Project Title: Timecard Adjustments at Facilities in the Greater Boston District
Start Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Estimated Report Release Date: July 2018

The Postal Service uses the Time and Attendance Control System (TACS) to capture work hours employees spend performing various mail processing operations. Employees record their time and the operations they work by swiping electronic badge readers. Each badge swipe records time in TACS and is referred to as a clock ring.

Supervisors may add, change, or delete clock rings to ensure that all employees have the correct combination of work and leave hours as dictated by their schedules. In addition, when a supervisor observes or knows that an employee did not work while “on the clock,” the supervisor may disallow any of that time the employee recorded and then must document the basis for it.

We initiated this audit based on congressional concerns about timecard adjustments at 13 postal facilities in the Greater Boston area. Our objective is to assess whether employee timecard adjustments at select facilities in the Greater Boston District were conducted in accordance with Postal Service policy. Our focus will be on disallowed time — i.e., time that was taken away — for letter carriers.

If you have experienced timecard adjustment issues, we would like to hear from you.

• What has been your experience with timecard adjustments and disallowance of time (time taken away)?

• Why did the supervisor disallow your work hours?

• Were you notified by the supervisor when your work hours were disallowed? Please explain the details of this notification and whether the disallowance of time was properly documented and justified.

• What suggestions do you have to improve the timecard adjustment process?

Source: USPS Office of Inspector General