2008 EARLY OUTS - VERA

We are posting here any and all news we receive or can locate regarding the proposed early outs. Should you know of or receive any new information please Contact PEN.

August 20, 2008

ANOTHER VERA APPROVAL
USPS authorized to offer more voluntary early retirements

The Postal Service has received approval from the Office of Personnel Management to offer voluntary early retirement to all Headquarters and Headquarters-related employees - that includes service centers, organizational units and Area offices - in EAS and PCES positions.

Details of the program are still being developed and will be announced soon. Once they are announced, they will be posted to the VERA website on Blue and LiteBlue.

No incentive package will be offered for employees who choose early retirement.

August 2, 2008

NPMHU President - Third Update on VERA
"...there is no guarantee that everyone who applies will be approved. In other words, just because a mail handler gets a VER offer in the mail will not – we repeat, NOT – guarantee a VER."

July 29, 2008

NALC Pres. Young on VERA for Carriers
President Young told delegates at the NALC Convention in Boston last week that “very little has been decided” about the possibility the Postal Service will extend to city letter carriers its pending “Voluntary Early Retirement” program for clerks, mail handlers and their supervisors. Young, who is in close contact with USPS on the issue, emphasized that if there is an “early out” offer to city letter carriers, it would be limited and not likely to occur before 2009. Even with the advent of flat sorting equipment and the decline in volume, he reminded the delegates there are still 145 million delivery points that need service by carriers. If any substantial information becomes available, members will be notified promptly, President Young said.
 

July 16, 2008

USPS Releases VER Details
The Postal Service has released details of the voluntary early retirement (VER) offer recently authorized by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for USPS employees in clerk, mail handler, supervisor of distribution operations and supervisor of customer services positions. This offer is open to employees in those positions who meet the OPM conditions, and who are at least 50 years of age with 20 years of creditable federal service or any age with 25 years of creditable federal service — FAQ are available here or LiteBlue.

On Aug. 18, an annuity estimate will be mailed to all VER-eligible employees from Eagan, MN. In addition, on Aug. 22 a VER offer packet will be sent to all eligible employees containing a cover letter, an application and a list of questions and answers. Interested employees will have from Aug. 25 to Sept. 30 to submit their application. It’s important to note that Sept. 30 is the date when an employee's voluntary choice to retire becomes irrevocable.

By mid-November, the Human Resources Shared Services Center (HRSSC) will notify employees as to the status of their VER application. At that time retirement counseling will be made available. Employees receiving approval will have an effective retirement date of Dec. 31.

As a reminder, a voluntary early retirement is just that — voluntary. This timeline only applies to employees in clerk, mail handler, supervisor of distribution operations and supervisor of customer services positions who meet the eligibility requirements.

FAQ are available here or LiteBlue

Burrus to VER-Eligible Employees: ‘DON’T GO’
With news that eligible employees will soon be receiving notice from the Postal Service about an offer of Voluntary Early Retirement (VER), APWU President William Burrus is advising union members to delay making a decision as long as possible. -

Who Will Be Eligible for the ‘Early-Out’ Offer?
According to OPM, to be eligible, employees must be at least 50 years old and have at least 20 years of creditable service, OR may be any age provided they have at least 25 years of creditable service. Read OPM's Approval of VER Request - Also see Early Retirement Information from OPM -

July 10, 2008
First Update on VERA: Voluntary Early Retirement
NPMHU - Mail Handlers
The National Office has learned that the Postal Service has formally been granted authority by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to offer a VERA to certain postal employees during the period from June 30, 2008 through June 30, 2009. The grant of this authority does not obligate the Postal Service to offer a VERA, but simply gives the Postal Service the authority to offer a VERA if, after discussions and negotiations with the affected postal unions, the Postal Service believes that a VERA would be helpful.

July 11, 2008
Postal Service starts discussions on early retirement offers
Source: GovExec.com

U.S. Postal Service has started meeting with unions to discuss the voluntary early retirements it expects to offer at least 20,000 clerks and mail handlers in response to a decreasing volume of mail, an agency spokesman said Thursday.

