USPS offering Voluntary Early Out Retirement to Postal Clerks, Mail Handlers | PostalReporter.com
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USPS offering Voluntary Early Out Retirement to Postal Clerks, Mail Handlers

The Postal Service will extend voluntary early retirement (VER) offers to eligible mail handlers and clerks, beginning Jan. 8. The offers will contain three retirement-effective dates from which eligible employees may choose: Jan. 31, Feb. 28 and March 31.

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While USPS has been taking aggressive steps to cut costs and increase efficiencies, additional operational changes are necessary. The Postal Service is exercising the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) delegated to it by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. This VERA action is part of ongoing efforts to rightsize the Postal Service’s workforce and reposition its network through attrition to match current workloads.

Employees who accept the offers will be able to retire before they reach the standard requirements for age and years of service.

Eligible employees will receive their offer letters and annuity estimates at their addresses of record. Employees can change or update their addresses on LiteBlue.

Eligible employees who decide to accept an early-retirement offer can apply by completing and submitting the required documents by the deadline specified in their offer letters. For eligible employees who decide not to accept the offer, no response is required.

The Postal Service is not offering separation incentives to accept the early-retirement offer.

The Voluntary Early Retirement LiteBlue page has general information about the VER. Employees who have questions can email the Organizational Change mailbox.

source: USPS News Link

USPS Offering Early Out Retirement-PostalReporter.com (2014)

Question  to APWU about Early Out in 2016

Question:    Will there be an early-out?

Answer:       Management can only offer Voluntary Early Retirement (i.e. to workers who aren’t eligible for retirement) with approval of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). OPM will only approve such a request when an agency needs to downsize, and the Postal Service has been hiring. If management wishes to incentivize eligible employees to retire by offering bonuses, the Postal Service would have to negotiate with the union. Management hasn’t expressed any interest in negotiating early-outs.

97 thoughts on “USPS offering Voluntary Early Out Retirement to Postal Clerks, Mail Handlers

  1. In 2009 the PO offered two VERAs back to back. Approximately 2,500 employees took the first one, which offered NO incentive (Unfortunately I was one of them). Something like TWO months later the second VERA was offered with an incentive of $15,000. Needless to say, I was furious because my union, APWU had to have known what was coming down the pipe, but said NOTHING. My advice is: If you can stick it out, what’s the harm in waiting. When YOU retire, so does part of your MONEY. If you don’t have a plan in line, stay until you do, times are hard. I love the freedom that comes with retirement, but please realize everything has a cost.
    Make sure you count yours before putting in your paperwork.

  2. If you want your FERS supplemental benefit, might be a good idea to take the VERA.

    Trump’s has to pay for his tax cut and the FERS supplemental benefit is in his crosshairs.

    Plus, the FERS supplemental benefit is worth many times more than a $15,000 cash incentive.

  3. For all of you wishing for a cash incentive to get you to retire…keep on dreaming, it aint’ gonna happen. All postal management has to do is threaten enough people close to retirement with involuntary transfers and jobs shifts, and those are the people that will take the bait and get out of Dodge, to avoid having to move or take a job they absolutely do not want. Those who are ready to retire will be squeezed out soon after, as the vacant positions will NOT be filled, forcing those holding out to have to do the work of two or three people. It is not going to be pretty, and there is no future in the Post Office. Another reason for me thinking this is that the Post Office just modified it’s RIF rules for management excessing, so even managers may be getting forced out of their jobs….and quite possibly into the ones vacated by those taking the VERA. Face it, even if you like your present job, the place sucks, it is totally anti worker, and even the unions are far too quiet, lately. I fear they know what is to come, but are being paid off to keep quiet…just like they do in politics.

    • What has this got to do with the maxed out fossils that will never retire? The Service’s own estimate is that only 26,000 out of 500,000 career employees qualify for this offer. A good chunk of the workforce has the age and time to go today, a non cash VERA is irrelevant.

      If $15k were to be offered too many people would take it. It’s a fishing expedition. Take the package and put it directly into the recycle bin and carry on.

    • Sorry, this just seems a little too over-the-top.

      I fully understand the Post Office sucks. It’s so mismanaged it’s not funny.

