Settlement Reached On Payment to PSEs for Fingerprints

(This article first appeared in the September-October 2015 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

The APWU and the Postal Service signed an agreement on July 15 that will compensate Postal Support Employees (PSEs) for the time they spent and costs they incurred to obtain fingerprints for background investigations that were required for their conversion to career status, Industrial Relations Director Tony D. McKinnon announced over the summer. 

In accordance with the settlement, the Postal Service is responsible for any “direct costs” of fingerprinting, including mileage.

In addition, “Reasonable and necessary time spent by PSEs obtaining fingerprints necessary for a background investigation” will be considered “compensable time.”

The class action settlement became effective immediately and applies to costs incurred by PSEs in all crafts. It also applies to PSEs who were previously converted to career but who were not properly compensated.  Employees who were not properly compensated should provide documentation showing the costs of obtaining fingerprints, as well as reasonable time, mileage and any other costs they incurred.   

McKinnon praised the agreement, which was assigned to Assistant Clerk Craft Director Lamont Brooks to resolve on behalf of all APWU crafts. “It’s an important accomplishment affecting the 20,000 PSEs who were recently converted to career status,” McKinnon said. “The agreement took some time to resolve as the union fought to ensure that even PSEs who did not file grievances were compensated.”

Please contact your local representative if you have any questions.