Handbooks

Handbook EL-312 Revision: Employment Restoration After Military Service

Effective January 25, 2024, the Postal Service™ is revising Handbook EL-312, Employment and Placement, subchapter 77, to reflect updates in Postal Service policies related to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). Revisions also include updates to organizational department titles.

Although the Postal Service will not publish these revisions in Handbook EL-312 until a later date, the revised standards are effective immediately.

Handbook EL-312, Employment and Placement

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7 Assignment, Reassignment, and Promotion

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77 Employment Restoration After Military Service

771 Policy

[Revise part 771 to read as follows:]

771.1 General

It is Postal Service policy to comply with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA), as amended. It is the responsibility of Postal Service management to ensure that personnel actions comply with the requirements of USERRA.

771.2 Eligibility

Reemployment rights are extended to employees who were absent to perform duty in the U.S. uniformed services, as defined by the current version of USERRA, if the employee fulfills USERRA’s requirements for reemployment:

a. Uniformed services. Includes but is not limited to the following U.S. military branches:

(1) Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, their respective reserve components, and the Army and Air National Guard;

(2) Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service;

(3) Reserve employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Civilian service as an Intermittent Disaster Response Appointee for the National Disaster Medical System; and

(4) Any other category of persons designated by the U.S. President as uniformed service in time of war or emergency.

For purposes of this policy section, the term uniformed services will be used, except for those provisions that relate specifically to noncareer military service.

Note: If any inquiries are received regarding the definition of covered uniformed services, or if an employee presents deployment orders from any agency that does not meet the definition of “uniformed services,” Postal Service Human Resources (HR) must consult the Postal Service Law Department.

b. Types of uniformed service (voluntary or involuntary; paid or unpaid). Consists of the following:

(1) Active duty;

(2) Active duty for training, including initial training;

(3) Inactive duty training;

(4) Full-time U.S. National Guard duty; or

(5) Time needed for an examination to determine fitness for any of the above types of duty.

c. Types of Postal Service positions covered. Includes all career, noncareer, and temporary classifications. Temporary employees, who are not eligible for conversion to career employees under the terms of their appointment are covered by USERRA during their term of temporary appointment. Temporary employees are reemployed for the remainder of their term if temporary employees are still used.

771.3 Duration of Uniformed Service

Under USERRA, the cumulative length of absence from noncareer and career employment because of uniformed service is limited to five (5) years — except that any such period of service must not include any service covered by any exception described in USERRA. HR must consult the Law Department before making any determination related to five (5) years or more of uniformed service.

Only HR, after consulting the Law Department, may deny reemployment under this provision.

771.4 Character of Service

Under USERRA, persons separated from the U.S. uniformed services with a dishonorable or bad-conduct discharge or an administrative discharge under other than honorable (OTH) conditions are not eligible for restoration to employment or any other benefit that the law provides.

Likewise, officers dismissed from the service through court-martial or U.S. Presidential order lose USERRA protections. Persons dropped from the military rolls for unauthorized absence for more than three (3) months, or who are imprisoned by a civilian court, are not eligible for restoration to employment or any other benefit that USERRA provides.

771.5 Effects of Performance and Conduct on Restoration

Restoration rights may be denied if the conduct of the employee while in the uniformed service was such that the returnee would be disqualified for employment under Postal Service regulations. HR, in consultation with the Law Department, determines reemployment eligibility for such persons.

771.6 Advance Notification of Entering the Uniformed Services

Any person whose absence from a position of employment is necessitated by reason of service in the U.S. uniformed services will be entitled to the reemployment rights and benefits and other employment benefits of this chapter if the person (or an appropriate officer of the uniformed service in which such service is performed) has given advance written or verbal notice of such service to his or her immediate manager or supervisor.

No notice is required if giving such notice is precluded by military necessity or, under all relevant circumstances, giving such notice is otherwise impossible or unreasonable. A coworker, including a union representative, is not permitted to give advance notice for the employee.

Only HR, after consulting the Law Department, may deny reemployment under this provision.

772 Management — Supervisor Action

[Revise part 772 to read as follows:]

772.1 General

Upon receipt of notification that the employee is leaving to perform uniformed service as defined in 771.2(a) for 31 or more days, the employee’s immediate manager or supervisor must contact HR to ensure that necessary personnel actions are completed and appropriate benefits are continued. The manager’s or supervisor’s notification to HR must be made in writing regardless of how the employee gave notice of his or her departure from the uniformed service.

