The Annual Leave Exchange Program provides an option for eligible career employees to receive a lump sum payment in exchange for a portion of the annual leave that would otherwise be advanced at the beginning of the 2011 leave year. APWU-represented part-time flexible employees may exchange a portion of the leave they are expected to earn during the 2011 leave year. Annual leave earned and accumulated through the 2010 leave year, which ends December 31, 2010, cannot be exchanged for cash. Exchanging next year’s annual leave for cash is strictly a voluntary action. The exchange option is not intended to discourage an employee’s use of annual leave. Any leave exchanged will not be available for use in leave year 2011.
Eligible Employees
Employees eligible for the Annual Leave Exchange Program include the following:
n Career nonbargaining unit employees from rate schedule codes (RSCs) D (levels 1–8), E, F, S, U, V, and Z (levels 1–11) who have an annual leave balance of at least 160 hours at the end of the 2010 leave year.
n Career bargaining unit employees — full-time employees, part-time regular employees, and APWU-represented part-time flexible employees — from the following RSCs who have an annual leave balance of at least 440 hours at the end of the 2010 leave year and have used less than 75 hours of sick leave during the 2010 leave year:
n National Postal Mail Handlers Union — RSC M.
n International Association of Machinists — RSC T.
n American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO — RSCs C, N, and P (for C and P, only if provided for in the successor agreement to the 2006 Collective Bargaining Agreement).
n National Postal Professional Nurses/APWU — RSC G.
n Operating Services Division Agreement — RSC K (only if provided for in the successor agreement to the 2006 Collective Bargaining Agreement).
n Fraternal Order of Police, National Labor Council, USPS No. 2 — RSC Y.
PostalEASE Elections
Employees who meet the eligibility criteria and want to exercise this option must use PostalEASE to make elections. For the election to be considered timely, employees must complete their entries in PostalEASE by 11:59 p.m. Central Time, December 15, 2010.
You may contact the Human Resources Shared Services Center (HRSSC) for assistance if any of the following conditions apply:
n You are deaf or hard of hearing.
n You cannot use the Internet, employee self-service kiosk, Intranet, or telephone for a medical reason.
n You receive a message in PostalEASE directing you to contact the HRSSC when attempting to make a change.
Just call the Employee Service line at 877-477-3273. When prompted, select 5 for the HRSSC. Then select “Benefits” to speak with a representative who will assist you. To reach the HRSSC using TTY, call 866-260-7507. Leave your name and e-mail address or telephone number where you can be reached along with a message indicating your call is regarding a PostalEASE issue.
Payment by Lump Sum
For bargaining unit employees, payment under the Annual Leave Exchange Program will be a lump sum calculated on the employee’s base salary as of the first day of the 2011 leave year (January 1, 2011) and included in paychecks dated January 21, 2011. For nonbargaining unit employees, the lump sum is calculated on salary as of January 15, 2011, and included in February 4, 2011, paychecks.
Letter Soon to Be Mailed to Eligible Employees
The Eagan Accounting Service Center (ASC) will mail a letter providing details of the eligibility criteria and instructions for using PostalEASE to make annual leave exchange elections to eligible employees at their addresses of record during November 2010. Undeliverable letters will be returned to the employing office of record. When an office receives a returned letter, the office should encourage the employee to update his or her address. Employees should update their addresses via LiteBlue at https://liteblue.usps.gov by clicking Change My Address under the “My HR” tab. Employees with access to Employee Change of Address on the Postal Service™ Intranet (Blue page) or to an employee self-service kiosk should use those entry methods. Employees who cannot use these methods should submit an updated PS Form 1216, Employee’s Current Mailing Address, to the HRSSC.
— Compensation, Human Resources, 11-18-10
Please Post on All Bulletin Boards Through December 15, 2010.
