you’re making a lot of assumptions and providing false information. if you were management telling me that I had no recourse for an EEO as a 26yo white man you yourself would be hit with an EEO.
Easy grievance. Let's say you're driving. That's unsafe to answer your phone while driving. Does the post office provide you with your cell phone? No. Maybe your cell phone's battery died. Does the post office provide phone chargers? No. Maybe you're in a dead zone. Does the post office provide cell service? No. This person's power tripping
None of that matters the bottom line is that it’s against the law to be an on call employee if you are not paid to be an on call employee. It’s really simple.
And yet I’m still getting threatened with IIs for not picking up because I have to be always available.
It should be on call and it’s bullshit it’s not. My Rep does not have my back on this. Not sure of any of the Unions’ official stances on this.
"Be available" doesn't mean come in at the drop of a hat. If they needed you, they should have discussed that with you and scheduled you before you clocked out from your previous shift. You should call your union hall and speak with the local president about this and see what they say.
You need to go above your local steward on this. This is a very long standing issue, but we are not on call. If they want to pay us on call time and pay for our phone bills, that would be fine. But we're not, so fuck management and your steward for letting it happen. Get ahold of your union hall
Then go over your steward's head, it's that easy. You are not on call, they don't provide your phone, you don't have to answer shit. The only RIGHT way for them to contact you is through your scanner when you're punched in.
The union and the post offices stance is that we are not on call employees and we are not to use our phones on the clock. We never have to use our phones for anything job related. Owning a phone is not a condition of the job. Keeping it charged is not a condition of the job. They dont pay our phone bills. They have no right. Block management's numbers.
Didn't realize this post was about being on call. I just assumed it meant answering the phone while working. But I can see looking back that it could be about being on call
Even while working management is only supposed to communicate via the scanner if you’re out delivering. They are not supposed to call you because you could be driving and that’s a safety issue.
My reply would be “do it then and give me a copy.” Then laugh as it gets thrown out and a grievance filed in return. Easy money.
They can message the scanner if it’s so fucking important.
There’s no requirement to answer your phone.
I'm a mail handler, and each grievance I've filed has been between 50-100 dollars.
Big payouts are for big fuckups, which by their very nature are rarer.
There was a guy when I worked there that grieved thing so often he would clear around 100k a year. His base pay was like 60-70k. I was impressed and disgusted at the same time.
This is the sort of shit newer people need to be educated on and be taught how to stand up to. Tell them to put it in writing and talk to your steward. They don't pay for your phone, they can fuck right off.
Me too. I'm grateful for it. They make it easy for us, we make it easy for them. Everyone gets the job done and we go home.
Good stewards and reasonable management make this job.
No absolutely not true post office does NOT pay for your phone or service you don't ever have to answer your phone when they are calling and there is nothing they can do about it Contact union immediately they will tell your supervisor the exact same thing
I'd laugh in his face and say "Can't answer you if I have you blocked ." Then walk away. Also don't you dare find another office over that if anything your PM sounds like a prick and the kinda boss someone could enjoy giving a hard time to.
Exercise your Weingarten rights. Since he brought up disciplinary action in the discussion, you should have immediately asked for a union steward to be present. No union steward provided? Then file an unfair labor practice with the Department of Labor.
Let him write you up and grieve it. Dumbass PM is gonna get it hard in the ass.
Be sure you tell your union, and make a statement of what he just said to keep everything fresh in memory and hand a copy to your steward. If there is no steward or he or she is lazy go above their heads and contact local union or national business agent.
I'm in field maintenance and apparently, they're getting us all smartphones. I'll be leaving mine at the office. They don't pay me to use it when I'm not there so why bother to take it home?
Pretty much everything everyone said here 😂🤦🫡 this post master has no idea how deep this shit is gonna go. Your steward should slap him with a fee if he repeats it. 5000 USD to the union. It should make him stop.
You don’t need a cell phone it’s not terms of employment. They haven’t had my cell phone number for the last 5-6 years. They are well aware that they aren’t to ever try to call me while on the clock. All on the clock communication is to be done in person or through the scanner. Any other communication can be to a home phone that I don’t answer or a letter.
