Who gets paid?

oldwhatshername · Oct 15, 2016

We had this come up at our PO this past week. The RCA running the K day had car trouble and couldn't complete the route in his car. No possible way to go home and get a replacement vehicle as the RCA lives in another state and is way over the 50 mile preferred radius of employment. He refused to get another vehicle to complete his assigned route. He told me he called everyone he could think of and finally the RCA from the AUXIE drove while he punched the mail and the mail was delivered.

He was telling me this AM about all the problems he had and I said " what really hurts is you don't get paid for the day". He was shocked, he has worked 4 years for the Postal Service and didn't know the driver of the car that finishes the route gets the full evaluation of the route.

Please be informed, read the contract and if you have a question please come to this site and ask.

gotstamps · Oct 15, 2016

You are incorrect! The RCA gets paid actual hours & actual EMA miles. The RCA that came to help them also gets actual hours & actual EMA miles. I assume mgmt allowed this but what should have happened is the 1st RCA hands over the remainder of the route to 2nd RCA and 1st RCA clocks out on return to office. There is a step 4 on the union website for this under "partial trip".

Only when a Regular breaks down & a sub finishes the route does the route eval & EMA go to the sub while the Regular is forced to take AL, SL, or LWOP.

EthelAnne · Oct 16, 2016

In this scenario, who is the RCA who finished the route, the RCA who drove the vehicle or the RCA who put the mail in the box?

I would think that the RCA who drove the vehicle would be paid auxiliary assistance, and the RCA who put the mail in the box would get the evaluation for the day. He/she did the work, they deserve to be compensated for it. I imagine the RCA who drove the vehicle would not agree to deliver the rest of the route, or loan the vehicle to the broken down RCA?

gotstamps · Oct 16, 2016

EA- no one gets the eval when 2 RCAs work a route. They both sign on green cards for actual time. Search "partial trip" on the union website. There are step 4s on this very subject.

oldwhatshername · Oct 16, 2016

Background information: In a perfect world you would have RCA's trained to step in during a vehicle breakdown. This is not what happened. The RCA called the PM, she didn't want anything to do with the situation and blew him off. PM has moved on and recently taken another assignment, to be started this PP. He called the interim PM he too blew him off, but told him to get another car, which he refused to do. The RCA on his own called a RCA with a POV. They together finish the route in her vehicle. The RCA that drove the vehicle, has been trained for this route; but was told by the PM before she ever trained "Don't worry about learning the route, you will never drive it". So she never took the training serious, didn't take a note or ask a question.

So, Gotstamps you are telling me the Postal Service is going to pay two trained RCA's, time and mileage for one route???

gotstamps · Oct 16, 2016

If mgmt allowed it, then yes. They both get paid the actual hours they worked and EMA for the miles they actually drove. 1st RCA gets miles to the breakdown & 2nd RCA gets miles from the office to "breakdown" location & for the remainder of the route. Mgmt often pays 2 or more RCAs when they have an RCA go out to assist another RCA. When an RCA gets assistance, they both/all are paid on the green card.

EthelAnne · Oct 16, 2016

@gotstamps--I don't know if this scenario qualifies as a partial trip, so not sure if that necessarily applies. It's a curious situation, to be sure. I'd argue my position in the previous post (Break Down RCA gets the eval, Driver RCA gets paid for the assistance). I see from the further details @oldwhatshername provided that the RCAs decided to do this on their own, and management decided not to, you know, manage.

When carriers "go rogue" and make management decisions on their own, it becomes really difficult to argue they should be paid for work that was never assigned to them, which makes this situation even odder, because management decided to pay the Driver RCA instead of the Break Down RCA. Seems to me, the Driver RCA should be the on who is SOL, since he/she essentially volunteered to help out the Break Down RCA without being directed by management to do so.

gotstamps · Oct 16, 2016

In our office, if a sub gets ANY assistance at all (i.e. Casing, delivering, splitting), both RCAs go on a green card. This has been going on for years and I did question it once. We have district bosses in office & the union comes in often enough. Mgmt tried telling me to go on a green card once, I laughed & reminded them that Regs don't "green card". Now mgmt tries to say if we get help with parcel runs, we have to take a leave day. Funny how that all changes next month.

I know when I was a sub, one sub was on the 4240 for eval except for splits. Since the 1st RCA rec'd assistance, they both go on a green card.

oldwhatshername · Oct 16, 2016

Right or wrong..........the Interim PM gave the full day to the RCA who finish driving the route.

As a side note: The RCA whos' vehicle went down has been given the benefit of having his friend the recently promoted PM, on countless occasions, cover and protect him. It has been a circus of mismanagement for the last four years. He is crying foul now after using the Postal Service for 4 years to his advantage. This RCA took the job with the promise from his childhood friend (sometimes live-in) PM that he would be a RC in a year. Except there were no opening for a Rural Carrier in our office, just one old lady RC they could pile on and abuse out of her retirement, health care and job. It didn't work. I am still here, still doing the job and loving every minute of it. Oh! and be sure to make out your Postal Pulse Survey.