USPS HATCH ACT PROHIBITION

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USPS HATCH ACT PROHIBITION
CERTAIN IMAGES NOT ALLOWED IN WORKPLACE

If you have a photo in your workspace of a candidate for president of the United States, you may be violating federal law.

The Hatch Act prohibits postal employees from engaging in political activity while on duty in any government office, while wearing an official uniform or while using a government vehicle. Among other restrictions, postal employees also may not wear items — such as shirts, hats or buttons — displaying the name or likeness of a candidate or political party while at work, nor may they post pictures of political candidates in their workspace.

On April 4, President Barack Obama announced his candidacy for re-election. As a result, only official photographs of the president can be displayed in USPS workspaces. Official photographs include the traditional portrait photograph of the president displayed in federal buildings, and photographs of the president conducting official business. News clippings and pictures from the Internet are not official photographs.

Employees may display photographs of President Obama or any other political candidate if the picture is of the employee and the political candidate, if it was taken at a non-political event such as a wedding or school reunion, and the photo was on display prior to the candidacy.

Photos of Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, also must be removed from workspaces. Romney announced his candidacy for president April 11.

Violations of the Hatch Act carry serious penalties — including possible termination. For more information about the Hatch Act, contact USPS ethics officials at 202-268-6346 or send an email to ethics.help@usps.gov.

Source: USPS

5 Responses to "USPS HATCH ACT PROHIBITION"

  1. Have there been any moves towards ending the application of the Hatch Act to postal employees? We are not employees of the federal government; we nor our leaders do not report to the Executive Branch — the President. The Act can even cover some Facebook or other social media posts; this is a clear violation of the freedom of speech that is guaranteed by the Constitution. That right has been further expanded by the Supreme Court. It is time that the Hatch Act be modified with regard to postal employees.

    Randy – if you are an employee of USPS then you are considered a federal employee (federal government). Federal law dictates that USPS is federal but independent and must operate with their own funds…thus, employees are paid by USPS and not the U.S. Treasury. So, yes, postal employees are federal employees.

  2. @ Greg. It isn’t the fact that the shirt is offensive just for the fact that Obama is a Socialist who wants to fundamentally destroy the US of A. The problem is that it is AGAINST the LAW for Postal Workers to wear any image of any person once they have announced their candidacy for president. Any postal worker who violates the Hatch Act should be reported to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel…..202-254-3600.

  3. I agree with potosyke. There were MANY Obama t-shirts been worn at my P&DC during the 2006 campaign. There was also a lot of verbal campaigning going on. Far too much negative campaigning regarding Republicans from the very vocal Leftists at work.

  4. When President Obama was running in the last election I worked with an employee who wore shirts with Obama’s picture on it. When I told the Postmaster did he know one his employees was violatiing the Hatch Act. He said what’s the Hatch Act?

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