The notification must contain typical employee identifiers, including the following:

a. Full name;

b. Pay location;

c. Employee Identification Number (EIN);

d. Information about the employee’s pending service; and

e. All documentation provided by the employee.

If that manager or supervisor faces a legitimate critical operational burden, he or she may request that HR contact the employee’s military command to inquire if the uniformed service may be rescheduled. HR must consult the Law Department before contacting the employee’s military command. The military command’s decision on the request to reschedule an employee’s uniformed service is final and cannot be appealed.

The employee must be released to perform uniformed service even if the employee fails to provide advance notice as required by USERRA. If an employee does not provide advance notice, the employee’s supervisor or manager must notify HR. HR and Postal Service Labor Relations must consult the Law Department before taking personnel action in such situations.

772.2 Notification of the Employee’s Rights and Obligations

The employee’s supervisor or manager is responsible for notifying the employee orally or in writing of the employee’s rights, obligations, and benefits before the employee departs for and upon the employee’s return from active uniformed service. This notification includes any appeal and grievance rights.

However, this does not relieve the employee from the responsibility to exercise due diligence to request this information from management or the appropriate HR office.

Additionally, the law requires that individuals performing uniformed service must be given the opportunity for career advancement as if they were actively present on the job. To ensure compliance, HR includes the following in the discussion, as appropriate:

a. Bargaining positions. While performing uniformed service, employees continue to accrue seniority and may bid on positions that may become vacant during the employee’s absence. The following procedures apply:

(1) A written or electronic notice must be submitted by the employee to HR, or, if appropriate, to the manager-in-charge, such as the postmaster, indicating the employee’s interest in bidding on specific positions.

(2) The bids should be processed and awarded in accordance with the appropriate collective bargaining agreement (CBA) as if the employee were actively employed. If the employee is awarded a position, a personnel action must be initiated to place the employee in the newly gained position and pay scale to ensure that seniority is credited as specified by the appropriate CBA.

(3) Unsuccessful bids are retained until the desired position is gained or the employee resumes active employment upon return from uniformed service. Training will be deferred for employees who gain a position for which there is contractually required training until they return.

(4) Upon return, the employee will be required to meet training requirements according to the respective CBA. No personnel action must be initiated until the employee completes the training requirement. In these cases, every effort must be made to train the employee upon return to work. The employee must only be awarded the position upon satisfactorily completing the required training. HR must maintain an audit trail documenting the bid submissions.

b. Nonbargaining positions. To be considered for nonbargaining positions, nonbargaining and bargaining employees performing uniformed service are required to submit to HR completed PS Forms 991 for specific position descriptions reflecting the desired positions and locations. HR will activate the application as soon as the desired position and location has a vacancy. The application is considered in accordance with nonbargaining-selection policies.

Applications resulting in a nonselection are considered as vacancies occur in the specified position and location, until the applicant has been successfully selected. Applications from employees who are on active duty with the uniformed services are accepted at any time for subsequent consideration when an appropriate vacancy is announced.

In addition, the following provisions apply to bargaining and nonbargaining employees:

(1) Reassignment requests. Nonbargaining employees on active duty may also request reassignments to lateral or lower-level positions in accordance with the nonbargaining-selection policy.

(2) When personnel action must be effected. Selected individuals will be placed in the new position and at the appropriate pay level by initiating a personnel action while in LWOP status.

(3) Return from uniformed service. Upon the employee’s return from uniformed service, the responsibility for submitting bids or applications for nonbargaining positions reverts to the employee.

772.3 Audit Trail

HR must establish and retain an audit trail of the selection activity.

Supervisors or managers must notify HR if an employee has provided notice of pending uniformed service with an anticipated duration of 31 or more days or is seeking reemployment following completing uniformed service lasting 31 or more days.

HR will provide the supervisor or manager with a hard copy of USPS 37, USERRA and Postal Service Provisions for Employees Performing Active Duty Military Service. The supervisor or manager must give a copy of USPS 37 to the employee before the employee’s departure to begin uniformed service. USPS 37 provides the employee an explanation of his or her rights, obligations, and benefits under USERRA, and Postal Service regulations.

HR will notify the Human Resources Shared Service Center (HRSSC) when the employee is approved for reemployment and request that a USPS 37 — Return to Duty USERRA Kit be sent to the employee.

772.4 Personnel Action

Employees called for uniformed service as defined in 771.2(a) must be placed in a LWOP-Military status, using NOA-460 and Special Benefit Code U.

