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Postal Support Employee (PSE)
1. Do all terms of the Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) Re: Noncareer Assistant NCA) Employees apply to PSE's?
ANSWER: Yes. The word PSE
replaces Noncareer Assistant (NCA)
wherever Noncareer Assistant or "NCA"
appears in the agreement and MOU's.
2. Will PSE Leave Accrual rules be
identical to those currently in place
for APWU TEs?
ANSWER: Yes.
3. During the first three months of the
agreement, as casuals and TE's are being
eliminated, mayan office have either
casuals or TE's at the same time as
PSE's?
ANSWER: Yes, but only during the gO-day
period from the effective date of the
agreement (May 23 - August 21, 2011).
During this interim period if casuals
remain they continue to be subject to
the same restrictions that were in
effect under the 2006-10 CSA.
4. Can current PMR's be converted to
PSE's?
ANSWER: PMR's will be eligible to take the
appropriate examinations like any other
member of the general public and, if
reached during the competitive hiring
process, are eligible to be hired as PSE's.
5. Can casuals be converted to PSE's?
ANSWER: Casuals will be eligible to take
the appropriate examinations like any
other member of the general public and,
if reached during the competitive hiring
process, are eligible to be hired as
PSE's.
6. When can PSE's begin to be hired?
ANSWER: Effective May 23, 2011.
7. How is a PSE grade determined for
each PSE?
ANSWER: The PSE will be hired at the grade
for the position in question. An example
would be a PSE hired to work as a mail
processing clerk would be hired as a
Grade 6 PSE, as career mail processing
clerks would be hired at level 6.
8. What happens if a PSE works at a
lower level than his current grade,
e.g., a level 6 PSE performs the work of a level 4 career
employee?
ANSWER: The PSE continues to be paid at
the level 6.
9. In the clerk craft, the number of
PSE's derived from the retail/customer
services (Function 4) may be used in Function one (1) and
when doing so will not count against the
20% mail processing (Function one) cap. Does
that refer to the number or percentage
of PSEs that will not count against the Function
1 cap?
ANSWER: It refers to the allowable
number of PSE's. For example if the
permissible number of PSE's in Function 4 is ten
(10), they may be used in Function 1 and
when so used will not count against the mail
processing (Function One) District PSE
cap.
10. How is "new work" defined for
purposes of PSE's not counting toward
the PSE cap?
ANSWER: "New work" is defined in Section
7.8.6., of the Postal Support Employee
(PSE) MOU and includes work being
contracted out that is brought back
in-house, such
as:
a. In the Clerk Craft, work in any
former Contract Postal Unit (CPU),
unless it is a fullservice
unit or it primarily provides postal
services;
b. In the Maintenance Craft, formerly
contracted out custodial work (subject
to the
provisions of the Maintenance Craft Jobs
MOU);
c. In the Motor Vehicle Craft, highway
contract routes (HCRs) that are brought
back into the Postal Service and assigned to
postal employees (subject to the
provisions of the Motor Vehicle Craft
Jobs MOU).
d. In other circumstances when new or
contracted work is brought in house
or new retail initiatives that are not
full-service post offices are
established as the parties may agree.
11. How will "new work" PSE's be
identified?
ANSWER: They will be given a unique
Designation Activity Code (D/A) or other
identifier
to separate them from other PSE's.
12. How will PSE's working in customer
service/retail or mail processing be
distinguished?
ANSWER: To permit monitoring of the
District PSE caps, customer
service/retail
(Function 4) PSE's and mail processing
(Function 1) PSE's will each be given a
unique
D/A or other identifier.
13.The MOU provides that PSE's are
eligible for health benefits after the
first 360-day
appointment and upon reappointment to
another 360-day term. If a PSE is
appointed for less than 360 days, when
does the PSE become eligible for health
benefits?
ANSWER: Upon serving for a year without
a break in service of more than 5 days,
in accordance with OPM regulations.
14. Does PSE standing on a roll carry
over into career appointment?
