Our new RCA was just fired

[Sprocket]

PMG Megan Brennan
USPS
475 L'Enfant Plaza 25W
Washington. DC. 20260

Service
Ms Megan J. Brennan	Postmaster General
Email	megan.j.brennan@usps.gov
Telephone	+1 (202) 268-2608
Website	https://www.usps.com
Social Media
Postal Address	475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, D.C. 20260
Advice from CEOemail.com	How to write your email to a CEO

 

[btdtret]

yardbox -- "I showed up every day as assigned. Well, earlier until warned.
When called in by PM on an unexpected day, I asked why I was there. He said you are consistently over eval. I said doesn't changing to another route, altering the new route without updating case count for something, I know I'm slow casing but I'm gettin better on the street. He said that is just a part of your pay to adapt to those changes.
So I asked what is upshot of this meeting. SPV asked "will you resign"? I said no, I'm doing better. That was when PM said I would not "be retained", PM's words
OK, I was under 90 days, at their mercy and BTW no Steward was present.

-- "Skiertmoritz" is correct, manglement was trying to get around the "keep RCA's at all costs" edict of the PMG back in 2015.

-- You should have contacted your Assistant District Representative as soon as the PM made his/her "you would not be retained" speech.

-- You could easily consider that a "threat to your job" or "harassment". Both of which are against USPS policy. Just check the office bulletin boards for policy statement.

-- You are also correct - being within the probationary period makes you "fair game" for what ever reason manglement chooses to come up with.

-- Still contact your ADR, especially if you have not received any official termination paper work.

-- When "invited" to the office for any talk, discussion, etc, the first thing to ask "Will this lead to discipline?" If "yes" request ( demand ) union rep be present.

-- If you are feeling really froggy, you might say, "Since it is part of my pay to adopt to the case changes, then YOU should have no problem stepping in an running the route." ( or at least think it! )

 

[newbie2019]

it is interesting to know about the retain rcas at all cost mandate. we have been told 1000 times about the 90 day rule.

 

[lbpd16]

he decided not to fight it. hes going back overseas as a military contractor. probably will be better off.

 

[EthelAnne]

it is interesting to know about the retain rcas at all cost mandate. we have been told 1000 times about the 90 day rule.

They make threats all the time that they will never follow through on. Ignore them. Firing anyone creates such a sh*tload of work for them the lazy jerks won't ever do it to an RCA unless there's a crime or serious safety issue.

 

[MiddleOfNowhere]

i can see where managers get away with firing someone, by simply saying they quit. there is no exit interview conducted by outside personal. who higherup knows anything but what management wants them to hear.

 

[charlie]

PMG Megan Brennan
USPS
475 L'Enfant Plaza 25W
Washington. DC. 20260

copy letter to pmg to chief human resource officer Isaac Cronkhite, and all your congressional representatives..oh, and what the hell, copy our worthless union...

 

[csparks]

As an RCA, this "training" issue bowled me over from the very beginning.

I took this part time job to earn some insurance money after retiring kinda early from another career. I've been around the block and exposed to how things are done to train and retain employees, and was genuinely surprised/shocked at how woeful and inept the USPS training system is structured.

My regular spent a heck of a lot of his own time teaching, showing, and helping me along. WAY beyond USPS policy. Right from the start, I realized that the training standards in place were nowhere close to what was needed to get someone out the door. Turning someone loose with that minimal training is simply malfeasance. Its the admin expecting these RCAs to work that should be blamed, not the RCA.

Its so obvious its confounding. If they want good production from employees, they must train them competently. Yet, somehow USPS believes someone can basically learn this job in 3-5 days, or whatever. Unbelievable.

 

[btdtret]

Ibpd16 -- "he decided not to fight it. hes going back overseas as a military contractor. probably will be better off."

-- Sorry to learn that.

-- Hopefully he stays safe.

-- At least as a military contractor, he can really fight back, if need be, in an appropriate manner!

-- And the pay should be better.

 

[btdtret]

csparks et al -- [ learning the job in 3 to 5 days ] was reasonable -- back in the mid-1990's!!

 

[Sandygirl]

Just finished my 5th year and only now feel very comfortable with my job!

 

[FrozenToes]

csparks et al -- [ learning the job in 3 to 5 days ] was reasonable -- back in the mid-1990's!!

I've been thinking about this.
Besides the sheer volume of parcels, scanning and other additional tasks.
1.)I think it was easier to learn back then because of the sheer volume of mail. There was tons of repetition from all the flats,raw and DPS.
I used to get 8-12 trays of DPS on Mondays. Now 4-5.
A trainee could almost come in any day of the week and case flats after the regular left to deliver. ( In the past)
Now, in my area, Monday is the only day.
Now, some customers get no mail for days.
2.) Do to the time standard changes , routes sizes and makeup also impact the learning.
My route used to 540 boxes, 18 miles. it's been as big as 740 boxes and 48 miles.
3.) In the good 'ol days regulars were pretty helpful. At least in my office.
After years of abuse, they don't want to donate their time to training.
4.) Thanks to the order of consideration. Untrained subs can basically be thrown anywhere. That sucks!
I've seen a trainee work 4 routes in 4 weeks. He quit. Anyone suprised?

