND
- May cause episodic rather than a continuing period of incapacity (i.e. asthma, diabetes, epilepsy)
- Permanent/Long Term conditions requiring supervision
- Multiples Treatments, resulting in a period of incapacity of more than three consecutive days (i.e. chemotherapy, radiation, physical therapy or dialysis)
To file for FMLA, you may contact Shared Services at 1-877-477-3273, Option 5, then Option 6. Furthermore, the Shared Service FMLA Administration offices operate on a regional basic. Here in Pennsylvania, we are located in the Easter Area Region.
To contact the Eastern Area office by mail or send official correspondence, please write to:
HRSSC FMLA Eastern
PO Box 970905
Greensboro, NC 27497-0905
Fax 651-456-6041
If you have further questions about FMLA, please ask your steward, contact Shared Services or our National Business Agent for assistance. Our NBA for this region is David Napadano. His office can be reached at 215-824-4826.
Additionally, the NALC page (www.nalc.org) has many resources to help you understand your rights under the Family Medical Leave Act. You can read more about FMLA at https://www.nalc.org/workplace-issues/contract-administration-unit/fmla.
In conclusion, the Family Medical Leave Act provides a vast amount of protection for eligible employees. It is not only contractual, it is federal law. Make sure you take advantage of this benefit to protect yourself during the event of your absences, whether scheduled or unscheduled if you qualify. The protection under federal law may not only prevent you from being disciplined for your absences, but may enable you to keep your job safe in the event of your incapacity!
"SAFETY FIRST" - PS FORM 1767
![Picture](/uploads/9/1/8/5/91857338/published/form-1767.jpg?1520138709)
"Safety first" is a phrase that easy to remember, but sometimes difficult to practice. We know all about the many safety talks uttered by management about dogs, accident prevention, proper parking, slips/trips/falls, proper lifting procedures, personal protective equipment, and even some uncommon talks like hearing loss and lockout/tagout. Some seem to be unrelated to our job as mail carriers. Others have become very repetitive over time. But do we honestly make safety a priority during our own workday? We cannot depend on anyone else to practice safety for us. "Safety First" must first be our own practice.
These are some uncommon situations I remember from the safety talks over the years which we may not hear about constantly:
- Basketball nets near curbside deliveries
- Uneven sidewalks
- Porches or steps in need of repair
- Hampers or other postal equipment in disrepair
PS Form 1767 - located to the left - is designed to encourage employee participation in the Postal Service safety and health program and to provide prompt action when employees report a hazard. This form provides a channel of communication between employees and management that promotes a prompt analysis and response with corrective action to reports of alleged hazards, unsafe conditions, or unsafe practices. You should familiarize yourself with the location of these forms in your facility and how to use them. If you need assistance filling out the Form 1767, you should see your steward or safety captain.
When an employee fills out this form, safety becomes a matter of record. Management has 24 hours to respond to the report of the safety hazard, documenting what action should be taken. After local management responds, the form is then forwarded to a local safety officer for documentation. Safety committees routinely review these logs to ensure that safety remains paramount.
Remember, safety is only first if you make it first. Many times management talks about safety, but in reality, the numbers are more important. That is why "Safety First" is a personal responsibility of each and every carrier. If you notice a safety hazard, unsafe condition, or unsafe practice, don't just ignore it. Write it up on a 1767. Help make "Safety First" an everyday practice!
by Michael Barley
March 3, 2018
These are some uncommon situations I remember from the safety talks over the years which we may not hear about constantly:
- Basketball nets near curbside deliveries
- Uneven sidewalks
- Porches or steps in need of repair
- Hampers or other postal equipment in disrepair
PS Form 1767 - located to the left - is designed to encourage employee participation in the Postal Service safety and health program and to provide prompt action when employees report a hazard. This form provides a channel of communication between employees and management that promotes a prompt analysis and response with corrective action to reports of alleged hazards, unsafe conditions, or unsafe practices. You should familiarize yourself with the location of these forms in your facility and how to use them. If you need assistance filling out the Form 1767, you should see your steward or safety captain.
When an employee fills out this form, safety becomes a matter of record. Management has 24 hours to respond to the report of the safety hazard, documenting what action should be taken. After local management responds, the form is then forwarded to a local safety officer for documentation. Safety committees routinely review these logs to ensure that safety remains paramount.
Remember, safety is only first if you make it first. Many times management talks about safety, but in reality, the numbers are more important. That is why "Safety First" is a personal responsibility of each and every carrier. If you notice a safety hazard, unsafe condition, or unsafe practice, don't just ignore it. Write it up on a 1767. Help make "Safety First" an everyday practice!
by Michael Barley
March 3, 2018
Your Morning Mail Count - Where Do My Numbers Come From?
by Pam Stover, NALC Branch 509 President
February 6, 2018
Where do the numbers that my supervisor uses in the morning come from?????
Management currently uses 2 “tools” for this:
DOIS (Delivery Operations Information System) OR
PET (Performance Engagement Tool)
These programs use similar, yet different, combinations of your route’s data to try to predict your day. More important, do you know how to look at your mail on the floor to assess how long you believe it will take you? Knowing this will help you have a reasonable conversation with the supervisor about “expectations” for the day.
Below is an example of how to do this.
1 full tub of mail = 1 foot of mail 1 full three sided tray = 1 foot of mail 1 full tray of letters= 2 feet
If you have: 3 tubs of mail + 2 full three sided trays + ½ tray of letters = 6 feet of mail to case
If you case at a rate of 1 foot/10 minutes (which is a good rate) = 60 minutes of casing time
All routes have a fixed office time (FOT) of 29 – 33 minutes for: checking your vehicle, plan 5 (safety talk), withdrawing mail at the throwback case, 5 minute wash up, etc.
In our example, this means you have a minimum time of 1:29. This didn’t include casing spurs (which are counted as flats), tying down, filling out your 3996 or any other variables.
Counting your own mail is something you should do every day. It’s simply a quick visual inspection of what’s laying on the floor when you get to your case each morning. Remember this above all else:
Workload projections provided by management tools are NOT the sole determinant of carriers leave or return time!!!!
February 6, 2018
Where do the numbers that my supervisor uses in the morning come from?????
Management currently uses 2 “tools” for this:
DOIS (Delivery Operations Information System) OR
PET (Performance Engagement Tool)
These programs use similar, yet different, combinations of your route’s data to try to predict your day. More important, do you know how to look at your mail on the floor to assess how long you believe it will take you? Knowing this will help you have a reasonable conversation with the supervisor about “expectations” for the day.
Below is an example of how to do this.
1 full tub of mail = 1 foot of mail 1 full three sided tray = 1 foot of mail 1 full tray of letters= 2 feet
If you have: 3 tubs of mail + 2 full three sided trays + ½ tray of letters = 6 feet of mail to case
If you case at a rate of 1 foot/10 minutes (which is a good rate) = 60 minutes of casing time
All routes have a fixed office time (FOT) of 29 – 33 minutes for: checking your vehicle, plan 5 (safety talk), withdrawing mail at the throwback case, 5 minute wash up, etc.
In our example, this means you have a minimum time of 1:29. This didn’t include casing spurs (which are counted as flats), tying down, filling out your 3996 or any other variables.
Counting your own mail is something you should do every day. It’s simply a quick visual inspection of what’s laying on the floor when you get to your case each morning. Remember this above all else:
Workload projections provided by management tools are NOT the sole determinant of carriers leave or return time!!!!