ANSWER: The time worked as a PSE does
not carry over if a PSE attains career
status.
They begin their initial period of
seniority when they attain career
status.
15.lf a casual is hired as a PSE, will
time spent as a casual count toward
eligibility for health
insurance?
ANSWER: No.
16. May PSE's be scheduled to perform
work if a part-time flexible in that
office is
available and qualified to perform that
work at the straight time rate?
ANSWER: During the course of a service
week, the Employer will make every
effort to insure that available and
qualified part-time flexible clerks are
utilized at the straight-time rate prior to
assigning such work to PSE's.
17.ls there a difference between the
"register" from which PSE's "shall be
hired" as
referenced in the PSE MOU and the
"hiring list"?
ANSWER: There is no real difference.
"Hiring lists" have essentially replaced
the "register" as terminology in the MOU.
18. Do PSE clerks hold down their opted
residual duty assignment during their
mandatory 5 day break in service?
ANSWER: No. Any such duty assignment
must either be posted for bid or
reverted pursuant to Article 37.3 on the
occasion of the employee's break in
service.
19.Article 7.8.3 of the PSE MOU reads,
"In the Clerk Craft, the total number of
PSEs used in mail processing (Function one)
within a District, will not exceed 20%
of the total number of career mail processing
(Function one) clerk craft employees within
that District, except in accounting
periods 3 and 4, beginning two (2) years
from the effective date of the contract."
Does the "beginning two (2) years from
the effective date of the contract"
provision apply to the entire sentence
or only to the accounting periods 3 and 4 exception?
Answer: The exception, eliminating the 20% PSE cap during accounting
periods 3 and 4 begins 2 years from the effective date of the Agreement, May 23, 2013.
20. How does management determine which
PSE to terminate during their term when
there is a lack of work?
ANSWER: Clerk and Maintenance craft PSEs
will be terminated for lack of work
based
upon inverse craft standing on the roll
in the installation. MVS Craft PSE's
will be
terminated for lack of work based on
inverse occupational group standing on
the roll in
the installation.
21. When needed, how does management
determine which PSE to bring back to
work?
ANSWER: PSEs will be returned based upon
their craft standing on the roll in the
installation, or in the MVS Craft by
their occupational group standing on the
roll, for up to
a one year period from their break in
service.
22. Will a PSE who serves as an APWU
steward have rights over other PSE's
when it is
necessary to let PSE's go because of
lack of work or when there is an
opportunity to
bring PSE's back to work?
ANSWER: Yes.
23. Does a PSE steward's rights impact
who is selected for an available career
opportunity?
ANSWER: No.
24. May PSE's be removed for reasons
other than lack of work?
ANSWER: PSE's may be disciplined or
removed within the term of their
appointment for
just cause and any such discipline or
removal will be subject to the
grievance-arbitration
procedure, provided that within the
immediately preceding six months, the
PSE has
completed ninety (90) work days, or has
been employed for 120 calendar days,
whichever comes first.
NTFT's
25. What is a reasonable timeframe for
PTF's in Function 1 and in offices level
21 and above be converted to full-time?
ANSWER: It is expected that all PTF's in
Function 1 and in offices level 21 and
above will be converted to full-time by August
23,2011. Any exceptions will need to be
discussed and mutually approved at the national
level.
26. What is a reasonable timeframe for
clerk and MVS PTR's to be converted to
full-time?
ANSWER: It is expected that all PTR's in
the Clerk and MVS crafts will be
converted to
full-time by August 23,2011. Any
exceptions will need to be discussed and
mutually approved at the national level.
27. May employees who at the time of the
signing of the agreement (May 23, 2011)
are current unassigned regulars and
Full-Time Flexibles be assigned to NTFT
duty assignments of less than 40 or more than
44 hours?
ANSWER: No. Any clerk craft or MVS
employee who is in a full-time status at
the signing of the agreement is protected
against involuntary assignment to NTFT
duty assignments of less than 40 or more than
44 hours.
