2017 Holiday Information
Holiday Hiring
Hiring seasonal employees is a decision based on local need. Instead of seasonal hiring, the Postal Service focuses its resources on hiring long-term employees and has been actively hiring year round.
Employee Tipping
All Postal Service employees, including mail carriers, must comply with the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch. Under these federal regulations, carriers may accept a gift worth $20 or less (this includes store, restaurant, or mall gift cards). However, carriers must never accept cash and cash equivalents, such as checks or gift cards that they can use like credit cards (with Visa, MasterCard, or American Express logos) for any amount.
Carriers and Dogs
The Postal Service asks customers to place their dogs in a separate room before opening the front door to accept packages from carriers. Dogs are protective in nature and have jumped through screen doors and squeezed through door openings. Dogs attacked more than 6,700 carriers last year. We want everyone to go home safely each day.
Letters From Santa — Santa Mail
Build on the magic of the season by making sure your child’s letter to Santa receives a response. After your child writes a letter to Santa, draft a response to your child on the back of the letter and sign it “From Santa.” Then, follow the steps in the “Get the North Pole Postmark” section. Your child will get his or her original letter back from the North Pole!
Letters To Santa — Operation Santa
This year marks the 105th year of the Operation Santa program. Since 1912, Postal Service employees, charities, individual volunteers, and corporate volunteers have helped children in need experience the magic of the holidays by adopting their letters to Santa.
This year, we will kick-off the program with an event in New York, NY, at the Farley Building in Manhattan. You can find participating locations posted online at about.usps.com/holidaynews.
Get the North Pole Postmark
Show a little extra holiday spirit this year by getting your holiday cards, letters, or gifts postmarked by the North Pole — here’s how:
1. Personalize your greeting cards as usual.
2. Address the envelopes.
3. Put a holiday stamp on each envelope.
4. Put all of the envelopes in a larger envelope or preferably a Priority Mail box.
5. Put postage on the larger envelope or box.
6. We recommend mailing your cards by December 15 to:
North Pole Postmark
Postmaster
4141 Postmark Drive
Anchorage, AK 99530-9998
— Public Relations,
Corporate Communications, 10-26-17
Sample Responses for Use When Preparing Written Responses from Santa
