Employee Classifications

Article 7.2 - Crossing Crafts

Combining craft Duties to create full-time Assignments. Article 7.2.A permits management to combine duties from different crafts, occupational groups or pay levels to create full-time duty assignments under limited circumstances. Under Article 7.2.A.1, management may combine work from different occupational groups or crafts only after it has first combined all available work within each separate craft, by tour. Under Article 7.2.A.2, management may combine work from different pay levels only after it has combined the work of different crafts in the same wage level, by tour. In either case, management must provide the affected unions with advance notification of the reasons for establishing the combination full-time assignments.

Rural carriers excluded. A combined position under Article 7.2.A may include the work of only the crafts covered by the 1978 National Agreement—i.e., letter carrier, clerk, motor vehicle, maintenance and mail handler. Rural carriers are excluded.

Article 7.3.C - PTF Maximization

Demonstration of regular schedule and Assignment. A PTF carrier working a regular schedule meeting the criteria of Article 7.3.C on the same assignment for six months demonstrates the need to convert the duties to a full-time assignment. The six months must be continuous (Step 4, H7N-3W-C 27937, April 14, 1992, M-01069). Time spent on approved paid leave does not constitute an interruption of the six month period, except where the leave is used solely for purposes of rounding out the workweek when the employee otherwise would not have worked (Step 4, H7N-2A-C 2275, April 13, 1989, M-00913). For the purposes of Article 7.3.C, a part-time flexible employee not working all or part of a holiday or observed holiday (as defined in Article 11) does not constitute an interruption in the six-month period.

Another maximization requirement. The memorandum creates a separate, additional obligation to maximize full-time positions beyond the maximization obligations of Article 7.3.A-D. See paragraph 3 of the Letter of Intent. In other words, even though management has complied, for example, with the 88 percent full-time requirement in a 200 work year facility (Article 7.3.A), further conversions to full-time flexible may still be required when the requirements of this memorandum are met. As noted above under Article 7.3.A, if an office falls below 88 percent, conversions must first be made to full-time regular to bring the office to 88 percent. However, after full-time flexible positions have been created these are counted as full-time toward the 88 percent requirement.

This specific maximization obligation is similar to that of Article 7.3.C, because it is triggered by a PTF carrier working a relatively regular schedule over a six month period. However, where Article 7.3.C requires work on the same assignment, this memorandum requires only that the PTF carrier be performing letter carrier duties of any kind.

In order for the hours worked to meet those criteria, the hours worked must be eight hours within nine or eight hours within ten (based on the size of the office), worked over five days of the service week (not six or seven), not during seasonal periods on a seasonal route, and worked in the performance of city letter carrier craft duties.