Employees who choose to resign their employment when leaving to perform uniformed service must complete a PS Form 42, Declaration of Voluntary Resignation to Enter Military Service (For Career and Non-Career Employees). PS Form 42 is used to:

a. Acknowledge the employee’s decision not to return to employment with the Postal Service following uniformed service;

b. Notify the employee of all nonseniority-based benefits that he or she forfeits by resigning; and

c. Notify the employee that his or her restoration rights are not waived by the employee’s resignation.

If the employee does not sign PS Form 42, he or she must be placed into an LWOP-Military status using NOA-460. If the employee signs a PS Form 42, a resignation-military NOA-313 must be initiated. An employee who resigns to perform uniformed service will be restored to employment at his or her request, if eligible under USERRA, and will be entitled to seniority as if the employee never left for uniformed service.

However, the employee forfeits nonseniority-based employment benefits that he or she would have earned during the period of uniformed service if the employee had not resigned and had opted instead to go on LWOP.

Only HR has the authority to approve a request to resign to perform uniformed service. The employee’s supervisor or manager must notify HR when an employee requests to resign to perform uniformed service. HR will give the manager a copy of PS Form 42 for the employee to sign. The completed and signed PS Form 42 must be submitted to the HRSSC. The HRSSC will not process a resignation for the employee entering uniformed service without a signed PS Form 42.

773 Return to Work

[Revise part 773 to read as follows:]

Only HR is authorized to approve a request for reemployment from an employee who performed 31 or more days of uniformed service. Supervisors or managers must promptly notify HR when an employee who has performed uniformed service for 31 or more days requests reemployment. Employees who performed 31 or more days of uniformed service are not authorized to return to work until HR approves their return.

An employee who returns to work without HR’s approval has not been reemployed and remains subject to HR’s determination as to the employee’s eligibility for reemployment. However, requests to return to work should be expeditiously processed.

Employees must request to return to work after release from uniformed service as defined in 771.2(a) within the following time periods:

a. Service of 1 to 30 days. The employee must return to work by the start of the first regularly scheduled work period on the next calendar day following completion of service, after allowance for safe travel home from the uniformed service duty location by the most direct route to the employee’s residence and an eight (8)-hour rest period. If an employee’s return to work within this timeframe is unreasonable or impossible and he or she is not at fault for the delay, the employee must return to work as soon as possible.

b. Service of 31 to 180 days. An oral or written request for return to duty must be submitted no later than 14 days after the employee’s completion of the uniformed service. If it is impossible or unreasonable to submit a request within 14 days through no fault of the employee, a request to return to duty must be submitted as quickly as possible.

c. Service of 181 or more days. An oral or written request for return to duty must be made within 90 days from the employee’s date of separation or discharge from uniformed service.

Note: Individuals who fail to request to return to duty within the above specified timeframes do not forfeit their rights automatically. However, they may be subject to discipline because of unexcused absences.

Example: An employee who requested reinstatement 93 days after the end of his or her military orders may be reinstated and charged with three (3) days AWOL.

d. Service-connected hospitalization or convalescence. Members of the uniformed services who are hospitalized or in a convalescent status directed by appropriate medical authority following release from uniformed service because of a service-connected disability incurred during uniformed service are required to apply to return to work within two (2) years of separating or being discharged from uniformed service or immediately upon recovery, whichever is sooner.

Note: Management must consult HR before returning an employee to duty if the employee is returning from a period of hospitalization or convalescence.

[Revise the title and text of part 774 to read as follows:]

774 Documentation Required to Return to Work

USERRA requires that the employer return an employee to work promptly upon the employee’s completing uniformed service. The following applies:

a. Uniformed service of 30 days or less. Employees returning from uniformed service of 30 days or less are not required to submit documentation concerning their uniformed service as a condition of returning to duty.

Note: To receive paid military leave, upon return from uniformed service to the Postal Service, employees requesting paid military leave (regardless of service duration) must furnish a copy of military orders or other documentation properly endorsed by appropriate military authority to show that the employee performed the service.

b. Uniformed service of 31 days or more. Employees who have been absent from Postal Service employment to perform uniformed service of 31 days or more must provide documentation to establish eligibility for reemployment. The types of documents necessary to establish eligibility will vary case to case.

c. Required documentation and information. Before returning the employee to duty, the Postal Service must receive the employee’s military orders or other documentation that satisfy the requirements of USERRA. The documentation must include a timely oral or written request for restoration accompanied by the following:

(1) DD214 or other official documentation showing that the returnee was in military service during the returnee’s absence (see 771.4).

(2) Employee’s cumulative uniformed service period, not to exceed five (5) cumulative nonexcepted years.

(3) Beginning and ending dates of the employee’s most recent period of uniformed service.

