USPS OIG Report: Overtime Administration System

Background

The U.S. Postal Service uses overtime to provide flexibility and meet its operational requirements. To aid in efficiently managing overtime, the Postal Service implemented the Overtime Administration System (OT Admin) – a web-based application intended to assist managers and supervisors in administering and tracking overtime for craft employees while ensuring consistency with appropriate collective bargaining agreements.

What We Did

Our objective was to assess whether OT Admin was achieving its intended goals to help managers and supervisors efficiently and consistently assign overtime. We reviewed overtime work hours and grievance payments from fiscal years (FY) 2019 through 2021. Our review included nationwide use of OT Admin by managers and supervisors who manage overtime hours for craft employees. We visited 12 judgmentally selected locations based on overtime grievance costs and OT Admin usage.

What We Found

Overall, OT Admin aids in efficiently and consistently assigning overtime when managers and supervisors use the application in accordance with guidance. However, managers and supervisors did not always use OT Admin to manage employee overtime, instead using a variety of manual processes to assign overtime.

This occurred because there was no written requirement to use OT Admin – only an internal best practice – and managers and supervisors were not encouraged to use the application. Additionally, managers and supervisors stated that they were unfamiliar with the application and did not complete OT Admin training. Further, supervisors identified several challenges regarding OT Admin, such as time-consuming entry procedures and inaccurate information in the application.

Recommendations

We recommend management (1) assess who should be required to use OT Admin, develop and issue guidance to required users, and provide and track training for all required users; (2) develop a process to ensure that OT Admin contains accurate overtime data, including timely updates of overtime lists and overtime requirements from local agreements; and (3) assess the feasibility of conducting system enhancements to capture OT Admin historical utilization records and percentages by facility and ensure those records are maintained to determine overall system effectiveness.

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Source/Comments: USPS Office of Inspector General

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