New Hub Clerk Memo: Part-Time Flexible Employees’ First Chance for Selecting Loaner Offices

(This article appeared in the September/October 2025 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine)

As part of the 2024-2027 USPS-APWU Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the Clerk Division negotiated a new and improved Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding Hub Clerks. These are Part-Time Flexible (PTF) Clerk Craft employees who may be required to work in installations other than their home office (installation). The updated MOU allows PTFs to specify to their postmaster, in writing, any offices within a 50-mile radius of their home office in which the PTF chooses to be loaned voluntarily.

Previously, PTFs could choose whether they wished to be loaned to other offices but were not allowed to select specific post offices in which to work. Under the new MOU, within 30 days of the effective date of the 2024 CBA (effective date is July 11, 2025), PTFs may select their preferred offices. PTFs who are unavailable for this entire 30-day period due to being on leave may provide their written preference within 30 days of returning to work.

In addition, upon a PSE conversion to PTF, a new PTF hiring, or a permanent PTF assignment to an office, the affected employee may indicate their preferred loaner offices within 14 days of the effective date of such conversion, hiring, or assignment. PTFs may also rescind or modify their preference with a 14-day notice, in writing, to their postmaster. The rescission or modification will be effective no later than 14 days from the date of the notice. Modifications are allowed no more than three times each calendar year.

PTFs should verify that their work hours in other offices are properly recorded. This includes utilizing PS Form 1260, Mobile Delivery Device (MDD) scanners, or time clocks using the Hyper Electronic Badge Reader (HEBR). These work hours must be reported in the Time and Attendance Collection System (TACS) and the Loan, Transfer, and Training System (LTATs) to ensure that PTFs are properly compensated for all work hours. Verification of PTF work hours will also assist the local or state union representing those offices to determine if contract violations are occurring.

As a reminder, Article 8, Section 8.E of the CBA states, “PTFs will be guaranteed a minimum work schedule of twenty-four (24) hours per pay period.” Additionally, in the National Agreement Questions & Answers dated June 8, 2022, Q&A #3 explains that only after every effort is made to assign work within their home installation to meet the 24-hour per pay period guarantee may a PTF, “if necessary,” be assigned outside their installation.

Local and state organizations that represent PTFs in Level 20 and below offices should refer to the 2022 Joint Contract Interpretation Manual (JCIM), Article 37 Q&As regarding Part-Time Flexible Clerks Working in Other Installations, to provide further information and assistance to PTFs and postmasters. The Clerk Division is working on a fillable form that PTFs can use to identify which offices they wish to volunteer to be loaned to. When finalized, the form will be sent to the fi eld. Nevertheless, PTFs must indicate in writing to their postmaster the offices where they will volunteer to work.

The Clerk Division stressed the inclusion of these modifications to the previous Hub Clerk MOU because many PTFs desired to volunteer to be loaned to specific offices but not all post offices within a 50-mile radius of their home post office. The contractual right to volunteer to work in other offices allows PTFs to earn additional work hours that are not otherwise available in their home office. It is recommended that PTFs who volunteer to work in other post offices contact the postmasters of those locations to alert them of their desire to be loaned into that office. ■