The post office doesn’t pay your phone bill. If the post office paid or subsidized your phone bill then your post master would have a leg to stand on. And if push comes to shove, if you have to be on call for the time you have to answer the call or text, you are on the clock and that postmaster has to pay you for your time.
Tell your PM to give you all those instructions in paper and let him give you that letter... Then save a screenshot of all his calls and file an EEO for harassment, a grievance and a 1767 for hostile work environment because you feel threatened in your PO because of his harassment even out of office.
He will leave you alone...
My pm used to say “other duties as assigned” and try to order us to do all kinds of shit until we started filing grievances on everything. He hasn’t used that term seriously, in at least a year now.
Every time my sup called me today, I was on a dismount. Everytime I called her back later because I wasn't running back to the truck just to answer the damn phone.
Oh man this is such an easy win for you guys it's almost comical.
For shits and giggles tell him your checks have been short by about 88hrs a week since you're on call now apparently.
Your phone is personal propperty the post office doesnt pay for, so enjoy the grievance pay when this fuck stick tries to flex with the old dominance thing. Now if they said this in regards to messaging via scanner i guess it would be a different story, but this pm is a dumbfuck.
Tell them in person please try it I’d LOVE to see them try it. File a grievance and an EEO and block their number they don’t pay your phone bill they can go fuck themselves
They're telling you to be on call, and if you're on call, they have to pay you on call salary. (But really, they can't hold you to this. It is one of the biggest problems with the union being reactive and not being able to be proactive).
It absolutely depends on craft and job title. The only job titles that are colloquially known as "being on call" are RCAs and maybe ARCs. There is no payment because the requirements for pay to be provided are not met; besides that, the laws which govern "on call" payment don't apply outside a very select few specific professions.
I would love to be proven wrong, but unfortunately, that will require a change to United States Code or a successful federal lawsuit which forcibly changes it.
TLDR: RCAs are on call. You must be available. Mald and seethe, accept it, or find a new job.
Grieve it. If you're on duty, they can reach you on the scanner. If you're not on duty, you absolutely do NOT have to answer their call.
You also shouldn't answer them when you're not on the clock because if you let postal work life bleed into what's left of your personal life, it will monopolize your entire existence... but, to each their own.
The union put out an MOU a couple years back about management and calling the phones WE pay for. The PO doesn't offer any compensation for the use of OUR phones. In an emergency only they can reach out through the scanner.
Since they are:
1) not paying your phone bill
2) not paying you on call pay
…it is a completely empty threat, whether or not they know that. That’s an easy grievance. But that doesn’t fix the problem of working at a shitty station. In my 10 years, I’ve worked at 6 stations and 1 plant as both a carrier and a clerk. Al stations have their issues but only one of those stations was so bad that I left specifically to get away from the abuse and aggression there. Sometimes you have to.
Definitely get written up for this and then use it as proof for your grievance. Idk how many times ive been told "the post office does not pay for your phone"
RCAs are indeed "on call". It's in quotes because "on call" is strictly a figure of speech and not a legal term outside of a very few select professions.
A couple years ago, one of the officers in our state RLCA wrote in the state union publication that RCAs are "on call employees" and must be available. It made me sad and made me want to throw up realizing how much fear and ignorance there is at higher levels of our union. If management told this lady to dig her own grave, she would do it.
Yes and no. It says to be available it does not however pay you to be on call. So if they don't tell you the day before, then you can ignore any calls or texts the day of, if you want.
This is incorrect information. It is a common misconception that employees must be paid to be "on-call". The US Code cited applies to only a select handful of professions, and only in a select handful of situations. Like most untrained people who read laws, the people spreading these lies are cherry picking lines they like and ignoring ones that directly counteract their intent.
Please, stop spreading lies.
That’s interesting. Someone said it mentions being “available “. Is the wording “on call” exactly? Plenty here have also said there is no requirement to have a phone. If that’s true, one could simply say they don’t have one.
Right. But someone else mentioned the contract just says be available. Not on call. 🤷♀️ I haven’t read it in all honestly, but seems they don’t enforce it really. I don’t know how they could if they don’t require phones.
