USPS distributes reduction-in-force notices

The U.S. Postal Service has sent reduction-in-force notices to administrative employees to prepare them for future downsizing. The notices went out last week with little fanfare.

Postal officials earlier this year outlined plans to restructure the postal workforce and cut 7,500 jobs, including 20 percent of the administrative workforce and 10 percent of the postmaster jobs. The agency on April 28 sent general notices to administrative employees at headquarters and at other facilities who could be affected by reduction-in-force procedures.

According to USPS Chief Human Resources Officer and Executive Vice President Anthony Vegliante, the Postal Service later this month will send specific notices to employees to let them know whether they will maintain their current position, be moved to a lower rank or see their job eliminated altogether. Supervisors and postmasters, who also will be affected by the downsizing, will receive separate RIF notices at a later date, he said.

USPS in March announced its Voluntary Early Retirement plan and $20,000 financial incentives to career nonbargaining employees at headquarters, headquarters-related field units, area offices and administrative personnel at customer service district offices. As of the April 25 deadline, just 2,000 employees had applied for the incentive.

The VER and incentives are part of the overall reduction-in-force process, Vegliante said, noting that the early retirement option is considered "RIF avoidance." The RIF could affect more than just those who receive notices, he added.

Anyone "could be affected if your job is going away and you're out of work," he said. "It's not just business as usual."