A review of transaction reports at 20 selected facilities found that just above half of overtime hours were not properly identified. Image: photosince/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffUSPS use of overtime declined from 172.9 million hours in 2021 to 117.8 million in 2024 but that was less than the targeted reduction and the amount can be further reduced through greater management attention, an inspector general report has said.
The Delivering for America plan “indicates that Postal Service management is expected to capture workhour reductions, including overtime, due to mail volume declines” but the total hours cumulatively were 11 percent above the DFA target for that period, including 5 percent above in 2024.
In a follow-up to its prior work on the use of regular time-and-a-half overtime and “penalty” overtime (doubled hourly pay under conditions specified in union contracts), the IG said that “opportunities continue to exist to improve the management of unauthorized overtime in the Time and Attendance Collection System and further reduce overtime hours.”
It said that in response to prior recommendations, “Postal Service management issued a memorandum reiterating that it is critical” that leadership accurately record the types of overtime used and resolve any discrepancies before the close of a pay week. However, the latest review still found that “facility management did not always properly identify, categorize, and document regular and penalty overtime transactions in TACS by the end of the pay week, as required.”
A review of transaction reports at 20 selected facilities found for example that just above half of overtime hours were not properly identified and characterized as authorized or unauthorized. Auditors further “identified multiple employees who repeatedly worked unauthorized overtime” including one who had worked unauthorized overtime more than 100 times in 2024.
When unauthorized overtime is not documented, “there is a higher risk that management will be unable to track and monitor employees’ actual unauthorized time and hold employees accountable for continued use of unauthorized overtime,” it said.
It added: “The use of additional overtime hours was caused, in part, by a lack of employee availability and fluctuations in package volume at certain postal facilities. Specifically, when employees do not show up for work, the available workforce is expected to absorb the workload, requiring them to work an increased amount of overtime for an extended period.” The USPS fell short of its employee availability goals in each year after 2021, it said, and none of the four facilities auditors visited met their goals in those years.
“If future overtime reductions do not occur or are less than projected, the Postal Service will need to consider new approaches to capture workhour savings or run the risk of its actual overtime reductions stagnating,” it said.
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