Representing U.S. Postal Service Employees Nationwide
If you are a current or former USPS employee dealing with a workplace legal issue, you’ve come to the right place.
USPS employees, supervisors, and managers are entitled to numerous rights and protections under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. The Merit Systems Protection Board oversees these rights both substantively and procedurally, which include the ability to appeal a variety of adverse personnel actions to the MSPB such as wrongful terminations, suspensions, discipline and demotion, discrimination, sexual harassment, reductions in force, rejection of disability benefits, retaliation for filing a whistleblower claim, unfair treatment and more.
Dealing with a workplace grievance will no doubt mark a time of tension and strain in your life. Having skilled attorneys in your corner who know the USPS, OPM, and MSPB processes, and can guide you through them, can help ease much of the burden.
Can Postal Service Employees Appeal an Adverse Action to the MSPB Board?
Generally speaking, Postal Service supervisors, managers, and employees engaged in personnel work other than non-confidential clerical positions are entitled to appeal adverse actions to the MSPB, so long as the employee has completed one year of current continuous service in the same or a similar position.
That being said, there are numerous prescribed statutory, regulatory, and administrative criteria which determine whether any individual person or case may appeal an adverse action to the MSPB Board,
Can Postal Service Employees Receive FERS Disability Retirement?
FERS Disability retirement is a benefit intended for employees who are unable to complete their career due to illness or injury. Most U.S. Postal Service employees are covered under the Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS), which is administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
If you’re a USPS employee and cannot work, you may be entitled to FERS disability retirement. If your disability retirement is approved, you’ll receive a monthly retirement payment for the rest of your life, or until you recover from your injury or illness. There is no requirement that you be totally disabled, nor is there a requirement that your injury or illness be caused by working at the USPS.
For more information as well as common questions and answers, please also visit our FERS disability retirement page.
Are USPS Employees Federal Employees?
This is one of the most common questions we receive, and the answer can be complex and depend on your job classification. That being said, when it comes to Postal Service employees having employee rights and being entitled to receive federal benefits through the OPM, including disability retirement, the answer is generally yes.
Technically, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has declined to classify postal workers as federal employees because the postal service is a quasi-federal, semi-corporate agency that obtains it’s financing through the sale of stamps and fees rather than exclusively through tax dollars. That being said, Postal Service employment is often considered “federal employment” under the executive branch of government. After all, the existence of the US Postal Service was explicitly established in the US Constitution.