Effective December 2011, Handbook EL-304, Maintenance Selection System, was completely revised to provide current information on Postal Service™ policies and procedures for selecting maintenance craft employees. Destroy or recycle all previous issues of Handbook EL-304; they are obsolete.
Handbook EL-304 was introduced in April 1997. Postal Service policies and programs have changed significantly since then. Major changes include the following:
Organization of the Handbook
n Job groups have been renamed, job families have been rearranged, and the positions covered by each job family have been rearranged.
n Knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) have been grouped into competencies.
n The section on “Entrance Recruitment” has been revised to reflect programs administered by Headquarters Talent, Retention, and Acquisition.
n Candidate Supplemental Application Booklets are no longer used.
n The supervisor evaluation is no longer conducted; references to it have been removed.
n The National Test Administration Center (NTAC) has been replaced by the Postal Assessment Support Maintenance Selection System (PAS MSS).
n Review panel evaluations are no longer sent to PAS MSS (formerly NTAC) for processing.
n MSS review panel evaluations have been replaced by the MSS Structured Interview.
n Examination 955 is administered online, and it is not scored by PAS MSS.
n Career employees can choose to receive examination results by e-mail or First-Class Mail®.
The following forms are obsolete:
n PS Form 8051, Maintenance Selection System Cover Sheet.
n PS Form 8084, MSS Update/Setup Form.
n PS Form 8085, Employee Maintenance Application.
n PS Form 8086, MSS Supervisor Evaluation.
n PS Form 8087, MSS Review Panel Evaluation Groups A, B, and D.
n PS Form 8088, MSS Review Panel Evaluation Group C ET-10s.
Handbook EL-304, Maintenance Selection System, December 2011, is available on the Postal Service PolicyNet website:
n Go to http://blue.usps.gov.
n Under “Essential Links” in the left-hand column, click PolicyNet.
n On the PolicyNet page, click HBKs.
(The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet website is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.)
— Organizational Effectiveness,
Employee Resource Management, 1-12-12
