The USPS recently unleashed on a nationwide basis its Reassessment Process, a combination of its Reassessment Initiative and its Outplacement Pilot Program. The objective of the Reassessment Process is to aggressively monitor limited-duty or rehabilitation employees and their job offers.

Under this program, the Reassessment Team first reviews the injured employee’s existing medical documentation to ensure it is up-to-date. If the documentation is deemed outdated, the employee is required to provide current medical restrictions. (This should be handled on a case-by-case basis; there should be no blanket policy requiring updates.) Employees whose medical restrictions have been accommodated but are able to perform the core duties of their bid should not be “reassessed.”

The team then renews the job offer or makes a new one, based on the employee’s current physical abilities, where adequate work is available, based on operational needs. The USPS has stated that duties available for employees with substantial medical limitations are declining, and that it may become necessary to refer injured employees to the Office of Workers’ Compensation Program for placement in OWCP’s vocational rehabilitation program. This could result in eventual re-employment at another federal agency or in the private sector.

Reality Checks In

Outplacement became a reality for 27 clerks from APWU’s San Diego Area Local on Feb. 27, when the Postal Service added insult to injury by withdrawing their existing limited-duty or rehab job offers. Although they weren’t officially separated from the USPS, these employees were forced to relinquish their badges and empty their lockers, and were handed a CA-2a “Notice of Recurrence” and a CA-7 “Claim for Compensation” before being marched out the door.

This action demonstrates what the Postal Service has planned for injured workers.

This is a daunting prospect: OWCP approval of recurrence claims are not automatic, and approval could take several months, during which the employee would have no income. If placed in the OWCP vocational-rehab program, the existence of jobs within the employee’s medical restrictions, skill level, and commuting area would mean a reduction of compensation (based on earnings or potential earnings), even if the employee is not successful in acquiring a job. Outplacement could cause a complete loss of compensation and a potential loss of federal benefits, including health insurance. Only those employees who are completely recovered or those who are totally disabled will be exempt from the Reassessment Process or the OWCP Vocational- Rehab program.

The process presented by the USPS to the APWU appeared to be straightforward: Require employees to update medical documentation as appropriate, and ensure that job offers were in compliance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement, handbooks, manuals and federal regulations.

However, San Diego ’s reassessment exposed violations. These violations are currently being addressed by the Human Relations Department, in concert with other national officers. In addition to any action taken at the national level, it is anticipated that APWU local and state organizations will be inundated with extensive grievance investigations. The union will have the burden of proving, on a case-by-case basis, that the USPS did not make every effort to find suitable work, and that there is adequate work available for the “outplaced” employees.

Calculated Strategy

The USPS seems to be following a calculated strategy intended to make its OWCP liability problem “disappear.” When the Postal Service rids itself of its injured workers, it dramatically reduces its costs. In addition, the fear factor may convince employees to forgo filing OWCP claims, which would reduce the employer’s liability even further. The Postal Service seems to have a new weapon in its assault on injured employees. We must hold it liable, or pressure to improve workplace safety will diminish. As a union, we believe that “An injury to one is an injury to all.” To learn more about this process and your rights visit the Human Relations Federal Injury Compensation “Outplacement Program” Web page. (source: May/June 2006 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)