(4) If the employee was hospitalized or in a convalescent status after separation or discharge from uniformed service, documentation showing that the employee was placed in this status by competent medical authority, and the beginning and end dates of hospitalization or convalescent status.

Note: Management must consult HR before making any determination relating to documentation to return to work.

d. If unable to provide required documentation. If the employee is unable to provide satisfactory documentation because the required documentation does not exist or is not reasonably available, the following provisions apply:

(1) The returnee must be conditionally reemployed and provided any benefits of seniority to which he or she would have been entitled but for the returnee’s absence to perform uniformed service. However, employees who have been absent to perform uniformed service for more than 90 days are not entitled to retirement benefits for the period of their uniformed service until they provide the required documentation.

(2) The employee must provide the required documentation when it becomes available.

(3) If the documentation shows that the employee was not eligible for reemployment under USERRA, the employee will be denied permanent reemployment, and immediately separated.

Note: The supervisor or manager must provide to HR for review the documentation that the employee presents, but must not return the employee to work unless HR directs to do so. If the employee is unable to provide documentation, the supervisor or manager must consult HR before returning the employee to work. However, requests to return to work should be expeditiously processed and reemployment should not be unreasonably delayed for administrative reasons.

775 Reemployment Positions

[Revise part 775 to read as follows:]

775.1 General

Returnees from the uniformed services must be reemployed promptly and in the appropriate reemployment positions as specified in 775.2 through 775.4.

775.2 Length of Service

The following length-of-service time periods are used to establish reemployment priorities for returnees from uniformed service:

a. One to 90 days of service. Without exercising other options, the returnee’s employment will be restored according to the following priority:

(1) To the seniority, step, and position, known as the escalator position, that the returnee would have held if he or she had remained continuously employed. This means that bargaining-unit employees progress in accordance with the provisions of the appropriate CBA as if they had been active with the Postal Service during the period of uniformed service.

(2) If unable to qualify for the position described in 775.2(a)(1), then the employee is assigned with full seniority to the position he or she held before entering the uniformed service.

(3) If the employee is not qualified after reasonable effort for the position described in 775.2(a)(2), then the employee will be assigned to a position of lesser status and pay, with full seniority, that he or she is qualified to perform.

b. Service of 91 days or more. Without exercising other options, the returnee will be restored according to the following priority:

(1) To the escalator position with full seniority or a position of like seniority, status, and pay. If the employee’s position was downgraded or otherwise changed and the employee would have been entitled to the changed position, then the employee is returned to duty in the new position, pending qualification, if applicable to the changed position.

(2) If not qualified after reasonable effort for the position described in 775.2(b)(1), then to the position that the employee held before entering the uniformed service or a position of like seniority, status, and pay if the employee’s pre-uniformed-service position was eliminated during the employee’s period of service.

(3) If not qualified after reasonable effort for the position described in 775.2(b)(2), then to any position of lesser status and pay that most closely approximates the positions in 775.2(b)(1) or 775.2(b)(2) that the returnee is qualified to perform, with full seniority.

c. Probationary period. Employees who were serving their probationary period at the time of entry into active duty and who met the probationary time period while serving on active duty are considered as having met the probationary time.

Note: If an employee’s position was eliminated during the employee’s period of uniformed service, the supervisor or manager must contact HR for guidance on assigning the employee to a position upon the employee’s return to duty. HR must consult the Law Department for guidance on restoring the employee to duty.

775.3 Returnees with a Service-Connected Disability

USERRA provides certain rights to service members who return from uniformed service with temporary or permanent disabilities:

a. If a returnee has a disability incurred or aggravated during such service and, after reasonable efforts by the Postal Service to accommodate the returnee’s disability, is not qualified due to such disability for the position in which the returnee would have been employed if his or her Postal Service employment had not been interrupted by such service, the returnee should be placed in a position that is:

(1) Equivalent in seniority, status, and pay to the position the returnee held with the Postal Service before uniformed service, and includes duties that the returnee is qualified to perform or would become qualified to perform with reasonable effort by the Postal Service; or

(2) The nearest approximation to a position in terms of seniority, status, and pay consistent with the circumstances of each returnee.

b. The following is the priority for reemploying individuals who return from the uniformed service with a service-connected disability:

(1) Restore the returnee to the escalator position with reasonable accommodation and training, if necessary, as required by USERRA.

