Effective October 13, 2005, Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) 414, Reassignment (formerly Reassignment to Nonbargaining Unit Positions), is revised and renumbered to add compensation policy for the voluntary reassignment of nonbargaining unit employees to bargaining unit positions.

Section 414.1 incorporates all of the information on reassignment to nonbargaining unit positions (formerly 414.1, 414.2, and 414.3), with minor title and reference changes. The new section 414.2 adds new policy describing how to determine the basic salary when an employee in the Executive and Administrative Schedule (EAS) voluntarily chooses reassignment to an equivalent grade in a bargaining unit pay schedule. There is no longer a section 414.3.

We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed version of the ELM and into the online version, available on the Postal ServiceTM PolicyNet Web site:

• Go to http://blue.usps.gov.

• Under "Essential Links" in the left-hand column, click on References.

• Under "References" in the right-hand column, under "Policies," click on PolicyNet.

• Then click on Manuals.

(The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.)

The ELM is also available on the Internet:

• Go to www.usps.com.

• Click on About USPS and News, then Forms and Publications, then Postal Periodicals and Publications, and then Manuals.

Until the changes described in the article are incorporated into the online version of the ELM, use this article to implement the changes.

Summary of Changes

414, Reassignment (formerly Reassignment to Nonbargaining Unit Positions), is revised to add information concerning the voluntary reassignment of nonbargaining unit employees to bargaining unit positions.

Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM)

* * * * *

4 Pay Administration

410 Pay Administration Policy for Nonbargaining Unit Employees

* * * * *

[Revise the title of 414 and renumber its sections as shown below:]

414 Reassignment

[Renumber 414.1 as 414.11 and add new 414.1 as follows:]

414.1 Reassignment to Nonbargaining Unit Positions

414.11 Definition

[Revise 414.11 to add the word Exhibit as follows:]

A reassignment to a nonbargaining unit position is the permanent change, with or without relocation, of an employee to an established EAS position from a position with the same or equivalent grade. (For changes between pay schedules, see Exhibit 418.1.)

[Renumber 414.2 as 414.12, 414.21 as 414.121, and 414.22 as 414.122 as follows:]

414.12 Rate Adjustment

414.121 Nonbargaining Unit Employees

[Revise the new 414.121 to correct the text as follows:]

An EAS employee's salary is not changed as a result of reassignment within the EAS schedule except when the employee is reassigned to an exempt EAS-15 through EAS-19 position that involves directly supervising two or more full-time equivalent bargaining unit employees. In this case, the salary must be no less than the supervisory differential adjustment (SDA) rate, as described in Exhibit 412.1b.

414.122 Bargaining Unit Employees

Bargaining unit employees reassigned to nonbargaining unit positions continue to receive their former basic salary provided that it is not below the minimum or above the maximum for the new position.

If the person is reassigned to an EAS-19 or below position and has served 52 weeks or more in the bargaining unit position since the last step, promotion, or other equivalent increase, the salary is advanced by 3 percent, provided all of the following conditions are met:

a. An equivalent increase (one equal to the most prevalent step in the salary schedule for the former position) is not received at the time of the reassignment.

b. The employee has satisfactory service.

c. The new salary is below the new maximum.

[Renumber 414.3 as 414.13. Revise the title and item b to correct the reference as follows :]

414.13 A-E Postmasters

When an A-E postmaster is reassigned to another A-E Post Office with a different number of service hours, or when the service hour category of an A-E Post Office is changed pursuant to the Workload Service Credit System (WSCS), the postmaster's basic hourly rate remains the same as before, regardless of the number of service hours.

When an employee is reassigned to an A-E postmaster position from a position in a grade equivalent to the grade for A-E postmasters, the following applies:

a. The employee is placed (1) at minimum of the hourly rate range for A-E postmasters or (2) at the discretion of the appointing official, up to the highest basic salary the employee has received that does not exceed the rate for the maximum of the hourly rate range for A-E postmasters.

b. If previously full-time, the employee's former annual salary is divided by 2080 hours. The resultant hourly rate is used to place the employee in the hourly rate range for A-E postmasters as provided in 414.13a.

[Add new 414.2 as follows:]

414.2 Reassignment to Bargaining Unit Positions

414.21 Definition

A reassignment from a nonbargaining unit position to a bargaining unit position is the permanent change, with or without relocation, of a nonbargaining unit employee to an established bargaining unit position with an equivalent grade (see Exhibit 418.1).

414.22 Rate Adjustment

414.221 Former Bargaining Unit Service in an Equivalent Grade

If the employee has performed prior service in an equivalent bargaining unit grade, the step and next step date are determined as if service had been continuous in the equivalent bargaining unit grade.

Note: Reassignment to PS Schedule 2 must include service the employee would have had in PS Schedule 1 before conversion to PS Schedule 2.

414.222 No Former Bargaining Unit Service in an Equivalent Grade

If the employee has never performed prior service in an equivalent bargaining unit grade, the step is determined by moving the nonbargaining unit salary to the equivalent grade in the bargaining unit pay schedule. If the current salary falls between two steps, the higher step is assigned. To establish the next step date, creditable service is allowed since the last nonbargaining unit pay-for- performance increase or salary adjustment. The provisions contained in 422.124c(4) also apply.

Note: If the employee's nonbargaining salary exceeds the amount associated with the top step in the bargaining unit schedule, the employee is placed at the top step.

* * * * *

— Compensation,
Employee Resource Management, 10-13-05