OIG says USPS could do a better job controlling absenteeism
TweetFrom the OIG report released today:
The Postal Service’s total absenteeism rate for major benefits is comparable to the total absenteeism rate of the federal sector, but higher than that of the civilian sector. We identified two potential causes for the difference between the Postal Service and the civilian sector absenteeism rates — the Postal Service offers more leave benefits than the civilian sector and they offer fewer incentives for employees to accumulate leave. In addition, we determined some supervisors were not complying with attendance control procedures related to unscheduled absences. We also determined that CSRS and FERS retirees use comparable amounts of sick leave in the last years before they retire.
Comparison to Federal and Civilian Sectors
The Postal Service’s total absenteeism rate for major benefits is comparable to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rate for federal employees. However, it was almost double the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) rate for private industry and approximately 4 percent higher than the state and local government rate. The higher absenteeism rates of the Postal Service and the federal sector may be due to the fact that, comparatively, they offer more leave benefits (more hours) and fewer incentives to employees to bank leave. We are not making any recommendations regarding these findings.
Controls Over Unscheduled Absences
We estimated supervisors did not comply with Postal Service policies and procedures regarding unscheduled absences for at least 11,468 employees nationwide. We identified several causes, including lack of training, supervisors not using the Enterprise Resource Management System (eRMS) as the system of record for controlling unscheduled absences, and insufficient oversight. In addition, Labor Relations
indicated they did not have adequate resources to monitor attendance control. As a result, overtime was used to cover 17.4 percent of the unscheduled sick leave and the Postal Service could have saved $4.0 million in overtime costs by following proper attendance control procedures during the 12-month audit period. Postal Service officials are responsible for administering the leave program and controlling
unscheduled absences, while its employees are responsible for avoiding these types of absences. Labor Relations professionals stated they provided supervisors with training on attendance control and advice on proper corrective actions; however, opportunities exist to improve oversight and reduce unscheduled absences. See Appendix B for our detailed analysis of this topic.
We recommend the area vice presidents require district managers to:
1. Provide refresher training to supervisors to ensure they are aware of unscheduled leave policies and procedures and the importance of following them.
2. Establish and implement internal controls to evaluate and ensure supervisors’ compliance with unscheduled leave policies and procedures (for example, performance and accountability measures or periodic management reviews).
3. Require supervisors and labor relations specialists to use the Enterprise Resource Management System to record employees’ inability to meet position requirements, corrective actions taken, and grievance data.
3 We attempted to quantify comparisons between union and non-union employee absenteeism. However, OPM leave data was provided by agency only and not union vs. nonunion. In addition, we were unable to reconcile data anomalies in the Postal Service’s Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) and Payroll systems to allow for a union vs. nonunion comparison.
4 We did not claim monetary impact for unscheduled annual leave because unused annual leave hours represent a liability the Postal Service will pay out whether employees take leave or not.
5 Unrecoverable questioned costs are costs that are unnecessary, unreasonable or an alleged violation of law or regulation.
6 Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) Issue 19.2, Section 511, April 2008 (updated with Postal Bulletin revisions through May 7, 2009).
Management’s Comments
Management generally agreed with the findings and recommendations. Specifically, seven of the eight areas agreed with all three recommendations. Great Lakes area management agreed with recommendations one and two, but disagreed with recommendation three. They stated based on current Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with various unions, supervisors, and labor relations specialists should not document corrective actions and grievance data in an open system, because this could be viewed as a violation. Additionally, Eastern and Southeast area management commented on the accuracy of our monetary impact. Management’s comments, in their entirety, are included in Appendix E. Some area vice presidents also provided extensive documentation that supports their corrective actions. Although we have not included this information in this report, it is available upon request.
The entire report, with the appendices mentioned, is available at the USPS OIG web site.
February 19th, 2010 17:27
The reason that fed workers use more SL is an easy answer we do not pay into state disability nor does the fed gov.so they save millions over years meanwhile when wokers in the private sector get seriously ill they collect disability we are not so lucky we get the FEDERAL shaft and have to use SL this is ok if you have SL but if you are early in your career and do not have much you are screwed blued and tatooed. This is why the GOV. no longer allows us to give SL to eachother.
February 19th, 2010 18:27
In our district attendence control means not to pay an employee when he calls in. Use LWOP to teach him a lesson, and if he has financial problems…too bad.
February 19th, 2010 22:12
Employees make sure you schedule your sick leave.
The OIG should be looking at themselves and see how much funny leave they take.
With 0 % raises I’m sure you are going to motivate the employees.
February 20th, 2010 23:46
Could it be that most other federal workers and those in the civilian sector have weekends off? Could having a consistent reliable schedule of work hours and days allow them to plan their lives more efficiently than postal employees? Could a regular schedule of waking and sleeping contribute to better health and immune responses? Could having the same direct supervisor for the whole day, or having the same set of direct supervisors in a day for more than a month or two at a time, contribute to consistency of treatment in the workplace and the establishment of a reasonable pattern of employer/employee expectations, which would nurture an environment of respectful treatment on both sides, thus implementing a more healthful atmosphere? Could the continued reduction of staff without permanent replacements, or even consistent temporary ones, within the ranks of both management and rank and file employees be the net health difference between federal agencies whose staff is paid for by the tax payers with no accountability for return on investment, while the postal service must pay its own way through sale of products and services and stretch already weary employees to do
more in less time for the privilege of keeping their jobs and federal benefits until the next big round of staff cuts,
consolidations, and 500 mile radius relocations? The bean counters at the OIG should each get to work 90 days as a letter carrier, and then a clerk and finally a supervisor at
a postal facility to test their stamina first. Then they will be in a more informed position to posit theories about attendance issues. If they are not too tired, or sick, they might even decide supervisors already have more reports and responsibilities than can be completed within 10 hour days and come up with some pertinent recommendations for a reduction in the list of required daily administrative hoops necessary to efficiently accept and deliver the mail to everyone in America.
February 21st, 2010 08:52
Fix fmla it is so wildly abused, we’ve got people who dont come to work for weeks at a time.i dont have fmla and have two kids so it is very easy to go past 3 unsced abs in a year.im in the process of getting a letter for 5 in the past year.everytime i see the super for discipline the first thing out of their mouth is you need to get fmla,my reply is their is nothing wrong with me.with the problems the po is having the only discipline being done are to people who dont have fmla but yet we have people who dont come to work for weeks at a time and just because it is a pain in the butt to ensure that fmla is used corrective they dont deal with those problems.
February 21st, 2010 10:38
If I earned the Leave I should be able to take it when Iam sick or need to go to the Doctor.
For 33 years Ive been told to save it for when I need it.
Well at 52 I need it once in a while.
February 21st, 2010 23:40
Could it be that we have inconsistant work schedules and our working conditions? We have rotating days off, so we are never well rested. How about walking all day in near 0 degrees? Or walking in the rain all day? Or walking in the heat 8-10 hours a day. Face it, we have much harder working conditions than someone in the private sector that sits on there butt in an office with a consistant work schedule.
March 2nd, 2010 13:10
I’m a carrier that has been forced outside the contract to work 10,11,12 hrs. a day, my days off, etc. This is in the dark, on the ice, through the snow, in subzero temps. I have chronic Plantar Faciitis but am so afraid of the NRP I don’t dare seek restrictions from my doctor or a temorary limited duty assignment. All I have left is to take a couple of days off now and again so I can get some sleep and give my injuries a little time to improve. No one sitting behind a desk has the moral right to judge me. The first thing I say to a manager that questions my work ethic is: “You couldn’t even do it;” because most of them are overwieght or otherwise physically unprepared to carry mail.