Representatives from the American Postal Workers Union met with USPS officials on Wednesday to discuss the agency's plan for the voluntary retirements. APWU President William Burrus said USPS is required to bargain with the union over such programs.

"We do not oppose voluntary early retirements, but we do object to any plan to offer them selectively and exclude some employees from eligibility," Burrus said. "We also believe that for this VER, which is not the result of contract negotiations, severance pay must accompany an offer of early retirement."

The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday approved USPS' request to create a voluntary retirement program for employees in the clerk, mail handler and some supervisory positions, said David Partenheimer, a USPS spokesman.

"The OPM action is only a first step," he said. "It authorizes us to offer the early retirements, but we need to work out the details."

Partenheimer said the number of employees affected will depend on eligibility requirements and other details of the program that remain under development. The agency has not yet established a timeline, he said.

The move comes after an announcement by USPS in late June that it would implement a reorganization plan designed to streamline agency operations. Partenheimer said the agency needs fewer employees because of continuing automation and technological advances as well as a drop in mail volume.

Partenheimer said USPS is "consulting with all the affected unions on this issue."

A spokesman for another major union representing postal employees -- the National Association of Letter Carriers -- said Thursday that the union is waiting for more information before commenting.

Source: www.GovExec.com - 7/11/08

July 9, 2008 - USPS Statement to News Media
Today PEN received a copy of a USPS press releases sent to various news media outlets from USPS dated July 8, 2008.

The USPS Press Release dated July 8, 2008 and states:

The Postal Service has received approval from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to offer voluntary early retirement to postal employees in Clerk and Mail Handler positions nationwide. Details of the program are still being developed and will be announced at a later time. No incentive package will be offered for those employees who choose early retirement.

Automation and technological advances coupled with mail volume reductions has the Postal Service continuing to look for ways to voluntarily reduce its workforce while maintaining excellent customer service. OPM’s approval could result in a staffing reduction of up to 20,000 positions.

July 9, 2008
National Assoc. of Postal Supervisors
A PEN member sent information from NAPS regarding a possible 2008 VER - or early out. Source says forget USPS paying any incentive for early outs...won't happen. Read the NAPS statement.

July 3, 2008 - USPS EARLY OUTS
On this date we received an email copy supposedly sent from Shirley Payne Ford: USPS Organization Change Manager. This email referenced a national VER - voluntary early retirement. It states:

This is an update of where we are with the upcoming implementation of the National VERs for craft and supervisory positions. We expect to have an OPM approval for the initial VER request for the clerks, mail handlers, SDO and SCS positions as early next week. We do not expect to receive the second OPM VER approval for Maintenance, Motor Vehicle, Carriers and Rural Carriers crafts until the end of July.

Some of you have asked for the list of VER eligibles but because we have not established a firm VER effective date, these names will not be provided. For your planning purposes, we can provide raw numbers of VER eligibles by districts and by craft for the first group (clerks. mail handlers, supervisors) with a proposed VER effective date of December 31, 2008. These reports will be available to you by the middle of next week. The second group (MV. Maintenance, Carriers) will have a later VER effective date and this report will be provided the week of July 7.Once we have established firm VER effective dates, we will provide the names of VER eligibles as a part of our normal process to implement VERs - timelines and guidelines.

In the meantime, we have started to develop preliminary plans for the implementation of the national VER, including discussions with HRSSC and Eagan as it relates to the massive volume of VER offer packages and annuity estimates that will be mailed. Labor Relations (Bill Jones and John Dockins) will coordinate national notifications and we plan to have a national Communication Plan (Maria Pell) A teleconference will be scheduled within the next two weeks to get your input and to discuss the preliminary plans for the implementation of the VERs,

Shirley Payne Ford, Manager
Organization Change Management

More Early Out Information

OPM VERA Rules
Find detailed information from OPM (office of personnel management) regarding Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. Go Here

2004 USPS VER
http://www.usps.com/vera/

We will update this page as necessary.

Submit news or VER information: Contact PEN

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