The 2026 Christmas period for rural carriers begins Saturday, December 5, 2026 (Week 2, Pay Period 26-2026), and ends Friday, December 25, 2026, Week 2 of Pay Period 27-2026. During this period, certain timekeeping and pay rules apply. Timekeepers must become familiar with Article 9.2.H., Christmas Allowances and Procedures, of the 2024-2027 USPS/National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA) Agreement.
n Types of compensation that rural carriers are entitled during the Christmas period.
n Related timekeeping procedures and regulations for the Christmas period.
n Special rules that begin with the start of the Guarantee Year (October 3, 2026) and continue through the end of the Christmas period (December 25, 2026).
The preferred method of timekeeping data entry is through the Rural Management Support System (RMSS) web application. The following information provides USPS® guidelines for Rural Carrier compensation during the designated Christmas period. These instructions are designed for Manual Timekeeping and TACS data entry.
We included exhibits to help you complete the following:
n PS Form 1314, Regular Rural Carrier Time Certificate, and
n PS Form 1314-A, Auxiliary Rural Carrier Time Certificate.
List of Exhibits
The following exhibits are at the end of the article:
n Exhibit 1 — Regular Carrier Works in Excess of Route’s Evaluation
n Exhibit 2 — Regular Carrier Not on Relief Day Work List, Works Relief Day (Week 2) and Does Not Receive an X Day in the Same Pay Period
n Exhibit 3 — Regular Carrier Works Designated Holiday
n Exhibit 4 — Regular Carrier Provides Christmas Assistance
n Exhibit 5 — FLSA Code A Regular Carrier
n Exhibit 6 — Designation 74 Works Designated Holiday
n Exhibit 7 — Designation 74 Provides Christmas Assistance on Relief Day
n Exhibit 8 — Replacement Carrier Provides Christmas Assistance on a Regular Route
n Exhibit 9 — Replacement Carrier Provides Christmas Assistance on an Auxiliary Route
n Exhibit 10 — Nonrural Employee Provides Christmas Assistance on Rural Route (EMA Only)
n Exhibit 11 — Designation 79 Provides Christmas Assistance on Assigned Auxiliary Route
n Exhibit 12 — Replacement Carrier Splits Auxiliary Route and Provides Christmas Assistance on an Auxiliary Route
Overtime During the Christmas Period
Regular Carriers (Des 71) — FLSA B
During the Christmas period, regular rural carriers are eligible for the following two types of overtime:
FLSA overtime is paid at all times of the year, not just during the Christmas period. Regular rural carriers are paid FLSA overtime under two circumstances:
a. Hours worked in excess of 12 hours in a day. If a carrier works more than 12 hours in a day, the amount over 12 is entered in the Daily Overtime block on PS Form 1314.
b. Hours worked in excess of 56 in a week. These hours are calculated automatically when the total weekly work hours are greater than 56. No separate entries are required.
Christmas Overtime is paid only during the designated Christmas period. Regular rural carriers are paid Christmas overtime under two circumstances:
a. Christmas Assistance — This is assistance provided by the regular carrier on his or her relief day. Christmas assistance work hours are entered in the Xmas Assist Work Hours block on PS Form 1314.
b. Hours worked in excess of the route’s evaluation — This is based on the total actual work hours for the week, not on individual days. For example, if a route has a daily evaluation of 9 hours and the regular carrier works 10 hours on 2 days, and 8 hours on the other 3 days, no overtime would be paid. Even though the carrier exceeded the daily evaluation on 2 days of the week, they did not exceed the weekly evaluation. The weekly evaluation is 45 hours; the carrier worked 44 hours. (See Handbook F-21, Section 567, for overtime calculation when leave days are taken during the week and for routes with an evaluation of less than 40 hours.) These hours are calculated automatically, so no separate entries or calculations are required.
Overtime Rate
The overtime rate paid to regular (FLSA Code B) carriers is 150 percent of the carrier’s regular rate. The regular rate is determined by dividing the total compensation received for hours actually worked by the carrier since the beginning of the Guarantee Year (not including overtime), by the total number of hours worked since the beginning of the Guarantee Year (not including overtime). This overtime rate is used for both FLSA overtime and Christmas overtime.
Replacement Carriers (Designations 70, 73, 74, 75, 76, 78, and 79) are only entitled to FLSA overtime. For these employees, FLSA overtime is paid for hours worked in excess of 40 in a week.
Regular Carriers (Des 71) — FLSA A
Regular carriers whose FLSA code is A are paid for actual hours worked, not evaluated hours. They are paid overtime for hours in excess of 8 in a day or 40 in a week. For FLSA Code A carriers, enter hours in excess of 8 in a day to the Daily Overtime block on PS Form 1314. Hours in excess of 40 in a week are calculated automatically by the system.
Carriers serving any auxiliary route are compensated at the hourly rate for actual hours worked during week 2 of PP 26-2026 and both weeks of PP 27-2026. During this period, carriers are not paid the evaluation of the route. Overtime is paid only when the carrier exceeds 40 hours for the week.
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