Audit exposes Postal Service’s overtime racket as Democrats seek bailout

The U.S. Postal Service has racked up billions of dollars in excessive overtime from its workers over the last several years, even as its employee numbers have gone up and its mail delivery has declined, according to a new audit likely to raise questions about congressional Democrats' demands for a bailout.

Overtime pay has become so predominant at America's premier mail delivery service that more than 4,000 postal workers last year actually earned more in OT pay than their base pay, a 429% increase in highly compensated overtime earners since 2014, the agency's internal watchdog reported this week.

The situation exists in part because postal employees are allowed to determine their own overtime hours without needing prior management approval, and management does not always keep accurate payroll records, the audit report concluded.

"The Postal Service needs to strengthen controls over managing overtime to successfully contain these costs," the Postal Service inspector general warned Wednesday.

Pdf The audit paints a picture of a postal service that is highly dysfunctional: Managers don't keep good records, staffing levels aren't maintained at authorized levels, and workers decide for themselves when they can charge overtime, "Employees must be paid for all overtime work they perform, even if that time was not authorized. Unauthorized overtime occurs when an employee's clock time exceeds eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week without prior authorization from a manager," the report noted.

Investigators flagged the massive growth in postal workers who earned 2x and 3x through overtime pay, citing some specific examples ranging from postmen to mechanics whose inflated paychecks raised questions about whether employees could really have worked as many hours as they charged.

"A mail handler in the Northeast Area earned $141,153 in total overtime pay by working 3,329 regular overtime hours, which resulted in $205,018 in total pay" the report noted.

https://justthenews.com/accountability/watchdogs/audit-exposes-postal-services-overtime-racket-democrats-seek-bailout