Monday, December 9, 2024
Know when it’s ‘no’
USPS publishes its 2024 Holiday Ethics Guide for employees
The Postal Service has released its 2024 Holiday Ethics Guide to help employees comply with federal regulations involving giving and receiving gifts.
Here are some general guidelines:
• Gifts from outside sources. Employees may not accept a gift from an outside source.
However, an employee may accept an unsolicited, noncash gift valued at $20 or less, but the total value of gifts received from the same source may not exceed $50 per calendar year.
Employees may not accept cash or cash equivalents, such as MasterCard, American Express or Visa gift cards.
An employee also may accept a gift if it is given because of a family relationship or personal friendship — not because of the employee’s USPS position.
Additionally, an employee may accept a gift if it is offered because of the employee’s outside (non-USPS) business or employment.
• Gifts between employees. Generally, employees may not accept a gift from a subordinate or a lesser-paid employee.
For regularly occurring occasions, such as holidays, an employee may only give a superior or higher-paid employee a non-cash gift valued at $10 or less.
Group gifts are permitted for certain special, infrequent occasions of personal significance, but not for regularly occurring events.
“Secret Santa” or “white elephant” gift exchanges are allowed, but participation must be voluntary and the noncash gifts must cost $10 or less.
Office parties are permissible if employee participation and contributions are completely voluntary.
Employees who have questions should email the USPS Ethics Office.
Heroes
She saw the signs
This carrier helped a customer who had symptoms of heatstroke
Rural Carrier Teri Barrington was on her way to deliver mail in Olney, TX, when she saw a man walking along the shoulder of a highway.
Barrington safely pulled over and spoke to the man, who told her he was walking to a nearby town to get help after his car broke down.
The Postal Service employee noticed he appeared to be experiencing symptoms of a heat-related illness.
She called 911, gave the man a bottle of water and helped him to a shaded area while they waited for help to arrive.
Paramedics later confirmed that the man was experiencing a heatstroke. He has since fully recovered.
Employees featured in “Heroes” receive letters of commendation through the Postmaster General Heroes’ Program. The nomination form is available on Blue.
Week in Review
Here’s what Link covered Dec. 1-7
A movie about mail, a busy week for the CFC and open season’s final stretch all made news
Postal topics past and present have been getting plenty of screen time lately — and Link has had a front-row seat.
On the big screen there’s “The Six Triple Eight,” which tells the story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion of the Women’s Army Corps. Comprised primarily of African American women, the group was given what many considered an impossible task: deciphering, sorting and delivering a three-year backlog of mail in six months.
They did it in three.
On the small screen, Stephen Kochersperger, the USPS historian, was featured on the TV show “Real Virginia,” where he discussed New Deal murals in the Post Offices in Petersburg and Strasburg.
And on the even smaller screen, Mr. ZIP made an appearance in a YouTube holiday special starring Blippi, a children’s video star.
Also, the Postal Inspection Service and the USPS Office of Inspector General released the final video in its three-part series on collusion; this one warns employees about stealing mail.
On the news front, Link covered the release of a report that showed the Postal Service delivered 99 million ballots during this year’s general election, as well as the organization’s plans to implement a new contractual approach with package consolidators, companies that enter large volumes of packages into various points in the USPS network.
Last week was also a busy one for reminders, including refreshers on contributing to the Combined Federal Campaign, the ethics rules for giving and receiving gifts and the importance of knowing where your USPS devices are at all times.
No one needs reminding that USPS employees do the organization proud, but we like to do it anyway. “Heroes” told the story of Teri Barrington, a rural carrier who got help for a man she saw walking along a highway shoulder who was suffering from heatstroke.
And finally, with open season drawing to a close, Link informed you about health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans.
Website offers help for ACE computer users
Postal Service employees with ACE computers can find information for troubleshooting IT issues on their own on the recently launched ACE Endpoint Resources website.
The SharePoint site provides information about ACE workstations, monitors, printers, mobile devices and other topics.
The website also can be accessed by typing “ACE” into the Edge web browser on ACE desktop and laptop computers.
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Know when it’s ‘no’
USPS publishes its 2024 Holiday Ethics Guide for employees
-
Heroes
She saw the signs
This carrier helped a customer who had symptoms of heatstroke
-
Week in Review
Here’s what Link covered Dec. 1-7
A movie about mail, a busy week for the CFC and open season’s final stretch all made news
-
Brief
Website offers help for ACE computer users