28.ls a saved-grade level 7 clerk or MVS
craft employee (who was full-time at the
signing of the CSA) required to bid on a level 7
NTFT duty assignment of less than 40
hours or more than 44 hours/week in order to
maintain their saved grade?
ANSWER: No.
29.ln 2009 a clerk elected to revert to
either a PTF or PTR assignment (in which
they currently remain) in lieu of involuntary
excessing from the craft and/or
installation.
Is that clerk protected from involuntary
assignment to a NTFT assignment of less
than 40 hours or more than 44
hours/week?
ANSWER: No. All current PTR's and PTF's
may be assigned to any residual
NTFT duty assignment.
30. What change to the hours of a NTFT
duty assignment may be made without
creating the need to repost the assignment?
ANSWER: NTFT duty assignments are
full-time duty assignments. All of the
reposting rules for full-time assignments in
Article 37.3.A.4 and in Article 39.2.A,
including Article 39.2.A.6, 7 and 8 apply to NTFT duty
assignments. The assignment must also be
reposted when the total hours in the
workweek of a NTFT duty assignment are
changed.
31.Are employees in NTFTs and
traditional duty assignments considered
all one category for excessing and retreat rights
purposes?
ANSWER: Yes.
32. The NTFT MOU requires that if the
traditional duty assignment occupied by
a senior clerk is reposted as a NTFT duty assignment
all duty assignments within the section
occupied by junior clerks must be reposted for
in-section bidding. If one or more of
those reposted duty assignments occupied by a junior
clerk is changed sufficiently to meet
the reposting requirements in Article 37.3.A. 4, will
it still be posted in-section?
ANSWER: No. In this situation if
the duty assignment is changed
sufficiently that Article
37.3.AA (and the LMOU) require reposting
the duty assignment would be posted
installation wide.
33. Mayan excessed FTR clerk or MVS
employee (who was FT at the signing of
the 2010 CSA) decline to retreat to a NTFT duty
assignment of less than 40 hours or more
than 44 hours/week without losing her retreat
rights?
ANSWER: Yes. Excessed employees with
retreat rights, whether to the section
(Article 12.5.CA) or to the installation and/or
craft (Article 12.5.C.5) may decline
their right to
retreat to any NTFT duty assignment
without relinquishing their right to
retreat to any
posted traditional FTR duty assignment.
34. Normally, the NTFT employees should
not work more than the number of hours
(daily and/or weekly) identified in their bid
assignment, except in an emergency. What
is considered to be an emergency?
ANSWER: Article 3.F provides the
parties' mutual understanding of what
constitutes an
emergency situation: an unforeseen
circumstance or a combination of
circumstances
which calls for immediate action in a
situation which is not expected to be of
a recurring
nature.
NTFT's - Overtime Rules
35. If, on a particular day, two hours
of additional work is necessary, who
should be scheduled when the 2 clerks available
within the section are: a) qualified
non-OTDL NTFT employee (five - 6 hour days ending
tour at 3:00 PM) for 2 hours of
out-of-schedule premium; or b) qualified
OTDL traditional schedule FTR ending
tour at 3:00 PM for 2 hours of overtime?
ANSWER: b) qualified OTDL traditional
schedule FTR ending tour at 3:00 PM for
2 hours of overtime. Absent an emergency,
a non-OTDL NTFT employee should not be
worked beyond their normal daily
schedule.
36. Are NTFT Clerks guaranteed the
number of hours in their bid duty
assignment?
ANSWER: Yes. The NTFT clerk's bid duty
assignment establishes their minimum
daily and weekly guarantee.
37. When a NTFT employee is routinely
scheduled to work additional hours
(compensated at the out-of-schedule
rate) each week, must the assignment be
reposted?
ANSWER: NTFT employees will normally
work the number of hours (daily and/or
weekly) identified in their bid
assignment, except in an emergency.
38. Can a NTFT clerk craft employee, who
is not on the OTDl, be required to work
one or more of their scheduled off days?