      And involuntary transfers? If you are close to retirement, you have seniority. The senior people cannot be involuntarily transferred. It always starts from the bottom.

      But to say that the unions are being paid to keep quiet is just crazy. That’s not true. Pure Hyperbole.

  4. Why is maintenance craft excluded from this early out we’re in the same Union with the clerks?

    • If you havent invested in bitcoin or bitcoin lending platforms such as bitconnect and dependent on your cheap blood money postal salary to make ends meet , then its obvious you dont know how to make real money . If it wasnt for the thrift plan 60% of postal employees would not have a clue in how to invest their money. Keep in mind that thrift is spoonfeeding their contributions because if some of these brain dead idiots who never even owned a computer had to enter their contributions on their own they would be totally clueless

    • They are trying to dump the top tiers of the pay scale and downsize the number of distribution employees in processing plants. Custodians are based on the square footage of the facility and total amount of custodians in a facility cannot be cut without grievances. They will follow with clerk and mail handler position cuts and since excessing is also happening they need placement for these regular employees.

  5. Hope you can all hold your breath for a long time when the ship goes underwater and your still waiting for incentive to leave! If you can’t find your own incentive, Lord help you!

    What if the bridge gets cut? You will be holding your breath underwater, with no bridge!

  6. What sucks is no buy back for non career years! I have 10 of those, and been a regular for 3 and a half. Now it seems they can’t wait to convert them all, all the idiots they don’t bother to train! All these entitled workers who don’t give a damn. Sad!

  7. I am not certain that an actual answer can be had here….

    Obviously, no incentives with this VER means nobody is leaving.

    Is this going to be “take it or leave it” or do you think, in a few short months, this will be revised with an incentive attached?

    This hasn’t even been negotiated with the unions.

    • I agree.I started in 1988(would be 30 years in November) and I’m working harder now than I did when I started.Im strongly considering it since I do work part time elsewhere

      • Great point Stan, I left after 35 years of service, in the beginning it was great, recognition, advancement possibilities, cash awards, quality step increases, the last ten years of my career, I never even seen any craft employee get any recognition in any way shape or form, the supervisors that moved up the ladder were the worst lot I have seen in my career, that place is a distant memory for me now, and there is life after the postal service, I just feel bad that are reluctant to leave that place, I had some employees that I worked with that were there longer than I was alive and I was 53 at the time, I left right at the MRA, I can live a decent life on what I make in retirement, not having to worry about working until 70 year of age and only retire when they eventually get sick, you only get one chance in life, this is not a video game where you get reborn, for them it is too late, for me I have never been happier and have no thought of that place what so ever.

  8. I will take $1.98 or add two weeks to my time and I am gone. This place sux out loud. 28 year employee here.

  9. Postal Circus dummies trying to deflect their criminality after Trump called them out on the Amazon sweetheart deal. even though Judicial Watch outed them, they got away with the Democrat Senator Diane Feinstein/Blum/PMG Donwhore No Bid Real Estate Contract Scam Felony.(with the blessing of the Postal OIG I might add) now they are going to make some smoke and mirrors play by going after the low hanging fruit . unions just sit down and stay put when the postal bureaucrats say heal. give out the 40K and there will be a stampede out of this corrupt organization the likes that you have never seen before.

  10. What I dont understand is why have they been making all these new supervisors if they are cutting back so much. Whats really going on?

    • You know while Megan cuts the number of people that are much needed moving the mail as the package volume is exploding and keep adding more useless clowns to the overpaid EAS side.

  11. Amazon is keeping the Post Office from going to Congress and begging for money, like they always do-cause of the worst Mismanagement on the planet! Until Amazon starts their delivery system or should I say until they implement it- the P.O. can still keep breathing with the infusion of money it takes in to deliver Amazon! Well what does that have to do with the early out- The Post Office is one of the the worst if not the worst employee friendly organizations to work for-PERIOD! Hands down the mismanagement will not and can not afford to let the worker slaves go with incentive because too many will take out! Smart companies who are doing right by offering the employee’s cash incentive fully understands that this is the most logical and best method to downsize but not the P.O. -to stupid to see the positives in that move in order to move on with a workforce at a reduced rate-No, they(mismanagement) is instructed to harass and lie to the worker to the point where the worker is so upset and want to leave at any cost -almost! Incredible is the word for it-go to elepahant plaza in Washington and look at the upper Mismangement with over 40 vice president’s that make over $250k a year. Now there’s the joke. The Post Office is a communication’s company why in the hell can’t they communicate? If it makes sense don’t do it- to offer a incentive would make sense-so they are not going to do it! PERIOD HAVE A GOOD-DAY

    • Amazon already has implemented their delivery system in the densely populated cities where it makes sense. We keep the dregs, that’s been the plan all along.