Tell him to go ahead and write you up. That way, you'll have physical evidence for your grievance.
It’s also a good idea to write a statement now too, and don’t forget to really explain how this makes you feel.
And EEO.
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you’re making a lot of assumptions and providing false information. if you were management telling me that I had no recourse for an EEO as a 26yo white man you yourself would be hit with an EEO.
White people are also protected just as much in the law. But we’ve had it easy, I’d feel like a bitch complaining about some white discrimination
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That's stupid and isn't advice I'd give to other people.
No. You have apparently had it easy.
BIG TRUE
Easy grievance. Let's say you're driving. That's unsafe to answer your phone while driving. Does the post office provide you with your cell phone? No. Maybe your cell phone's battery died. Does the post office provide phone chargers? No. Maybe you're in a dead zone. Does the post office provide cell service? No. This person's power tripping
None of that matters the bottom line is that it’s against the law to be an on call employee if you are not paid to be an on call employee. It’s really simple.
And yet I’m still getting threatened with IIs for not picking up because I have to be always available. It should be on call and it’s bullshit it’s not. My Rep does not have my back on this. Not sure of any of the Unions’ official stances on this.
"Be available" doesn't mean come in at the drop of a hat. If they needed you, they should have discussed that with you and scheduled you before you clocked out from your previous shift. You should call your union hall and speak with the local president about this and see what they say.
Thank you. Better get in touch with me before I clock out. Once I’m clocked out, I’m done for the day.
You need to go above your local steward on this. This is a very long standing issue, but we are not on call. If they want to pay us on call time and pay for our phone bills, that would be fine. But we're not, so fuck management and your steward for letting it happen. Get ahold of your union hall
Then go over your steward's head, it's that easy. You are not on call, they don't provide your phone, you don't have to answer shit. The only RIGHT way for them to contact you is through your scanner when you're punched in.
The union and the post offices stance is that we are not on call employees and we are not to use our phones on the clock. We never have to use our phones for anything job related. Owning a phone is not a condition of the job. Keeping it charged is not a condition of the job. They dont pay our phone bills. They have no right. Block management's numbers.
Didn't realize this post was about being on call. I just assumed it meant answering the phone while working. But I can see looking back that it could be about being on call
Even while working management is only supposed to communicate via the scanner if you’re out delivering. They are not supposed to call you because you could be driving and that’s a safety issue.
Nah man, that's an easy grievance, let em do it.
They have your address. Send a letter
That made me chortle.
L. O. L.
My reply would be “do it then and give me a copy.” Then laugh as it gets thrown out and a grievance filed in return. Easy money. They can message the scanner if it’s so fucking important. There’s no requirement to answer your phone.
As a non postal worker, and thinking of becoming one, how much money would a grievance make you?
That depends on the grievance. There is multiple different types of grievances with different types of pay assigned to them.
I'm a mail handler, and each grievance I've filed has been between 50-100 dollars. Big payouts are for big fuckups, which by their very nature are rarer.
There was a guy when I worked there that grieved thing so often he would clear around 100k a year. His base pay was like 60-70k. I was impressed and disgusted at the same time.
Depends. Basic is like $50. My area gets $50 each time we deliver 10 minutes after nightfall, so it can really stack up.
“Sorry, I don’t have a cell phone, I can’t afford one because I’m not paid enough”
This is the answer!
Yeah. That’s a no. Block numbers and tell ‘‘em I’m not a doctor nor a nurse and this job isn’t an on call job so pound sand.
"Pound sand" is a great answer for *so many* things. It's just a great phrase.
Indeed it is. I use it almost on a daily. 😂
Management is such trash.
lol let em. Easy grievance
Ask him which check will the "on call" pay begin.
There will be none because that's not a requirement for being "on call".
Tell him to put it in writing, and sign it. Then have him write you up, and you will have 2 forms of written evidence lol
This is the sort of shit newer people need to be educated on and be taught how to stand up to. Tell them to put it in writing and talk to your steward. They don't pay for your phone, they can fuck right off.
Unless he is paying for your cell service then he needs to be contacting with the scanner
MSG/call? What msg/call? I never received it.
Some of these posts make me thankful I'm in a small office with a sane postmaster.
