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775 Reemployment Positions

775.1 General

Returnees from the uniformed services must be reemployed promptly and in the appropriate reemployment positions as specified in 775.2 through 775.4.

775.2 Length of Service

The following length-of-service time periods are used to establish reemployment priorities for returnees from uniformed service:

  1. One to 90 days of service. Without exercising other options, the returnee’s employment will be restored according to the following priority:
    1. To the seniority, step, and position, known as the escalator position, that the returnee would have held if he or she had remained continuously employed. This means that bargaining-unit employees progress in accordance with the provisions of the appropriate CBA as if they had been active with the Postal Service during the period of uniformed service.
    2. If unable to qualify for the position described in 775.2(a)(1), then the employee is assigned with full seniority to the position he or she held before entering the uniformed service.
    3. If the employee is not qualified after reasonable effort for the position described in 775.2(a)(2), then the employee will be assigned to a position of lesser status and pay, with full seniority, that he or she is qualified to perform.
  2. Service of 91 days or more. Without exercising other options, the returnee will be restored according to the following priority:
    1. To the escalator position with full seniority or a position of like seniority, status, and pay. If the employee’s position was downgraded or otherwise changed and the employee would have been entitled to the changed position, then the employee is returned to duty in the new position, pending qualification if applicable to the changed position.
    2. If not qualified after reasonable effort for the position described in 775.2(b)(1), then to the position that the employee held before entering the uniformed service or a position of like seniority, status, and pay if the employee’s pre-uniformed-service position was eliminated during the employee’s period of service.
    3. If not qualified after reasonable effort for the position described in 775.2(b)(2), then to any position of lesser status and pay that most closely approximates the positions in 775.2(b)(1) or 775.2(b)(2) that the returnee is qualified to perform, with full seniority.
  3. Probationary period. Employees who were serving their probationary period at the time of entry into active duty and who met the probationary time period while serving on active duty are considered as having met the probationary time.

Note: If an employee’s position was eliminated during the employee’s period of uniformed service, the supervisor or manager must contact HR for guidance on assigning the employee to a position upon the employee’s return to duty. HR must consult the Law Department for guidance on restoring the employee to duty.

775.3 Returnees with a Service–Connected Disability

USERRA provides certain rights to service members who return from uniformed service with temporary or permanent disabilities:

  1. If a returnee has a disability incurred or aggravated during such service and, after reasonable efforts by the Postal Service to accommodate the returnee’s disability, is not qualified due to such disability for the position in which the returnee would have been employed if his or her Postal Service employment had not been interrupted by such service, the returnee should be placed in a position that is:
    1. Equivalent in seniority, status, and pay to the position the returnee held with the Postal Service before uniformed service, and includes duties that the returnee is qualified to perform or would become qualified to perform with reasonable effort by the Postal Service; or
    2. The nearest approximation to a position in terms of seniority, status, and pay consistent with the circumstances of each returnee.
  2. The following is the priority for reemploying individuals who return from the uniformed service with a service-connected disability:
    1. Restore the returnee to the escalator position with reasonable accommodation and training if necessary as required by USERRA.
    2. If not qualified for the position described in 775.3(b)(1) after the Postal Service’s reasonable effort, then reemploy the returnee to the returnee’s pre-uniformed-service position or to a position of like seniority, status, and pay that the returnee is qualified to perform or could become qualified to perform with reasonable effort by the Postal Service, including reasonable accommodation and training if necessary;
    3. If the returnee is not qualified for a position described in 775.3(b)(1) or (2), then place the returnee with full seniority, consistent with the circumstances of the individual’s case, in a position that approximates as nearly as possible the equivalent position in 775.3(b)(2) in terms of seniority, status, and pay, with reasonable accommodation and training, if necessary.
    4. If the returnee cannot be returned to duty in a position described in 775.3(b)(1) through 775.3(b)(3), the returnee must be referred to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which is responsible for placing the employee in a civil-service position within the federal government.

Note: HR is responsible for ensuring that employees returning from uniformed service with a service-related disability are properly restored to duty. The supervisor or manager must immediately notify HR when a returnee with a service-connected disability requests reemployment and an accommodation or indicates that the returnee cannot perform all of the essential tasks of his or her position. Management must not refer the employee to the Reasonable Accommodation Committee (RAC) without consulting HR and the Law Department.

775.4 Reasonable Effort to Qualify

Postal Service management is obligated to make a reasonable effort to qualify returnees who are not immediately qualified to assume employment in a position to which they would otherwise be entitled. The qualifying effort may include appropriate testing, training, or refresher courses to update skills if the employee did not have the opportunity to keep up with skills or technological advances.

In addition, a returnee with a service-connected disability may be entitled to reasonable accommodation or training for a position as described in 775.3.

Service members with nonservice-connected disabilities may also be entitled to reasonable accommodation. Such accommodations must be made in accordance with Handbook EL-307, Reasonable Accommodation, An Interactive Process, rather than under the provisions of this chapter.




Link to "774 Documentation Required to Return to Work" Link to contents for "7 Assignment, Reassignment, and Promotion"      Link to "776 Other Rights"