Effective June 11, 2015, the Postal Service™ is revising the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) subchapter 510 to update policies regarding leave accrual for certain Postmasters and EAS Employees.
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Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM)
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5 Employee Benefits
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510 Leave
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511.3 Eligibility
511.31 Covered
[Revise the text of 511.31 Notes to read as follows:]
Notes: Transitional employees are not covered by the leave program, but do earn leave as specified in their union’s national agreement.
References to A–E Postmasters also apply to Part-Time Postmasters.
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512.311 Full-Time Employees
[Revise the text of 512.311a to read as follows:]
The following provisions concern full-time employees:
a. Accrual Chart. Full-time career employees earn annual leave based on their number of creditable years of service as follows:
Table 1: Table 1 is valid only for:
(1) Career bargaining employees, and
(2) Career non-executive non-bargaining employees except for those listed under Table 2.
Table 2: Table 2 is valid only for newly hired career Postmasters and supervisory or managerial non-bargaining employees, and non-career employees converted to those positions, with a career appointment date on or after October 6, 2012, who are without any prior federal or USPS service that was creditable at the time of that career appointment toward the leave computation date, and only while holding a career Postmaster, supervisory, or managerial non-bargaining position. Table 2 never applies to an employee who earned annual leave per Table 1.
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512.312 Part-Time Employees
[Revise the text of 512.312b(3), item a, to read as follows:]
Exceptions: The following are exceptions to the crediting rule in 512.312b.
(a) Part-time regular schedule employees including A–E Postmasters are credited with annual leave on a pro rata basis, according to their authorized daily schedules. Employees other than A–E Postmasters must wait until they have 1 year or more of career service to be credited at the beginning of the leave year with the annual leave that they will earn during the leave year. A–E Postmasters are credited at the beginning of the leave year with the annual leave that they earn during the leave year. Part-time regular employees are entitled to additional leave hours, based on their leave category, for each (1) 20, 13, or 10; or (2) 26, 17.33, or 13 hours of work in excess of the schedule (see Exhibit 512.312).
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Exhibit 512.312 Accrual and Crediting Chart for Part-Time Career Employees
[Revise the text of Exhibit 512.312 to read as follows:]
Table 1: Table 1 is valid only for:
(1) Part-time career bargaining employees, and
(2) Part-time career non-executive non-bargaining employees except for those listed under Table 2.
Leave Category
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Years of Creditable Service
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Maximum Leave per Year
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Rate of Accrual
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Hours in Pay Status
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Hours of Leave Earned per Period
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4
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Less than 3 years
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104 hours, or 13 days per 26-period leave year or 4 hours for each biweekly pay period.
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1 hour for each unit of 20 hours pay in status.
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20
40
60
80
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1
2
3
4 (max.)
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6
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3 years but less than 15 years
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160 hours, or 20 days per 26-period leave year or 6 hours for each full biweekly pay period.1
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1 hour for each unit of 13 hours in pay status.
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13
26
39
52
65
78
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1
2
3
4
5
6 (max.)1
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8
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15 years or more
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208 hours, or 26 days per 26-period leave year or 8 hours for each full biweekly pay period.
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1 hour for each unit of 10 hours in pay status.
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10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 (max.)
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1 Except that the accrual for the last pay period of the calendar year may be 10 hours, provided the employee has the 130 creditable hours or more in a pay status in the leave year for leave purposes.
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Recording Hours for Annual and Sick Leave
a. Units of hours in a pay status are converted into annual leave credits at the rate of 1 hour for each unit of 20, 13, or 10 hours in a pay status — up to a maximum of 4, 6, or 8 hours per biweekly pay period, depending on the employee’s leave category.
b. Hours in a pay status in excess of these whole units are accumulated and carried forward as excess workhours. These excess (uncredited) workhours are added to hours in a pay status in the next period.
c. Whole units of creditable hours (20, 13, or 10) are then converted into leave hours at the unit rate — provided no more leave is credited to a part-time employee than could be earned in the same leave year by a full–time employee.
d. The maximum credit allowable for a particular leave category is calculated by multiplying the period number by the number of leave hours allowable per period.