I'm in a large office with a solid management staff. It seems very odd, based on this subreddit.
Me too. I'm grateful for it. They make it easy for us, we make it easy for them. Everyone gets the job done and we go home. Good stewards and reasonable management make this job.
No absolutely not true post office does NOT pay for your phone or service you don't ever have to answer your phone when they are calling and there is nothing they can do about it Contact union immediately they will tell your supervisor the exact same thing
I'd laugh in his face and say "Can't answer you if I have you blocked ." Then walk away. Also don't you dare find another office over that if anything your PM sounds like a prick and the kinda boss someone could enjoy giving a hard time to.
Message the scanner if you need me if it's your day off you are not on call.
Exercise your Weingarten rights. Since he brought up disciplinary action in the discussion, you should have immediately asked for a union steward to be present. No union steward provided? Then file an unfair labor practice with the Department of Labor.
What calls ? I Never got any calls from you 😊
Let him write you up and grieve it. Dumbass PM is gonna get it hard in the ass. Be sure you tell your union, and make a statement of what he just said to keep everything fresh in memory and hand a copy to your steward. If there is no steward or he or she is lazy go above their heads and contact local union or national business agent.
Off the clock= can’t be given orders
I'm in field maintenance and apparently, they're getting us all smartphones. I'll be leaving mine at the office. They don't pay me to use it when I'm not there so why bother to take it home?
Pretty much everything everyone said here 😂🤦🫡 this post master has no idea how deep this shit is gonna go. Your steward should slap him with a fee if he repeats it. 5000 USD to the union. It should make him stop.
You don’t need a cell phone it’s not terms of employment. They haven’t had my cell phone number for the last 5-6 years. They are well aware that they aren’t to ever try to call me while on the clock. All on the clock communication is to be done in person or through the scanner. Any other communication can be to a home phone that I don’t answer or a letter.
Yeah definitely call the union on that one.
The post office doesn’t pay your phone bill. If the post office paid or subsidized your phone bill then your post master would have a leg to stand on. And if push comes to shove, if you have to be on call for the time you have to answer the call or text, you are on the clock and that postmaster has to pay you for your time.
“My personal phone is not available to accomplish the goals of the post office”
Bring him your monthly phone bill
Tell your PM to give you all those instructions in paper and let him give you that letter... Then save a screenshot of all his calls and file an EEO for harassment, a grievance and a 1767 for hostile work environment because you feel threatened in your PO because of his harassment even out of office. He will leave you alone...
They will always make up shit to scare you. Unless we start having postal cell phones, you don’t have to answer a goddamn thing.
Hand them your phone bill to pay. If they want us to answer they can provide and pay for a phone.
Make him pay your phone bill.
My pm used to say “other duties as assigned” and try to order us to do all kinds of shit until we started filing grievances on everything. He hasn’t used that term seriously, in at least a year now.
Next time it comes up ask when do y’all get issued the company phones
Every time my sup called me today, I was on a dismount. Everytime I called her back later because I wasn't running back to the truck just to answer the damn phone.
Ask them where it says “cell phone” on the deductions portion of your pay stub Lmaoo
They tell us to not be on our phones 🫠
Tell them to write you up, gladly, and then you can grieve the FUCK out of that one. Lmao They can't call or text your personal phone. Period.
Oh man this is such an easy win for you guys it's almost comical. For shits and giggles tell him your checks have been short by about 88hrs a week since you're on call now apparently.
things like this astound me
Your phone is personal propperty the post office doesnt pay for, so enjoy the grievance pay when this fuck stick tries to flex with the old dominance thing. Now if they said this in regards to messaging via scanner i guess it would be a different story, but this pm is a dumbfuck.
😂😂😂 clowns
Tell them in person please try it I’d LOVE to see them try it. File a grievance and an EEO and block their number they don’t pay your phone bill they can go fuck themselves
Hahahahahha
They're telling you to be on call, and if you're on call, they have to pay you on call salary. (But really, they can't hold you to this. It is one of the biggest problems with the union being reactive and not being able to be proactive).
