The NRLCA was notified Friday afternoon that the SPM sampling will change from scanning up to 5 pieces to scanning up to 15 pieces effective Saturday February 13th. The NRLCA has requested a meeting to address the lack of advance notice and what the compensation should be.
The NRLCA has also heard from several carriers related to additional instructions about writing down the address and requiring the carrier to perform the work order when they reach the address even if the MDD does not alert the carrier.
These instructions were not taken into consideration for the time to be compensated.
The NRLCA has notified the Postal Service that at this time based on the changes to the original instructions and the change from 5 to 15 pieces, the NRLCA is no longer in agreement with the 50 seconds or 70 seconds.
Effective February 13, 2016 we expect all rural carriers to be paid actual time for all duties associated with any SPM duties until further notice.
Carriers should track all time it takes to perform SPM sampling and request compensation each pay period. Some of those functions that should be tracked for compensation;
- When alerted, time to pick scanner up
- Look at scanner and hit escape if not at the delivery point
- Locate the pieces of mail and scan
- Place scanner back to the location you keep it in your vehicle
- Time to write down the address and place in a location so that you can remember when you get to that address if required
- Time to record the tracking of all the time above
This process is still a test and will not be included in the upcoming mail count. Carriers should expect compensation in their pay check associated with the current pay period, if not they should discuss with management and if not received in the next check or management states they are not going to process, then a grievance should be filed. Please notify your assigned Steward when grievances are filed on this issue.
Source: News Info