ANSWER: Effective six months from the
signing date of the 2010 CSA (November
23, 2011), full-time career clerk craft and
motor vehicle employees who are not on
the Overtime Desired List and are in an
installation with employees working in
NTFT duty assignments in the same Functional area,
will not be required to work overtime
except in an emergency. Article 3.F
provides the parties' mutual
understanding of what constitutes an
emergency situation: an unforeseen
circumstance or a combination of
circumstances which calls for immediate
action in a situation which is not
expected to be of a recurring nature. In
the Motor Vehicle craft, employees may
also be required to work overtime in the
event of unforeseeable circumstances
(e.g., PVS drivers stuck in traffic,
weather conditions).
39. May NTFT OTDl employees be required
to work more than 8 hours on any
nonscheduled day?
ANSWER: Yes. They are subject to the
normal overtime rules in Article 8 and
the lMOU (including penalty overtime).
40. May management by-pass a senior
holiday volunteer because that employee
would be scheduled for their normally
scheduled 8 hours on the designated
holiday and require a junior
non-volunteer to work their designated
holiday
because they are available for only
their regularly scheduled 6 hours on
that day?
ANSWER: The lMOU pecking order must be
followed. If the lMOU, for example,
requires full-time holiday volunteers to
be scheduled by seniority, all qualified
and
available full-time employees (both
traditional and NTFT) would be scheduled
in
seniority order.
41 .Will full-time employees occupying
NTFT duty assignments have their annual
leave
advanced at the beginning of the leave
year?
ANSWER: Yes.
42. NTFT employees will normally work
the number of hours (daily and/or
weekly)
identified in their bid assignment,
except in an emergency and are entitled
to outof-
schedule premium for hours worked
outside of their bid schedule. Would a
NTFT employee receive out-of-schedule
premium if required to assume a
traditional full-time schedule for one
or more days in order to participate in
required
recognized training?
ANSWER: No. Training is one of the
recognized exceptions to the out-ofschedule
premium requirement. A NTFT employee,
for example, who must attend
window training after bidding a SSA duty
assignment, would not be eligible for
out-of-schedule premium when assigned to
a traditional schedule to accommodate
the training.
43. Are the clerk craft NTFT full-time
flexible assignments a duty assignment
which
must be posted for bid or a category of
unencumbered employees?
ANSWER: These are bid duty assignments
and employees who successfully bid
for, or are involuntarily assigned to,
these assignments are encumbered, and
not unencumbered, employees.
44. Clerk craft NTFT full-time flexible
assignments are "subject to negotiated
rules."
Can these rules be negotiated locally?
ANSWER: These rules, including the daily
and weekly guarantees as well as the
provision that schedules may be changed
from week-to-week, with proper notice
by Wednesday of the preceding week
without out-of-schedule obligation, are
negotiated at the national level. (See
NTFT MOU)
-Note: ARTICLE 12 OMITTED-
MOU Re: Transfer Opportunities to
Minimize Excessing
51.Can the one hundred (100) mile radius
be expanded and, if so, how?
ANSWER: The parties may mutually agree
to expand the area of consideration
beyond the one hundred (100) mile
geographic radius if they determine it
is necessary to provide sufficient
vacancies for offices with excess
clerks. This mutual agreement may only occur at the
national level
52. Will all full-time clerks in the
impacted installation be considered for
these transfer opportunities, or will only the specific
junior clerks identified as excess to the
needs of the installation be eligible?
ANSWER: All full-time clerks, regardless of seniority, level, or
senior/best
qualified status, in the impacted
installation will be eligible for
consideration. This
will reduce the number of involuntary
reassignments necessary in an excessing
situation.
53. Will the transfer opportunity be to
the specific posted residual vacancy
identified
on eReassign or will the transferring
clerk become unencumbered in the new
installation?
ANSWER: The transferring clerk will be
awarded the specific posted residual
vacancy as identified on eReassign.
