The question in this grievance is whether management violated Article 28 of the 1981 National Agreement by its method of recovering postal funds. It was determined that the grievant, was financially responsible for a shortage in her accountability. Local management deducted the debt from the grievant's paycheck without her consent upon her transfer to another office, and issued a money order for the balance. During our discussion, we agreed to resolve this matter based on our mutual understanding of the meaning and intent of Article 20, Section 4, of the National Agreement and Section 564, Fiscal Handbook, Series F-1. Specifically, an attempt must be made to collect money demands on a voluntary basis; however, absent an employee's voluntary agreement to liquidate a debt, the Postal Service' shall initiate involuntary payroll deductions regardless of the amount owed through the Postal Data Center. Involuntary collections shall not exceed 20% of the employee's biweekly gross pay. We further agreed that the cashing of employee payroll checks without the employee's permission is not permissible.

Tags: Employer Claims , Debt Collections , Collection Procedure

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