Rules concerning work schedule

[kelker11]

Hi Everyone,

Are there any rules concerning maximum number of days in a row (without a break) that you can be scheduled? I was told by another RCA that the max was six days, then you had to be given a day off. I've just worked six in a row, was told I have to work tomorrow (which was supposed to be my day off), and then I'm scheduled another four days in a row. Do I have any argument against this? I'm so freaking tired. My days have been averaging 12 hours each.

Second question: In general, as an RCA, what happens if you either don't answer the phone when called or you just tell them you're not available? Is there a certain number of times allowed per year/month? How often can you do it without getting written up/fired? I was told (again, by another RCA), that you are fine as long as you don't do it more than once every two weeks...which seems too often to me. And is being Not Available considered the same as leaving work because you become ill?

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[Altoonaflyer]

The 6 day rule is only a rule when they want it to be. Some districts espouse it fairly strongly, but I have seen carriers work 7 straight when they had no one else to throw out there! As far as being unavailable, it just depends on your manager and whether or not they want to get rid of you. Each office is different.
Welcome to the madness

 

[btdtret]

kelker11 -- "Are there any rules concerning maximum number of days in a row (without a break) that you can be scheduled?"

-- Nothing in black and white.

-- A lot depends on the office and past practice.

-- Some states do have rules regarding the number of consecutive days on can work, but manglement will say those rules don't apply to the USPS.

"I've just worked six in a row, was told I have to work tomorrow (which was supposed to be my day off), and then I'm scheduled another four days in a row."

-- Some RCA's have posted of working for weeks at a time. Did you sign up for Sunday Parcel Delivery?

" In general, as an RCA, what happens if you either don't answer the phone when called or you just tell them you're not available? "

-- Become aware of the post office phone numbers -- all of them. If possible, get the phone / cell phone numbers for manglement.

-- RCA's are NOT on call. Let an answering machine be your "call screener". If you want or need the work. Answer. If not, don't answer.

-- If you were not on the schedule when you left for the day -- see above.

-- Some ( well run ) post offices have an agreement that RCA's should be near a phone, say upto 9 am, if not called by then, free for the rest of the day. ( the rural carrier craft is not supposed to have LMOU ( Local Memo Of Understanding ) like the clerks and city side )

-- Do not respond to calls / text messages to your cell phone. Such calls / texts should be for EMERGENCIES only.

-- As an RCA, you NEVER tell them you are not available. If you really need to be off, submit a 3971 - Request for or Notification of Absence. And check the "NO CALL" box.

-- Repeated "unavailability" can lead to firing. But "unavailability" has not been defined - aside from whatever manglement says. Article 30.2.M.

"And is being Not Available considered the same as leaving work because you become ill?"

-- Certainly NOT! You reported to work but became ill AT work. If the opportunity presents itself, be near the supervisor's or PM's desk if feeling queasy! It might register to manglement that you are actually ill!

"I was told (again, by another RCA), that you are fine as long as you don't [ call in ] do it more than once every two weeks...which seems too often to me. "

-- Don't always believe what someone else in the office says. Be polite and ask for a reference. In your case, calling in once every two weeks could be used to establish a "pattern" of absences.

-- How long have you been an RCA? Completed your probationary period of 90-work days or one calendar year?

-- PMG Brennan put out an edict in 2015 that RCA's should be "kept at all costs." Some post offices abide by it, some don't.

 

[gotstamps]

Hi Everyone,

Are there any rules concerning maximum number of days in a row (without a break) that you can be scheduled? I was told by another RCA that the max was six days, then you had to be given a day off. I've just worked six in a row, was told I have to work tomorrow (which was supposed to be my day off), and then I'm scheduled another four days in a row. Do I have any argument against this? I'm so freaking tired. My days have been averaging 12 hours each.

Second question: In general, as an RCA, what happens if you either don't answer the phone when called or you just tell them you're not available? Is there a certain number of times allowed per year/month? How often can you do it without getting written up/fired? I was told (again, by another RCA), that you are fine as long as you don't do it more than once every two weeks...which seems too often to me. And is being Not Available considered the same as leaving work because you become ill?

