Well, I don't look at it as YOU are going over 2080 unless management is doing THEIR job. Management's responsibilities would include ; From Article 9 of The Nat'l Agreement
8. Overburdened Routes
a. Definition
A route is considered overburdened when :
(1) The standard hours for the route are outside
of the Table of Evaluated Hours; or
(2) The regular rural carrier who is assigned to
the route does not, or is not expected to, meet
the requirement to stay within the annual
guarantee for the route.
b. Relief of Overburdened Routes
Permanent relief will be arranged as soon as prac-
ticable for overburdened routes. Auxiliary assis-
tance may be provided as a temporary means of
providing relief for those routes as defined in
8.a.(1). Assistance is provided, equivalent to the
lesser of the following:
(1) The regular rural carrier’s actual weekly work
hours that are in excess of 48 hours (K
classification); or
(2) The standard hours for the route that are in
excess of 57:36
Has assistance been provided to mitigate your actual work hours ? Then, there is also the annual leave conundrum . Have you been denied any requests for annual leave ? We also have the failure of management to provide a relief carrier for each and every route which leaves offices short staffed and regular carriers are working their relief day(s) whether on the RDWL or not as well as working their Holiday(s) . Has management proposed or discussed adjusting the route ? I ask this because in The RCAM we have this ;
55:48 to 56:59 47 Hours*
57:00 to 57:36 48 Hours*
* Normally, these categories should only be used as interim
classifications pending route adjustments
Looks like yet ANOTHER failure on management's part.
Now, there is also this from The Nat'l Agreement ;
7. Classification Options and Reviews
a. Any rural carrier whose route may be classified in
more than one evaluated classification may elect
the higher route classification if the following
requirements are met:
(1) It must be demonstrated that the rural
carrier’s actual work hours will not exceed
2,080 during the guarantee period. Christmas
overtime hours, if any, will increase this
benchmark, provided that the hours in excess
of 2,080 occur in the last pay period of the
guarantee period. Such determination should
be based on, but not limited to, the rural
carrier’s performance during the previous
year
I do not know the standard hours of your route but you said 48K evaluated hours. The top end of the 48K is 48 hours and 29 minutes in standard hours. Anything over that is free work for the PO. Actually, I would argue that the 29 minutes is free work because the pay stops at 48 hours but that's another issue. Anyway, depending upon the standard hours of the route , you could very well exceed the 2080 threshold and STILL be working UNDER the standard hours time through no fault of your own because of management's failure(s) , if applicable, to provide assistance, adjust the route, hire and retain RCAs, and approve annual leave . Remember, you cannot be "wrong" until management is "right" .