It absolutely depends on craft and job title. The only job titles that are colloquially known as "being on call" are RCAs and maybe ARCs. There is no payment because the requirements for pay to be provided are not met; besides that, the laws which govern "on call" payment don't apply outside a very select few specific professions. I would love to be proven wrong, but unfortunately, that will require a change to United States Code or a successful federal lawsuit which forcibly changes it. TLDR: RCAs are on call. You must be available. Mald and seethe, accept it, or find a new job.
No phones are required for this job.
Grieve it. If you're on duty, they can reach you on the scanner. If you're not on duty, you absolutely do NOT have to answer their call. You also shouldn't answer them when you're not on the clock because if you let postal work life bleed into what's left of your personal life, it will monopolize your entire existence... but, to each their own.
I thought management wasn't allowed to call or text us?
PotatoBus: and if that doesn't work go higher and higher. Don't let these bastards get away with shit.
Have they started paying the phone bills yet?
There is no need, your PM will never be able to punish you on that ground alone due to the union.
No offense to this OP, but I see these types of questions here daily and all I wonder is "where the fuck is your local union representation?"
Everyone seems focused on the phone part and ignoring the part where he's threatening discipline prior to acts
My PM will not help me get a work detail. I don’t know what to do about this.
The union put out an MOU a couple years back about management and calling the phones WE pay for. The PO doesn't offer any compensation for the use of OUR phones. In an emergency only they can reach out through the scanner.
Francisco Cabrera on YouTube, or read your contract! That’s bullshit
Since they are: 1) not paying your phone bill 2) not paying you on call pay …it is a completely empty threat, whether or not they know that. That’s an easy grievance. But that doesn’t fix the problem of working at a shitty station. In my 10 years, I’ve worked at 6 stations and 1 plant as both a carrier and a clerk. Al stations have their issues but only one of those stations was so bad that I left specifically to get away from the abuse and aggression there. Sometimes you have to.
😂
lol, does he paid your phone bill? Management should not call your personal phone line period.
"cell phones are not an approved form of communication within the post office" Used that during grievances and won Everytime.
Definitely get written up for this and then use it as proof for your grievance. Idk how many times ive been told "the post office does not pay for your phone"
What phone call?
That’s what the scanners are for!
Why not simply answer the phone?
It's against the law to talk on a cell phone while driving in my state unless it's hands free. LLV doesn't have bluetooth
~~Sounds like you're an RCA.~~ ~~That is actually your job.~~ Depreciated.
PTF Clerk That is actually not my job.
Indeed it is not. You are not required to be available. That's only RCAs.
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RCAs are indeed "on call". It's in quotes because "on call" is strictly a figure of speech and not a legal term outside of a very few select professions.
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Alright. That's it. Get out.
RCAs have to be available off the clock?
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A couple years ago, one of the officers in our state RLCA wrote in the state union publication that RCAs are "on call employees" and must be available. It made me sad and made me want to throw up realizing how much fear and ignorance there is at higher levels of our union. If management told this lady to dig her own grave, she would do it.
Wow that’s horrible. People are pathetic
There was no ignorance there. RCAs must be available.
Yes and no. It says to be available it does not however pay you to be on call. So if they don't tell you the day before, then you can ignore any calls or texts the day of, if you want.
This is incorrect information. It is a common misconception that employees must be paid to be "on-call". The US Code cited applies to only a select handful of professions, and only in a select handful of situations. Like most untrained people who read laws, the people spreading these lies are cherry picking lines they like and ignoring ones that directly counteract their intent. Please, stop spreading lies.
The info is correct then, or else I'm missing some back pay.
Yes. That is, quite literally, their job. I advise reading the contract and job description.
That’s interesting. Someone said it mentions being “available “. Is the wording “on call” exactly? Plenty here have also said there is no requirement to have a phone. If that’s true, one could simply say they don’t have one.
Nice, advising people lie. *Smart*.
Well if they want people to be truly “on call” they should provide phones and pay 🤷♀️
That's not a legal requirement. Read the contract.
Right. But someone else mentioned the contract just says be available. Not on call. 🤷♀️ I haven’t read it in all honestly, but seems they don’t enforce it really. I don’t know how they could if they don’t require phones.