 

[MiddleOfNowhere]

i lot of this depends on the rca. when i started, i got permission to video tape the case. seeing the names and address in delivery order over and over again, without having to case the mail, in the comfort of my home, made it easy to go in, and run the route in evaluated time. i know i didn't get paid for learning the routes this way, but i didn't have any stress, not being able to do the job.

in contrast, a month or six weeks ago, i had an rca that actually slept while riding around, trying to learn the route. the first day, when i saw he didn't have a notebook, i said he could look at the mail, and hand it to me at each box, learning names and addresses as we went. first box is 2.1 miles from office, and he was asleep by the time we got there. my first instinct was to wake him up, but i didn't. i'm not his mother, and if he wasn't more interested in learning, i couldn't force him. he slept on and off, for the most of the next 4 hours. i can teach them, but i can't learn it for them.

i think he worked on 4 routes, in six weeks time, along with sunday amazon.

he gave his two week notice, this week. his office times, weren't that bad, usually under 3 hours, but it was 9 hours on the street, every time.

 

[too many yrs left]

No one else has mentioned this yet but my first thought concerned making this a formula office. When this issue was first created our PM at the time wanted this so bad he also did some firings and then made sure no one was hired. We were formula for several years until our grievance was finally settled and since that time we have always had RCA's.

 

[formerlyknownas]

Everybody is different at learning. What I find refreshing is when the RCA's that had all the help...lol, that was me at one time. Can now be seen helping someone else that is newer than them. It all goes full circle.

 

[lbpd16]

There should be a training manual that each new employee gets when he hits his office after "academy". There should be someone willing and able to train the new person. Each task should be discussed and demonstrated. Then the trainer should observe the new person demonstrate the same task. At the end of the training period the trainer should ride with the new person and just observe and be there as emergency backup. Basically use the law enforcement training model. 3 days with a regular who may not be interested or may not be able to train someone and then cutting that person loose is just setting him/her up for failure. Some of us can think on our feet, adapt, and make decisions, even without being properly trained, but not everyone has that ability.

 

[oi veh.]

There should be a training manual that each new employee gets when he hits his office after "academy". There should be someone willing and able to train the new person. Each task should be discussed and demonstrated. Then the trainer should observe the new person demonstrate the same task. At the end of the training period the trainer should ride with the new person and just observe and be there as emergency backup. Basically use the law enforcement training model. 3 days with a regular who may not be interested or may not be able to train someone and then cutting that person loose is just setting him/her up for failure. Some of us can think on our feet, adapt, and make decisions, even without being properly trained, but not everyone has that ability.

Isn't that what the OJT position is?

I mean, I've never seen one...but have heard tell of such.

 

[Wilco183]

Isn't that what the OJT position is?

I mean, I've never seen one...but have heard tell of such.

"Standard Training for Rural Letter Carriers" dtd Oct 2016. Module 3 in particular is a guide for the 3 days of route training (24 hrs). Participation Guide available and checklist included.

We need to train our own for success.

 

[EthelAnne]

There should be a training manual that each new employee gets when he hits his office after "academy".

There is one, as @Wilco183 mentioned above. I have a copy of one because I had some issues with how two new RCAs showed up in my office, so I was provided with one. I had never seen one before, and I'm not sure if the academy trainers actually hand these out to participants because I was told to return this one to them because they're so scarce and expensive.

As rural carriers, we don't get compensated for training new RCAs, so I understand the pushback from some regulars who don't want to do it. Training is not an easy job, it's not a job everyone has the skill to perform, and most of us would rather just walk in, deliver our mail and go home.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I think the three days training is sufficient if it's done right. If it's not done right, no amount of days will help. After three days, an RCA should be able to perform the functions of the job. Will they beat evaluation? No, but some supervisors, who are used to carriers who have 20 years of experience on H routes expect them to do so. Will they make mistakes? Of course, and regular carriers shouldn't flip out because a piece of mail is misdelivered, or third class mail is curtailed for those first few weeks.

Three days of training will not make a new RCA able to beat their evaluation or be perfect. Only time and experience will do that. This job is not a difficult one, in that you don't need to know how to use complicated machinery or process new information each day. It's not terribly complex work that we do, but it can be physically demanding and working outside in all sorts of conditions can be a challenge, but no amount of training is going to impact either of those factors.

The problem with the training program is that new RCAs very often don't get the three days of training in their offices. They're hired, they do four days at the Academy, and then they're thrown onto a route, sink or swim. I'm pretty critical of the four days spent at the Academy--I don't think it's a worthwhile use of anyone's time, and it's very expensive, but the fact is, some RCAs would receive zero training if it weren't for the Academy.

 

[csparks]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I think the three days training is sufficient if it's done right. If it's not done right, no amount of days will help. After three days, an RCA should be able to perform the functions of the job. Will they beat evaluation? No, ....

This brings up another question in my head. Not trying to be argumentative, but I wonder if all RCAs function the same in all offices?

Where I am, you have be able to come in and do it all. Case up 500 addresses on dozens of different roads names/numbers that are as confusing as can be. Ex. 218449 E 1860 rd; 816904 S 2040rd, and on and on. Looking at the case, there is no clear pattern, no obvious order. Then you've got 100 packages and spurs that go to these addresses to put up markers for, and get in order. Until you've managed to memorize that case, you are on your own to devise some type of "cheat sheat" of reminders of how to find an address while you are casing all those markers, loose flats, and non-sorted mail pieces. It can take forever.

Because there is so much free Amazon, you've got to be able to divide your route (in your head mostly) into two halves before loading. You're going to have to come back to get the second half of your mail because there is no room in your POV for all of it. Then you've got 100+ miles of gravel roads to navigate, also in no logical order. Lots of turns, turn-arounds, switch-backs, and only 50% of the intersections have sign markers.

Other than good, friendly co-workers, there is no help at all. Everyone seems to realize there's no way anyone is picking that up after 3 days. Lots of aid from the regular the first few weeks.