Effective March 31, 2020, the Postal Service™ will revise the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM), section 422.2, to include changes related to the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding Re: Pay Schedule Consolidation in the 2016–2019 National Association of Letter Carriers’ national agreement.
Changes include an additional 2.1 percent in compensation for carrier technicians.
Although the Postal Service will not publish these revisions in the ELM until March 31, 2020, the standards are effective immediately.
Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM)
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4 Pay Administration
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420 Wage Administration Policy for Bargaining Unit Employees
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422 Salary Schedules Covered by Specific Agreements
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422.2 City Carrier Schedule
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422.21 Salary System
422.211 Salary Schedule
[Revise the text of 422.211 to read as follows:]
The City Carrier (CC) Schedule consists of two rate schedules. Schedule 1 (RSC Q) is applicable to city carriers with a career appointment date (CAD) before January 12, 2013. Schedule 2 (RSC Q7) is applicable to city carriers with a CAD on or after January 12, 2013. Carrier technicians receive an additional 2.1 percent of the employee’s applicable hourly rate for all paid hours.
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[Revise the title and text of 422.223 to read as follows;]
422.223 Rules for Assignment into Carrier Technician Position
Rules are as follows:
a. Change to Carrier Technician from City Carrier. The city carrier moving to carrier technician position receives a 2.1 percent increase in the employee’s applicable hourly rate for all paid hours and retains the same step. The employee will retain the waiting period step credit that had been earned prior to the change to carrier technician in calculating the next step increase date. If the employee previously served as a carrier technician, see 422.123a4.
b. Promotion to These Schedules from Other Rate Schedules. For this promotion:
(1) From EAS (RSC E) and Part-Time Postmasters (RSC F), and to the current full-time salary, add 5 percent. Advance this amount to the next higher salary step in the new grade if the calculated amount falls between two steps. A new step waiting period begins unless the employee is promoted to a bargaining unit grade previously held (i.e., repromotion); in which case, see 422.123a4.
(2) From PNS (RSC G), OSD (RSC K), MH, (RSC M), IT/ASC (RSC N), PS (RSC P) or MESC (RSC C), RC (RSC R), and PPO (RSC Y), to the current full-time salary, add two times the most prevalent step increment of the current grade. (Add three times for a promotion of three or more grades.)
Advance this amount to the next higher salary step in the new grade if the calculated amount falls between the two steps. A new step waiting period begins unless the employee is promoted to a bargaining unit grade previously held (i.e., repromotion); in which case, see 422.123a4.
c. Promotion from These Schedules to Other Rate Schedules. For this promotion:
(1) To IT/ASC (RSC N), to the current full-time salary, add two times the most prevalent step increment of the current grade. (Add three times for a promotion of three or more grades.)
Advance this amount to the next higher salary step in the new grade if the calculated amount falls between the two steps. A new step waiting period begins unless the employee is promoted to a bargaining unit grade previously held (i.e., repromotion); in which case, see 422.123a4.
(2) To EAS (RSC E), Pay Band (RSC V), and Attorney (RSC U) to the current full-time salary, see 413.22.
(3) To PS, OSD, or MESC Schedule 2 (RSC P and C), assign the proper step by referring to Exhibit 422.123a. A new step waiting period begins on the effective date of the promotion.
(4) To RC (RSC R), see 422.422a2.
Note: See also Exhibit 421.82.
d. Promotion Pay Anomaly. No employee is at any time compensated less as a consequence of a promotion than that employee would have been if the employee had not been promoted, but instead advanced in step increments in the lower grade by fulfilling the waiting time requirements necessary for step increases. This rule includes employees who were promoted to a higher grade and subsequently reassigned to their former grade.
If during any pay period following the promotion the employee’s basic wage is less than the employee would have received for that pay period if the employee had not been promoted, the difference is paid to the employee in a lump sum payment.
e. Supplemental Rules. See 422.123b.