      Wait ’til it comes to your city, our parcel volume has evaporated.

  12. This is our sad postal management trying to impress the current administration’s on- going effort to reduce the federal workforce. The exception is that non-postal VERA will include a cash settlement. This is a prelude to the massive excessing that is going to occur in the next 180 days. They are hoping that clerks and mail handlers that have received letters of intent will prefer to take a bogus VERA, instead of being forced to take a carrier job somewhere. They’ve tried this crap before. Of everyone I know who ever took a VERA, even with a minuscule cash settlement, most regretted it.
    Trump has the USPS management in his cross-hairs. He made that quite clear when he made the statements about Amazon’s cozy deal. And they know it and are crapping bricks. There are 30,000 federal workers making more than 180K a year. I imagine quite a few of those “workers” are in the USPS.

    • Oh stop. No one is going to (have to) “take a carrier job somewhere.” Don’t be so breathless in your predictions.

      • It depends on your service dates and whether you bought it back. To add credit for your service you must buy back the time unless you were employed before 1983 and do not have enough quarters for social security.

          • Check out Eretire on the blue pages to see if retiring will make sense for you. I haven’t worked any overtime in the past 3 years, so for me it makes since for me to retire when I turn 55. When i saw that i was basically working for free and tired, body hurting, etc. it just made sense for me. (I’m a Civil Service Employee ). Will definitely NOT be taking the Early Out without any incentive. I will be 55 in a couple of months. Think i’ll Just wait.

      • Only OPM can approve a VERA. You can’t just put in for one when you feel like you want to leave. I have been with PO since 1982 CSRS but still under age. Still have 18 months till I reach 55. I am thinking about leaving, but not sure if it is the smart thing to do.

        • Hang in there 939. I just left 5 months ago. Glad I didn’t leave early. I’m glad that I didn’t take their penalty. Home free at 55.

          • Thanks Bernie…I have 2 months to decide something tells me I should try to stay. I have not seen the annuity statement yet so not sure how much I will lose. In small offices you are a PTF you never make regular and have to work 6 days a week. Sometime I only get 28 or 32 hours. If I was a regular no way would I go

    • The only people that could conceivably be forced into the carrier craft (the craft that a few short years ago had 50,000 excess jobs, according to the Service) are the very people that will not be eligible for the VERA. The newly hired that will not have the minimum service to qualify.

      I’m waiting for a birthday and I’m gone. All these recent moves have done nothing but increase overtime, and they’re overstaffed? No, they’ve gone insane.

    • I’ve got 18 18 in my area that are being forced into cca positions starting the first week of February.

      • 18 years? How is a career employee being forced into a non career job? Have I misread Article 12 all these years or do I misunderstand the comment?

    • Most of those federal workers making more than $180K a year are USPS managers.Congress needs to get on top of this fire Megan Brennan and her henchman,David Williams and bring in another Carvin’ Marvin to cut the layers of fat in management and grow the business,not tear it down.

  13. What about Military service that goes on retirement and the buy out pay for servining in the military how will that work?

  14. Nothing new here! Anybody can put in for Vera anytime. It just has to be approved, that’s all! They’re making it sound like they’re actually giving you something different.

    • And Dimondstein can say no until they negotiate and the APWU gets something in return.

  15. I remember when they did this before. Said no incentives. When they saw how many left, which was not many, they then offered incentives. wait it out, it will come. The federal workforce is changing. However, if you wait to long, remember Trump is attempting to change retirement benefits. keep an eye on updates through FEDWEEK. I cannot believe the USPS is top heavy with craft employees. There always seems to be not enough people. A great time for PSE’s. Unions will have to fight for them to become regulars.

