EAP staff responded to 286 critical incidents and provided assistance to more than 11,400 employees after these incidents. Health and wellness seminars/training opportunities on topics ranging from stress management to elder care to substance abuse were provided to more than 238,000 employees.

The Office of Workplace Environment Improvement (WEI) was created in September 1998 to reflect management's commitment to improving the postal work environment and bringing focus to "people issues" in the Postal Service. Key components for 2004 and 2005 are: coordination and implementation of the Postal Service's Transformation Plan strategy to build a highly effective and motivated workforce; development of the role of the workplace improvement analyst position to play a more strategic and consultative role in the field; integration, assessment, and communication of employee feedback and other workplace environment information; support for replication of a broad array of workplace improvement initiatives and practices; and communication of progress in improving the workplace environment.

b. Violence Prevention and Crisis Management

The Workplace Environment Advisory Committee includes representatives of employee unions, management associations, labor relations, and human resources. This group, working closely with the Postal Inspection Service and EAP/WEI, uses a standardized protocol for the identification and resolution of potential "troubled worksites." These are Postal Service sites that may be susceptible to threatening or other undesirable behavior as a result of individual or systemic problems. The efforts of the committee, in concert with area and local personnel, resulted in resolution of issues at 6 sites in 2004. In addition, EAP/WEI assists the field in ensuring that local threat assessment and crisis management teams are in place and that desired training is provided. Finally, EAP/WEI staff members continually respond to potential threats and crisis incidents throughout the Postal Service to ensure prompt response, swift resolution, and maximum safety of Postal Service employees.

c. National Sexual Harassment Prevention

The Postal Service is committed to providing a work environment free of sexual harassment and inappropriate sexual conduct, through training, posters, publications, videos, service talks, and print articles.

In 2004 a revised Publication 553, Employee's Guide to Understanding Sexual Harassment, was mailed to the homes of more than 700,000 employees.

A 15-minute training service talk on sexual and workplace harassment prevention training was made available on the Diversity page of the corporate intranet. Employees received payroll check stuffers on an inappropriate sexual conduct awareness campaign entitled Misconduct of a Sexual Nature – It's Just Plain Wrong and Harassing Behavior – It's Just Plain Wrong. Four sexual harassment training videos were also broadcast on PSTN.

d. Dependent Care

The Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) jointly selected a vendor to provide a dependent care resource and referral service to management and APWU-represented employees. The service allows employees to get assistance in locating dependent and elder care resources, as well as offering a variety of options to help balance work and home life.

e. VOE Survey

Every postal quarter, one-fourth of the career employee population receives the Postal Service's Voice of the Employee (VOE) survey at their work locations. Participation is voluntary and employees are given time "on-the-clock" to complete the surveys and seal them in postage-paid envelopes which are mailed to the contractor for data analysis and quarterly reporting.

Six questions have been identified as key indicators of workplace environment factors that can have an impact on employee performance and thus affect business outcomes. In 2004, the Postal Service achieved its highest historic national response rate and survey index score. The national response rate was 64 percent, and the national index score was 62.1 percent favorable responses, 1.0 percentage point over the same period last year (SPLY). Analyzing survey results helps identify organizational issues in order to plan improvement strategies.

f. Combined Federal Campaign

The Postal Service joins other federal agencies in the Combined Federal Campaign drive each fall. In calendar year 2004 Postal Service employees nationwide pledged a total of $38,055,748 in payroll deductions to the charities of their choice.

g. Safety

In 2004 the Postal Service continued to experience significant improvement in its safety program. Accident reduction plans targeted the most serious and prevalent accident causes.