60 Minute Interim Adjustments
By
B. Ross Rhodes Jr.
Prior to our 2000 contract rural carriers had to gain 120 minutes of
growth or shrinkage to achieve an interim adjustment. Arbitrator Wells changed
that with his decision to use a 60 minute threshold for an interim adjustment in
our current contract. This is one of the few positive changes for the craft from
that arbitration.
How do I calculate the change and where do I begin? You need the
following documents and information: Your latest PS Form 4241A reflecting your
current evaluation, your current number of regular boxes, central boxes and
route mileage. If you experience route shrinkage you would subtract the numbers
from your evaluation instead of adding to your evaluation. The steps, however,
are the same in each situation.
Look at your PS Form 4241A, Line 4, Volume Factor. Let us suppose your
volume factor is 3.00. That means it takes 3 minutes per delivery to case, strap
and load the mail for each box. In addition to that number you receive credit
for the type of mail receptacle and type of route you serve. If you are a non-L
route you receive 2 minutes for each regular mailbox and 1 minute for each
central box you serve. If you are an L route you receive 1.82 minutes for
each regular mailbox and 1 minute for each central box you serve. This is the
time allowed to drive into the mail stop, open the box, quick check the mail one
final time before delivery, close the box and drive away from the stop. How do I
know if I am a non-L or an L route? Look
below line 6 on your PS Form 4241A. You will see the work CLASSIFICATION printed
there with your route size following. If it says LA, LH, LJ or LK, you are an L
route. If it only says A, H, J or K, you are a non-L route.
Here is where we begin using our brain. Print the worksheet by clicking
the 60 Minute Worksheet link below and complete the information to see
where you stand toward a 60 minute interim adjustment.
Upon completion, refer to pages 21 and 22 of your 2000 – 2004 contract
published in the July 27, 2002 Special Edition of The National Rural Letter Carrier
magazine and view the Table of Evaluated Hours For Regular Rural Routes to
determine if you are due a pay increase. One word of caution here. Ensure you
have enough time added to your adjustment to place you into the next pay
category. For example, if your route is currently evaluated at 47:30 (44J) and
you add exactly 60 minutes of new time to it, your new evaluation will be 48:30
(44J). Here you have added the minimum 60 minutes to the evaluation, your
evaluation changed, but your pay is still at the 44J level. You would then have
to accumulate another 60 minutes of growth to see any pay change. In this
situation, you would want to wait until you added 1 or 2 more boxes to increase
your evaluation over 48:32 place you into the 45J category so you would not only
increase your route size but also your paycheck.
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