  16. Take it,enjoy life while you still can. Don’t wait until you can’t walk anymore,
    Or do like a lot of employees, work until you’re 70+ . then try to enjoy your grandkids but they’re to old . ENJOY FAMILY. I’ll take it if true

  17. see the picture above? that is all the letter mail they processed in all of 2017 lol. 40K approved by Trump is true as I googled it. IOD Muffin Meghan wants to keep all the dough for donuts! BUYOUT not a GETOUT! (some fugazzi’s will go for it)

  18. Employees must meet the minimum age and service requirements:
    •At least 50 years of age with at least 20 years of credible service, or any age with at
    least 25 years of credible service.
    •At least five years MUST be creditable civilian service, not military service. Employees may use
    military service to meet the balance of service required for eligibility.
    •The above criteria MUST be met by the VER effective retirement date.
    •CSRS employees must have been employed under CSRS for at least one year out of the last two years,
    but the service need not be continuous.

    • If youhave20 yrworth 150 month 1000 for early out plus tsp then you pay 468 .oo month for medical if you have wife you will pay suvivorbenifit you figure if out dumbell

  19. APWU should be asking OPM why maintenance is not in this non insensitive VER? After all clerk/maintenance in my opinion should be treated equal. Then if OPM wants to cut clerk jobs. Then a clerks could transfer to maintenance.

    • For the same reason headquarters never screws around with the work schedules and staffing with their stupid Function 1 Scheduler or excesses maintenance.

  20. Look at the big picture. The PO is going to reduce its work force whether you go voluntarily or get put out. Been down this road before-here we go again. Hang on as long as you can, the ship is sinking.

  21. P.O. just fishing to see who might bite……. give it a couple months and the pot will sweeten. P.O. isn’t going to pay anymore they have to initially. City carriers haven’t had a buyout in over 20 years. Probably time to include them too….. espe silly when p.o. can hire newbies at 1/2 the rate of older carriers

  22. Any chance for future retirement incentitives, if not enough take the bait & leave early?

  23. Verizon Telecommunicans Corporation just gave an early out to its employees…….100K in cash. pay 100% of medical till 65, add years so you get credit for full retirement benefit, $100 dollar a month in free phone bill credit for phone or FIOS TV………in other words Verizon a class act compared to a sleazy, slimely Postal Circus. when are these postal unions going to go to bat for the workers and pressure congress? illegal criminal aliens get more benefits.

    • Verizon isn’t “In the RED” like the USPS. If we were, most of the administrative, facility and other labor relations expenses would NOT be reoccurring!!!

      • No he was not, never did one thing for postal employees. made one comment how the po never makes money-that was it for 8 years. I bet the caddies made out though!

  24. President Donald Trump authorized the Postal Service to give $40Kcash incentives without going to OPM………show me the money you cumbags! do not leave until these creeps pay up……or let them go bankrupt!

  25. This is a non offer. No incentive, who’d leave unless you’re on you’re last leg? Another joke. EAS will be getting an offer with CASH,!!!!

    • EAS will get no cash offer like you schleps who will take this out, there are not enough of them and we need to be be increasing the numbers of these very important people.

    • That is the stupidest response ever. They are hiring more mgmt. It is the only area that has seen growth while every other section of the postal disservice is being eliminated. Employee training is down, family hires are up(so much for nepotism laws}, and the mgmt is the only section that is really overstaffed. They have no layoff clause and yet they keep promoting more and more.

  26. Conditions will only get worse, abandon ship while you can. With the Postal Service, and only the Postal service, required to pre fund health care costs the conservatives are always crying about ” Postal Services deficits. I can see in the future postal employees will get the shaft, while the rich are rewarded. The tax dollars that should go for services for the people will go instead go for military crap! Marine General S. Butler wrote a book in the 30’s entitled ” War is a racket”

  27. This is just a canard asking employees to take a minimum of at least 2 percent reduction in your annuity with no incentives don’t hold your breath (SHOW ME THE MONEY)

  28. I been with the post office since 2002 started as casual became a pse 2013 became regular 2014 do I qualify for early retirement

    • There have been no money VERA’s in the past. Followed by cash incentives in the next round. If $15,000 makes a retirement decision for you then you are a loser by definition.

      I pray I make it to 56 and then I’m gone. I wouldn’t wait 1 more month for the 15 gees.

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