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Table 2: Table 2 is valid only for newly hired career Postmasters and supervisory or managerial non-bargaining employees, and non-career employees converted to those positions, with a career appointment date on or after October 6, 2012, who are without any prior federal or USPS service that was creditable at the time of that career appointment toward the leave computation date, and only while holding a career Postmaster, supervisory, or managerial non-bargaining position. Table 2 never applies to an employee who earned annual leave per Table 1.
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513.21 Accrual Chart
[Revise the text of 513.21 to read as follows:]
Time accrued is as follows:
Employee Category
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Time Accrued
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Full-time employees (except as noted below).
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4 hours for each full biweekly pay period — i.e., 13 days
(104 hours) per 26-period leave year.
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Newly hired career Postmasters and supervisory or managerial non-bargaining employees, and non-career employees converted to those positions, with a career appointment date on or after October 6, 2012, who are without any prior federal or USPS service that was creditable at the time of that career appointment toward the leave computation date, and only while holding a career Postmaster, supervisory or managerial non-bargaining position. This accrual rate never applies to an employee who earned sick leave at the higher accrual rate above.
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3 hours for each full biweekly pay period — i.e., 9.75 days
(78 hours) per 26-period leave year.
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Part-time employees (except as noted below).
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1 hour for each unit of 20 hours in pay status up to 104 hours
(13 days) per 26-period leave year.
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Newly hired part-time career Postmasters and part-time supervisory or part-time managerial non-bargaining employees, and non-career employees converted to those positions, with a career appointment date on or after October 6, 2012, who are without any prior federal or USPS service that was creditable at the time of that career appointment toward the leave computation date, and only while holding a part-time career Postmaster, part-time supervisory, or part-time managerial non-bargaining position. This accrual rate never applies to an employee who earned sick leave at the higher accrual rate above.
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1 hour for each unit of 26.66 hours in pay status up to 78 hours (9.75 days) per 26-period leave year.
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513.32 Conditions for Authorization
[Revise the text of Bereavement Leave for Non-Bargaining Unit Employees in the table for 513.32 to read as follows:]
Conditions for authorization are as follows:*
Conditions
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Bereavement Leave for Non-Bargaining Unit Employees
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This type of leave is available for all career non-bargaining unit employees.
Employees may use up to 3 workdays of annual leave, sick leave, or leave without pay to make arrangements necessitated by the death of a family member or attend the funeral of a family member. Authorization of leave beyond three workdays is subject to the conditions and requirements of ELM 510.
For employees opting to use available sick leave, the leave will be charged to sick leave for dependent care, if available.
Documentation evidencing the death of the employee’s family member is required only when the supervisor deems such documentation desirable for the protection of the Postal Service’s interests.
Family Member is defined as a:
a) Son or daughter — biological or adopted child, stepchild, daughter-in-law, or son-in-law;
b) Spouse;
c) Parent, mother-in-law, or father-in-law;
d) Sibling — brother, sister, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; or
e) Grandparent.
The applicable provisions regarding bereavement leave for bargaining unit employees are in the respective bargaining unit’s applicable national agreement.
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[Delete 519.62 in its entirety.]
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519.731 Full-Day Absences
[Revise the second sentence of 519.731 to read as follows:]
***An exempt employee who plans to be absent from work for more than a half day on a workday should apply in advance for a full day of annual leave, sick leave, or LWOP, unless the absence is for an FMLA-covered condition.
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519.733 Directed to Work
[Revise the text of 519.733 to read as follows:]
When an exempt employee is directed to work a full day on a holiday or other full day in addition to normal workdays, the supervisor may grant a full day of personal absence without charging it to official leave.
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519.741 General
[Revise the first sentence of 519.741 to read as follows:]
A full-time exempt employee is expected to work a full day and a part-time exempt employee is expected to work the full or partial day specified at the time of their employment.***
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next online update of the ELM, which is available on the Postal Service PolicyNet website:
n Go to http://blue.usps.gov.
n In the left-hand column under “Essential Links”, click PolicyNet.
n Click Manuals.
The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet website is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.
— Compensation and Benefits,
Human Resources, 6-11-15