54. If multiple clerks from one or more
impacted office(s) request transfer to a
residual
vacancy within the District or one
hundred (100) mile radius as listed in
eReassign,
how will the successful applicant for
transfer be determined?
ANSWER: Selection will be made on a
seniority basis using craft installation
seniority from the losing installation(s).
55. Are these special transfer
opportunities also available for
part-time flexible clerks
in offices where PTF's have been
identified as excess to the needs of the
installation?
ANSWER: Yes.
General
56. Can a PTF clerk be "loaned" under
the rules of the Hub Clerk MOU into a
Post Office, level 21 or above?
ANSWER. No. Under the 2010 C8A,
part-time flexible clerks may only work
in Post Offices, level 20 and below
57. How long must a clerk or MVS
employee return to the bargaining-unit
from their 204-8 assignment in order to
prevent reposting of their duty
assignment?
ANSWER: An employee detailed to a
non-bargaining unit position must return
to the craft for a minimum of one
continuous pay period to prevent
reposting of their
duty assignment.
58.A Clerk Craft 204-8 began their
current 204-8 detail on March 21,2011.
When does
their 90 day limitation requiring
reposting of their bid duty assignment
expire?
ANSWER: If the clerk remains in a
204-B status in excess of 90 days
(beyond June 19, 2011) without returning
to the bargaining unit for a minimum of
one continuous pay period their bid duty
assignment must be declared vacant and
posted for bid.
59. Will employees from other bargaining
units who voluntarily transfer into APWU
crafts be treated as new career
employees for purposes of pay schedule
step progression under
the new APWU CBA?
ANSWER: It depends on the employee's
original date of career hire. Employees
from other bargaining units should be
placed in the APWU salary schedule based
on current change to lower level, reassignment, and
promotion rules. Employees who were
hired as career employees prior to May
23, 2011 will progress to the top steps
found in the 2006 APWU CBA. Employees who were hired as
career employees as of May 23, 2011 will
progress to the top steps found in the
2010 APWU CBA. For example, an employee hired into a
career position prior to May 23, 2011
who voluntarily transfers to a level 6
clerk position will progress to step O.
An employee hired as of May 23,2011 and after who
voluntarily transfers to a level 6 clerk
position will progress to step J.
Clerk Craft Jobs MOU Lead Clerk
60. How will Lead Clerks be selected?
ANSWER: Lead Clerk positions will be
posted as senior-qualified duty
assignments. Clerk Craft employees are
eligible to bid on these assignments.
61. Will LSSA's be grandfathered into
Lead Clerk duty assignments?
ANSWER: Employees currently occupying
LSSA duty assignments will be
administratively converted into Lead
Clerk duty assignments without reposting
unless there are more LSSA's than the number of
Lead Clerks provided for in the MOU.
62. What if there are currently more
LSSA's than the number of Lead Clerk
provided for in the MOU?
ANSWER: The minimum number of Lead
Clerks, to be assigned by seniority, is
determined in Section 2.C of the Clerk
Craft Jobs MOU. The Employer may create
additional Lead Clerk duty assignments
based on operational need.
63. Will LSSA's who do not receive a
Lead Clerk position be entitled to saved
grade?
ANSWER: Yes. LSSA's who do not receive a
Lead Clerk duty assignment will become
unencumbered and receive saved grade
pursuant to 37.4.C.6.
Maintenance Questions & Answers
64. How are Maintenance Craft Promotion
Eligibility Rosters (PERs) constructed
under the 2010-15 CBA?
ANSWER: Maintenance Craft PERs will have
those rated eligible under the prior MSS
by installation seniority within the
banded scores (see 38.5.B.8a). Beneath
those scores will be those rated
eligible on the RMSS within the banded
scores (see 38.5.B.8c). Installation
seniority will be used within each
banded score.
65. How are non-Maintenance Selection
System PERs constructed?
ANSWER: Establishment of non-MSS
PER's is not impacted by the new
collective bargaining agreement.
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