Questions are still coming in to National Office about householders and overtime.

It seems that in some locations, Canada Post is still refusing to acknowledge that on some days, householder preparation and delivery may cause letter carriers to work overtime.

No Time Values for Householder Delivery

In the vast majority of letter carrier depots, letter carriers receive no time values for delivering householders to the extra points of call for which there is no other mail.  In fact, if volumes of other types of mail are average or higher, it would not be surprising to see overtime worked on some days.

Preparation Values

Most letter carriers have preparation values for householders.  These values increase as volumes increase.  However, it is important to note that:

• The Householder Preparation Allowance is a negotiatedallowance, and does not necessarily allow sufficient time to do the work – it provides sometime;
• No time is credited until you average 3 full sets;
• The allowance reflects the volume average over 12 months (minus the first 3 sets), revised every 6 months.

On any given day, the preparation allowance may not allow sufficient time, depending on the volumes.

National CPC Agrees

The reality that householders may cause overtime is recognized in a National Labour Relations Bulletin dated March 20, 2008.  Although this bulletin is not signed by a specific labour relations officer, it is a valid National Labour Relations Document.

Any Supervisor or Manager who claims otherwise is not well informed.  Members should not accept this kind of misleading information from CPC supervisors and managers at the local level.

Householders Might Cause Overtime

Heavy householders may indeed explain overtime on some days.

It is important that letter carriers deliver householders according to CPC’s directions (by thirds).  Otherwise, CPC may threaten not to pay overtime worked and to impose discipline for not following Corporate direction.

If you are experiencing problems, talk to your shop steward and contact your local CUPW office.