3. PERSONNEL
a. Postal Career Executive Service

There were 895 individuals in the Postal Career Executive Service (PCES) ranks at the close of 2002. Of this total, 748 individuals held PCES-I positions. The remainder (other than officers) served in Executive and Administrative Schedule (EAS) positions. There were 39 PCES-II officers in the Postal Service at the end of the fiscal year. The makeup of the PCES officers and executives is representative of the Postal Service’s diverse workforce.


b. Succession Planning

Succession planning is the deliberate and systematic effort by the Postal Service to ensure leadership continuity and build talent from within the organization. The objectives are to identify individuals who can move into executive positions, to develop people for corporate needs, and to foster diversity among the leadership ranks. Individuals are identified as potential successors based on their leadership skills, functional and management expertise, and performance results. Succession planning has been designed to place the right people in the right jobs. After completing the eighth full year of succession planning, fewer than 1 percent of executive vacancies were filled by outside hires, 12 percent were filled by promotions of EAS employees to PCES, and the remaining 87 percent were filled from within the executive ranks.


c. New Intern Programs

The Management Intern Program and Professional Specialist Intern Program were implemented in 2002. These two-year developmental programs are designed to attract and develop outstanding internal and external candidates who possess graduate degrees. The Management Intern Program is field-based and prepares interns to assume key mid-level operations positions. The Professional Specialist Intern Program is targeted at identifying Headquarters positions critical to the success of the organization. Several functions recruited for positions in the areas of economics, psychology, operations research, market research, network operations, information systems, and compensation.

In 2002 there were 989 postal and non-postal applicants to the program of which 434 attended an assessment center. Eighty-seven finalists from the assessment center were interviewed by the Areas. Twenty-two successful candidates were hired (11 postal and 11 non-postal) and began the program in June 2002. The Professional Specialist Program recruited for 14 positions in 2002. Recruitment for the Management Intern Program and Professional Specialist Intern Program began in October 2002.


d. Equal Employment Opportunity

The Office of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and the REDRESS^® (Resolve Employment Disputes, Reach Equitable Solutions Swiftly) program achieved another successful year in 2002. The number of EEO pre-complaint counselings in the Postal Service continued to decline in 2002, due in large part due to the efforts put forth by field EEO professionals. This is the fourth consecutive year these counselings have decreased.

The use of the REDRESS mediation program, which incorporates non-Postal Service contractors as mediators, contributed to increased dispute resolution, further diminishing the need for elevation of complaints to the formal level. Although the REDRESS program has proven to be highly effective, traditional EEO counseling is still being offered as an alternative to individuals seeking pre-complaint counseling. Both forms of EEO assistance seek to offer individuals recognition and an opportunity to express their views and differences.

In 2002, the participation rates in the REDRESS program, for those seeking pre-complaint counseling, rose to over 77 percent nationally, an increase of 1 percent over 2001. Successful resolution of disputes that go through mediation is nearly twice the rate of resolution of disputes that remain in the traditional counseling process. During 2002, over 10,000 EEO disputes were mediated through the REDRESS program, ending the year with a 75 percent closure rate.

The REDRESS II program was implemented during 2002, bringing transformative mediation to the formal complaint process through the hearing stage. The success of this program is expected to be even greater than its predecessor, as it encourages employees to deal with conflict in the workplace, understand the differences of others, and resolve misunderstandings.


e. Combined Federal Campaign

The Postal Service joins other federal agencies in the Combined Federal Campaign drive each fall. In 2002, Postal Service employees nationwide pledged a total of $40,089,462.66 in payroll deductions to the charities of their choice. The average gift was $196.


f. Injury Compensation

In 2002, the Postal Service had an increase in workers’ compensation cash outlays of approximately $65.7 million (9.5 percent) over 2001, for a total cash payout of $759.8 million. Total paid compensation claims increased by 2,402 (8.6 percent), and total medical claims increased by 2,849 (2.3 percent).

The Postal Service’s cost control strategy was directed toward efforts to contain workers’ compensation costs and continued efforts to manage disability cases. The National Reassessment Initiative is reviewing all injured employees in limited duty and rehabilitation positions to ensure that they are properly classified according to their limitations. The initial pilot site was Greensboro, NC. Of 243 limited duty employees reviewed, 50 were immediately returned to full duty. Of 106 rehabilitation employees reviewed, 89 were reclassified as productive employees.

The Postal Service has entered into an agreement with the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) to outplace injured employees who cannot be accommodated within the Postal Service into private sector assignments.

The Postal Service also has a pilot program agreement with OWCP, and First Health Corporation, the nation’s largest preferred provider organization, to help reduce workers’ compensation medical costs. The pilot was operational in four OWCP district offices, and was expanded nationwide July 1, 2002. Since inception, the pilot has returned over $316,000 to the Postal Service and avoided over $1 million in duplicate medical bills.

The Postal Inspection Service continued its efforts to investigate fraud associated with Postal Service employees’ compensation claims. As a proactive measure to identify and eliminate fraudulent claims earlier in the process, postal inspectors’ efforts in the past fiscal year emphasized front-end work, formally called continuation-of-pay (COP) investigations. This resulted in $102 million through long-term cost avoidance and civil settlements and $6 million in front-end savings, totaling $108 million in cost savings from 2001. Additionally, inspectors identified 378 individuals as defrauding the workers’ compensation program and 45 employees were arrested.