November 15, 2011, to December 15, 2011
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 2012 leave year. American Postal Workers Union (APWU)-represented part-time flexible employees may exchange a portion of the leave they are expected to earn during the 2012 leave year. Annual leave that has been earned and accumulated during the 2011 leave year, which ends January 13, 2012, 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 2012.
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 2011 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 2011 leave year and have used less than 75 hours of sick leave during the 2011 leave year:
n American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO — Rate Schedule Codes (RSCs) C and P.
n National Postal Professional Nurses/APWU — RSC G.
n Operating Services Division Agreement — RSC K.
n Eligibility exists only as provided for in pending successor agreements to current agreements for employees represented by all of the following:
n The National Postal Mail Handlers Union in Rate Schedule Code (RSC) M.
n The American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, in RSC N.
n The International Association of Machinists, Tool & Die, in RSC T.
n The Fraternal Order of Police, National Labor Council, USPS No. 2, in RSC Y.
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, 2011.
An employee may contact the Human Resources Shared Services Center (HRSSC) for assistance if any of the following conditions apply:
n The employee is deaf or hard of hearing.
n The employee cannot use the telephone, Internet, employee self-service kiosk, or Intranet for a medical reason.
n The employee receives a message in PostalEASE directing him or her to contact the HRSSC when attempting to make an election.
To contact the HRSSC, do the following:
n Call the Employee Service line at 877-477-3273.
n When prompted, select 5 for the HRSSC.
n Select “Benefits” to speak with a representative who will assist you.
Please Post on All Bulletin Boards Through December 15, 2011.
To reach the HRSSC using TTY, do the following:
n Call 866-260-7507.
n 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.
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 2012 leave year (January 14, 2012) and included in February 3, 2012, paychecks. Also, for nonbargaining unit employees, the lump sum is calculated on the salary as of January 14, 2012, and included in February 3, 2012, paychecks.
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 2011. 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; click 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, Labor Relations, 11-3-11
Please Post on All Bulletin Boards Through December 15, 2011.
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