Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO). The Postal Service is committed to providing a safe and productive work environment. EEO is viewed as a critical component in Postal Service efforts to recruit, develop and retain a diverse workforce. The Postal Service will not tolerate harassment of any type and holds managers responsible for preventing it.
The Postal Service provides high quality and timely complaint processing in accordance with EEOC regulations. This year 12,920 informal complaints were filed. There were 46 or 0.4 percent fewer informal complaints filed than a year ago. Similarly there were 4,388 formal complaints filed, resulting in 152 or 3.3 percent less formal complaints filed than for the same period last year. The reduction of complaints positively impacts productivity. Further, reducing complaints and resolving them in the early stages resulted in savings of approximately $3 million dollars in complaint processing costs.
Workplace Environment Tracking System (WETS). In order to manage the Initial Management Inquiry Processes and to ensure the Postal Service is adhering to established protocols, the Workplace Environment Tracking System (WETS), a new national database was deployed in August 2013. The application enables the tracking and analysis of performance at the Headquarters, Area and District levels.
The WETS serves as a central repository for four workplace environment processes: Initial Management Inquiry (MI), Workplace Harassment Fact-Finding (WHFF), Threat Assessment Tracking (TAT), and Workplace Environment Intervention (WEI).
The application enables EEO Compliance and Appeals and WEI to:
Maintaining and Improving Dispute Resolution Processes — Overtime Grievances. In FY2013, as in FY2012, the Postal Service has focused its attention on reducing overtime grievances. Overtime disputes have been a consistent source of disagreement over an extended period of time. Individual districts have been challenged to identify the root problems that generate these grievances and develop and execute plans to resolve them.
Maintaining a Safe, Secure Workplace Environment. The USPS Illness and Injury (I&I) rate of 5.61 is 15 percent favorable to the comparable private sector industry rate of 6.60. In June, an enterprise-wide settlement agreement regarding compliance with electrical safe work practices was reached with the U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA, and the American Postal Workers Union. Positive and responsive interaction between the parties resulted in a penalty reduction from $6.2 million to $100,000. The agreement specifies increased training and personal protective equipment to be implemented over a two-year period.
