Human Resources

Notice to All Post Offices With Rural Delivery Service: Rural Carrier Guarantee Period

Postal Service™ managers must effectively man­age rural carriers who work under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) section 7(b)(2). Those carriers are paid overtime for all hours actually worked in excess of 2,080, up to 2,240, within the 52-consecutive-week guarantee period.

If a carrier works more than 2,240 hours within the guar­antee period, the agreement under FLSA, section 7(b)(2), is considered void, and the carrier must be compensated for all hours worked during the guarantee period in accor­dance with FLSA, section 7(a).

It is important that we make every effort to minimize the number of hours carriers work over 2,080 and strictly mon­itor these carriers to ensure that no carrier works in excess of 2,240 actual work hours.

The 2007–2008 guarantee period for the past year was from Saturday, October 27, 2007, through Friday, October 24, 2008. This year’s 2008–2009 guarantee period will begin on Saturday, October 25, 2008, and continue through Friday, October 23, 2009.