U.S Postal Service (USPS) is an independent postal agency led by the federal government, responsible for all the postal and courier services in the United States. USPS comes under essential services, which has no impact on the working even after the government shutdown. For the hard work and loyalty of the employees, USPS provides various benefits to their employees. Here, let’s know about USPS Employee Benefits.
To reward their employees and give them a sense of belonging, every organization provides various benefits. The benefits not only are for the employees but also for their family members too. This gesture is a sign by the organization of how much the company values its employees. Employee benefits include non-wage type benefits. Many companies have various ways to give gifts. Some provide stakes in the company, health insurance of their employees and their family members, medical facility, education faculty to their children, and many more ways. At times, some companies provide benefits until they are their employees and after retirement to serve their organization’s useful lifetime, this helps for the company’s growth. These benefits are not cheap to the company, but this helps their employees give the best out of their skills and indirectly benefits the company.
Compensation and Benefits for USPS Employees
USPS is one such organization that is known for its work culture and its compensation to the employees. The employee enjoys excellent benefits, which uplifts the desire to work in the organization. According to USPS, the blessings given to them include:
- Compensation
Compensation is a monetary gain that employees enjoy apart from their salary. There can be various types of compensation provided by the organization; some include, over time, pay for working on holidays and extra shifts.
- Health Insurance
USPS, as being under the governance of the federal government, they are an active participant of Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB). Employees can claim the benefits as they are entitled to do so. This benefit includes a Health plan and Health maintenance. The user doesn’t come under the tax bracket, due to which employees enjoy the benefits to the fullest.
- Dental and Vision
According to the federal employee’s dental and vision insurance program (FEDVIP), USPS can avail benefits by reimbursement policy provided by the organization. However, like Health insurance plans, these benefits also don’t come under any tax deductions.
- Long Term Care Insurance
Some benefits don’t come under health insurance as well as dental and vision insurance. In addition, long-term care insurance includes nursing homes. To avail of the benefits, employees must enroll in the Federal long-term care insurance program (FLTCIP). The insurance helps employees of USPS to plan their retirement. The administration team explores the realities of long-term care and how to manage a fund, which will be helpful for their after retirement.
- Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
The plan applies to the employees who have completed at least one year in the organization. At times, medical insurance may cross the health insurance limit. At this time, the employee can enroll in a Flexible Spending Account. This account will handle all the cost which is out of pocket.
- Retirement Pension
Once the employees fulfill the eligibility to be considered for retirement, including the age and the service offered to the organization, they can avail the benefits of a retirement pension. USPS actively participates in the Federal Retirement Program (FRP), by which employees are entitled to get monetary support just like salary.
- Thrift Saving Plan
The plan is similar to the retirement plan given by a private organization. If the employer provides a thrift saving plan, the employees contribute to the project, and the program comes under the tax bracket. After maturity, the employees get automatic payment.
- Social Security
All the hired employees are taken care of by the organization for social welfare and security.
- Medicare
Like social security provided by the organization to their newly hired employees, the employees also get a medicare facility.
- Life Insurance
The USPS has collaborated with Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI). The USPS solely gives the facility, and employees can have additional coverage by deduction from their salary.
- Commuter program
The program is one of the vital benefits provided by the USPS for their employees. Compensation is given to the USPS employees, including public transportation and private vehicle parking charges. This benefit helps their employees to reduce extra costs to them.
- Paid leave (PL)
The paid leaves include vacation leave as well as sick leaves. USPS keeps on increasing the leaves as the employees serve more and more loyal years to the company. According to the USPS website, for the first three years, employees are provided 13 days of leave in a year, which increases to 20 days after completing three years, and goes up to 26 days after 15 years of dedicated service.
- Holidays
All the employees, regardless of their years of service, get ten public holidays per year. The federal government provides the holidays.
- Career Development and Training
The benefits not only end on holidays or insurance. The employees get gifts for their career development as well. USPS provides regular training to their employees, by which they can be in the continuous learning environment. A well-organized course is developed by the organization, which helps employees increase their performance.
Career Development Program by USPS
An employer wants their employees to excel financially and want to uplift them by giving them knowledge. For this, many career development programs are introduced by USPS, which benefits the employees.
- New Supervisor Program (NSP)
NSP is a 16-day program specially developed for all the new supervisors hired by the employer. This program helps the new supervisor gain industry practical knowledge and experience of the work they will do in the future.
- Managerial Leadership Program (MLP)
MLP is a two-week program that is based on the managerial competency model. The model is structured into interpersonal skills, which includes leadership skills, and the second involves interactive activities, which is essential for a manager.
- Advance Leadership Program (ALP)
ALP is a three-week program that is based on the executive competency model.
Week 1 is dedicated to essential knowledge of business foundations. Week 2 is dedicated to personal development, and the last week is dedicated to leadership and presentation skills.
Miscellaneous Benefits
The programs and monetary benefits help both organizations as well as the employees. In addition, some organizations, including USPS, provide more innovative benefits.
- Book Club
This is a hobby club where USPS employees from an informal community who love books. They meet each quarter to share the knowledge and perspective of the books.
- Lunch and Learn
USPS has initiated a lunch and learn series hosted every month. Here the employees are invited to share their innovative ideas for professional development.
Conclusion
USPS is an employee-oriented organization that takes care of its employees and their families as well. Since the commencement of the organization, USPS has continuously worked on the program and the benefits it should provide to its employees. This not only helps the employees but also makes the organization a happy place to work. The motivated employees led to a successful company.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does every employee at every level at USPS get benefits?
Yes, employees at every level get different types of benefits.
2. How many years of service should the employee provide to avail of the benefits of the retirement policy?
Considering the age factor, the employees have to serve five years of civilian service and twenty years of service at the organization.