(2) If not qualified for the position described in 775.3(b)(1) after the Postal Service’s reasonable effort, then reemploy the returnee to the returnee’s pre-uniformed-service position or to a position of like seniority, status, and pay that the returnee is qualified to perform or could become qualified to perform with reasonable effort by the Postal Service, including reasonable accommodation and training, if necessary;

(3) If the returnee is not qualified for a position described in 775.3(b)(1) or (2), then place the returnee with full seniority, consistent with the circumstances of the individual’s case, in a position that approximates as nearly as possible the equivalent position in 775.3(b)(2) in terms of seniority, status, and pay, with reasonable accommodation and training, if necessary.

(4) If the returnee cannot be returned to duty in a position described in 775.3(b)(1) through 775.3(b)(3), the returnee must be referred to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which is responsible for placing the employee in a civil-service position within the federal government.

Note: HR is responsible for ensuring that employees returning from uniformed service with a service-related disability are properly restored to duty. The supervisor or manager must immediately notify HR when a returnee with a service-connected disability requests reemployment and an accommodation or indicates that the returnee cannot perform all of the essential tasks of his or her position. Management must not refer the employee to the Reasonable Accommodation Committee (RAC) without consulting HR and the Law Department.

775.4 Reasonable Effort to Qualify

Postal Service management is obligated to make a reasonable effort to qualify returnees who are not immediately qualified to assume employment in a position to which they would otherwise be entitled. The qualifying effort may include appropriate testing, training, or refresher courses to update skills if the employee did not have the opportunity to keep up with skills or technological advances.

In addition, a returnee with a service-connected disability may be entitled to reasonable accommodation or training for a position as described in 775.3.

Service members with nonservice-connected disabilities may also be entitled to reasonable accommodation. Such accommodations must be made in accordance with Handbook EL-307, Reasonable Accommodation, An Interactive Process, rather than under the provisions of this chapter.

776 Other Rights

[Revise part 776 to read as follows:]

776.1 General

Service members are entitled to the rights and benefits that are available to employees on a comparable nonmilitary leave of absence. They are also entitled to any nonseniority right or benefit that became effective during their service time. Postal Service policy complies with USERRA and includes, but is not limited to, the features outlined in this section.

776.2 Employee Benefits

USERRA provisions apply to retirement, the Thrift Savings Plan, Flexible Spending Accounts, and to health- and life-insurance programs. For additional information, contact headquarters Compensation organization.

776.3 Using Accrued Leave During Military Service

Employees on active uniformed service are entitled to use earned annual leave during their regularly scheduled workday while performing uniformed service, if they elect to do so. Requests for annual leave must not be denied.

Note: USERRA supersedes any provisions of the CBAs that reduce, limit, or eliminate in any manner any right or benefit provided by USERRA, including limitations on using annual leave.

Employees on active uniformed service may use sick leave provided they submit documentation from military medical authorities showing that the employee is hospitalized, restricted to quarters, or placed in a convalescent status because of the employee’s medical condition. The employee must submit medical documentation before the leave is paid. Requests for sick leave must not be approved to qualify an employee who is on leave without pay for holiday pay (see 434.4 of the Employee and Labor Relations Manual [ELM]). Paid military leave is authorized in accordance with ELM 517.

776.4 Employment Protection and Military Service Credit

The following applies:

a. Employees on active uniformed service are protected in the following situations:

(1) Demotion or separation. While on uniformed service, the employee may not be demoted or separated except for cause.

(2) Reduction in force. The employee does not participate in a reduction in force (RIF) or a separation for lack of work.

(3) Position abolished. If an employee’s position is abolished during his or her absence for uniformed service, the employee must be reassigned to another position of like status and pay.

b. Reemployed service returnees with career status are protected from discharge, except for cause, as follows:

(1) For 1 year after the date of reemployment, if the period of uniformed service was for more than 180 days.

(2) For 180 days, if the period of uniformed service was for more than 30 but less than 181 days.

(3) No protection is provided under this section for employees who served less than 31 days.

[Delete the text of part 777, “Enforcement of USERRA,” in its entirety and renumber current part 778 as 777 to read as follows:]

777 Employment of Activated Employees — Guard or Reserve

777.1 Postal Service Employees on Active Military Duty

Postal Service employees serving on active uniformed service duty must not be scheduled to work for the Postal Service in any capacity while on such active duty.

777.2 Employees on Terminal Military Leave

Employees on terminal military leave from the Guard or Reserve who voluntarily desire to return to work before their official discharge may do so with management’s approval by providing the following documentation to HR:

a. A copy of an uncertified DD 214, or if not available;

b. A signed, written statement from the command that the reservist will be released from active duty at a specific date after using the reservist’s terminal leave.