Thanks for any and all help!

There is nothing keeping you from working everyday for the whole year if mgmt allows. If you want a day off, you’ll have to request it on a 3971 leave slip. “These 7-Day rules” are District rules & do not hold up in a grievance.
If you don’t want to work, don’t answer the phone! Repeated Unavailability is grounds for discipline but is rarely used. If you answer, then you cannot refuse to work. Being unavailable is nothing. Leaving due to illness should not get you in trouble. At least you tried.

 

[Postal-xam@58]

I saw my supervisor fire three subs in less than a year. He used the three stikes rule. If he called you three times and you fail to answer , he let you go. Although they will say you’re not on call, my boss insisted we were until he finally decided to say if we had not gotten a call by nine, we were free .

 

[Rt2mailman]

Postal exam, your pm may have "told" 3 Rca's that they were "fired", but I'm guessing he just convinced them to resign. He would have had to have gotten "permission " from the district manager to have "fired " any Rca as per the PMG's rule concerning Rca's. Some pm's stop scheduling Rca's, then they fill out paper work stating the Rca stopped coming to work and by that, in essence, "resigned". A complete lie and should be disciplined by their manager.

 

[Morty]

NRLCA stance is that you are to be available 24/7 365.

They cannot help you. If you have a Dr. note limiting you to 13 days. They can terminate you for being unavailable.

 

[Postal-xam@58]

Yes (rt2) I am sure you are right. I just know that he used it as a force to keep the rest of us in line. And I will say a rule that in most offices is ignored, does none of us any good, that most of the people they are threatening with it don’t have the time to fight it and have been hired as I was with the pretty picture they gave us in training. And once on the job are concerned with learning the job ,trying to take care of their family, have no time to study the rules and learn to fight for their rights .

 

[Postal-xam@58]

Before I was hired in post office, the company I worked for was in business for over a hundred years and would probably still be there if the union had not got voted in,(jmo) The people could talk to their boss about problems, people that were not doing their jobs, could be let go without a act of congress. I know you may think the union is the answer , but we never had all the back stabbing etc. We even had friends that we worked with that we still love to see.

 

[gotstamps]

NRLCA stance is that you are to be available 24/7 365.

They cannot help you. If you have a Dr. note limiting you to 13 days. They can terminate you for being unavailable.

not true. There have been documented cases where a sub was fired for unavailability due to illness & got their job back Because it qualifies as FMLA related.

 

[Morty]

not true. There have been documented cases where a sub was fired for unavailability due to illness & got their job back Because it qualifies as FMLA related.

*FMLA

Without it, you're toast.

 

[BeatsAll-IEverSeen]

If the 3 fired subs were probies then it really wouldn’t have mattered. If they weren’t then they should have grieved.

All attendance discipline should be progressive. RCAs discharged for attendance issues get their jobs back frequently due to lack of progressive discipline, with or without FMLA being involved.

Postal, your former employer went out of business due to greed or mismanagement. A union didn’t have a thing to do with it.

How is it you think the union is the problem while in the same breath complaining of your boss’s unreasonable, contract-defying rules?

 

[Tank]

Postal, your former employer went out of business due to greed or mismanagement. A union didn’t have a thing to do with it.

You like to think that but without knowing the particulars you haven't anymore clue than the man on the moon.
I'm semi-retired and carry mail because I want to, not because I have to. It keeps me busy and fit, plus I enjoy being around people, however in my former life I was a pre-cast concrete plant manager. I managed plants in various states, some were organized, others weren't. Some organized plants were great to manage, one union covered everybody and the rules were chiseled in stone and everyone was pretty much happy. On the other hand I managed an organized plant in another state whose union thought its objective was to hinder the company any way it could. We were losing money hand over foot because we couldn't produce anything. Solution, shut down the plant, sell the land, and move the entire operation three miles away, across the state line, and build a new plant with new personnel in a right to work state.

Good times, made lots of money and because we were so productive, efficient, and profitable, we were able to pay our employees more than their peers just three miles away.

 

[Quivo]

A few years ago when I was an RCA I did 28 days in a row, from Thanksgiving to Christmas. There is no limitation aside from district and the person quitting. CCAs do have a limitation - they can only work 360 days in a row before their 5 day break!