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[Revise the title of 422.225 to read as follows:]
422.225 Reductions in Grade and Rules for Assignment from Carrier Technician to City Carrier Position
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[Revise item a. to read as follows:]
a. General. Reductions in grade include:
(1) Voluntary changes to a lower level or from carrier technician to city carrier,
(2) Management-initiated changes to a lower level or from carrier technician to city carrier, and
(3) Demotions.
[Revise the first sentence of item b. to read as follows:]
b. Step and Next Step Date Assignment for Bargaining Unit to Bargaining Unit Reductions in Grade within or into the City Carrier Rate Schedule (RSC Q and Q7).***
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[Revise the text of item c. to read as follows:]
c. Step and Next Step Date Assignment for Nonbargaining Unit to Bargaining Unit Reductions in Grade. The following applies:
(1) For all nonbargaining reductions in grade to the Rural Carrier Schedule, consult 422.423 and 422.424 to determine the proper step and next step date.
(2) For all other nonbargaining-to-bargaining reductions in grade, determine the employee’s salary, step, and next step date as if the service had continued uninterrupted from the level/step in effect at the time of the nonbargaining promotion.
(3) For reductions in grade to the same rate schedule occupied immediately before a promotion to a nonbargaining position, the following provisions apply:
(a) When an employee returns to the same level as that occupied immediately before the nonbargaining promotion, assign the salary, step, and next step date as if the service had continued uninterrupted from the level/step in effect at the time of the nonbargaining promotion.
(b) When an employee changes to a higher level than that occupied immediately before the nonbargaining promotion, apply the promotion rules for the appropriate salary schedule in 422 to determine the employee’s new salary, step, and next step date.
(c) When an employee changes to a lower level than that occupied immediately before the nonbargaining promotion, apply the reduction in grade rules in 422.125b to determine the employee’s new salary, step, and next step date.
(4) For reductions in grade to a different rate schedule occupied immediately before a promotion to a nonbargaining position, use the Equivalent Grades chart (Exhibit 418) and apply the appropriate rule as follows:
(a) When an employee changes to an equivalent level, apply the reassignment rules in 422.124c to determine the employee’s new salary, step, and next step date.
(b) When an employee changes to a higher level, apply the promotion rules for the appropriate salary schedule in 422 to determine the employee’s new salary, step, and next step date.
(c) When an employee changes to a lower level, follow the reduction in grade rules in 422.125b to determine the employee’s new salary, step, and next step date.
(5) For reductions in grade when there is no prior bargaining unit service, the employee is assigned to the step and next step date in the lower grade as if all career Postal Service had been in the lower grade.
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[Revise the text of bullets (1) through (3) of item d. to read as follows:]
(1) Protected Rate. The employee continues to receive the wage he or she received in the higher grade for 2 calendar years:
(a) If the grade of the position is reduced due to a management action, such as a change in job ranking criteria that affects the grade of only one position, and
(b) If the employee occupied the position at the higher grade for 2 consecutive years before the effective date of the reduction (see also 421.51).
(2) Saved Rate. For saved rate:
(a) An employee has a saved rate resulting in a red-circle amount if the grade of his or her position is reduced due to a management action, such as a change in job ranking criteria that affects the grade of more than one position under the same job description.
(b) If an employee who receives a red-circle amount is subsequently promoted and later returned to the former position through no fault of his or her own, the red-circle amount is restored (see also 421.52).
(3) Saved Grade. A bargaining unit employee is entitled to saved grade if he or she is assigned to a lower grade position because of a management action that eliminates the position (e.g., job elimination due to technological and mechanization changes; see also 421.53).
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The Postal Service will incorporate these revisions into the next edition of the online ELM, which is available on the Postal Service PolicyNet website:
n Go to blue.usps.gov.
n In the left-hand column, click Essential Links, and then click PolicyNet.
n Go to the right-hand side under “Published Forms and Directives.”
n Click Manuals.
The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet website is blue.usps.gov/cpim.
— Classification and Compensation,
Human Resources, 12-19-19