 

[Sprocket]

A few years ago when I was an RCA I did 28 days in a row, from Thanksgiving to Christmas. There is no limitation aside from district and the person quitting. CCAs do have a limitation - they can only work 360 days in a row before their 5 day break!

same here...2018 day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve

 

[BeatsAll-IEverSeen]

You like to think that but without knowing the particulars you haven't anymore clue than the man on the moon.
I'm semi-retired and carry mail because I want to, not because I have to. It keeps me busy and fit, plus I enjoy being around people, however in my former life I was a pre-cast concrete plant manager. I managed plants in various states, some were organized, others weren't. Some organized plants were great to manage, one union covered everybody and the rules were chiseled in stone and everyone was pretty much happy. On the other hand I managed an organized plant in another state whose union thought its objective was to hinder the company any way it could. We were losing money hand over foot because we couldn't produce anything. Solution, shut down the plant, sell the land, and move the entire operation three miles away, across the state line, and build a new plant with new personnel in a right to work state.

Good times, made lots of money and because we were so productive, efficient, and profitable, we were able to pay our employees more than their peers just three miles away.

Particulars from whom? Management or the worker?

Forgive me, but I’m going to take the manager’s narrative with a grain of salt. Are unions perfect? No. But for Mr. Exam to question the usefulness of their existence while simultaneously enjoying the benefits of said existence seems dishonest to me.

Your description of what happened at the concrete plant: tell me if you really think the dysfunction/impasse that caused that plant to close had anything to do with concrete. Perhaps both sides acted in bad faith, who knows. An operation that “fails” because it’s the *Union’s* fault is most often a business that never recognized the Union’s legitimacy in the first place.

I mean if you want to extol the virtues of right to work you can always go to Forbes.com for a more friendly audience lol

 

[Postal-xam@58]

Sorry ( mister beats all) I didn’t mean to put a bee ? in your bonnet. I was simply stating the facts as how I saw them. I was making more at my former job, with insurance and retirement benefits from 90 days in , until it closed . I was also treated with respect, I had a paid week off for vacation, a week off at Christmas to spend with family and a 10% bonus to buy gifts for them. We also had Easter,Thanksgiving off. There were other things I could mention, but I won’t. No it wasn’t perfect, but if I had a problem, I could talk to my boss and get input from him or her without it taking me a year to get results.

 

[Voglio-il mio]

same here...2018 day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve

Mine was in 2017 with 38 days in a row with only Thanksgiving off during that stretch!

 

[Windindaface]

A brief Catholic schooling flashback made me think...

For ships and giggles since we are Mortals and as a stretch cite something in writing.... And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

 

[uselesshasbeen]

Always interesting to see people stating what they believe to be the facts of a situation, since inevitably not all facts tend to be disclosed. Not that I assume people are lying or even stupid, you just don't notice things that you don't consider important. Other people focus on other facts. I find it interesting that what is described as a decent employer is declared ruined by a union. Many people besides me must question why employees voted to become unionized if the employer provided a great work environment and treated people fairly with decent pay and benefits. People who don't like unions are ready to assume its all the union's fault and those who like unions are going to deny responsibility, it is how people are.

Did I ever tell the story of my wife's employer fighting and winning against unionization? Names people might recognize, so I won't mention them. The proposed union was one that gets a lot of shout outs on this site. The employer promised better pay and the institution of a pension. The union promised the same plus paying dues. The employer was a family run business that talked of employees as being part of the family. An annual picnic in August and a Christmas Party every December. Business was run by the founder who was generally respected and considered to be genuine. He got older and his children took on more and more responsibility. Working conditions went downhill somewhat and the pension became limited to employees in the plan and then became frozen with less contributions going to it. Retirees were routinely invited to the annual parties, no longer. Employees are generally less satisfied than they were before. Things seem to have gotten worse since founder died. Question is, what would have happened if they had gone union?

The presence of a union doesn't always have the same effect, whether you believe it is negative or positive. The effect you attribute to it is generally determined by your own perspective.

Have a safe and happy holiday.