From the USPS Office of Inspector General
This report presents the results for our fiscal year (FY) 2008 review of U.S. Postal Service imprudent spending using the SmartPay Purchase Card .
Employees have made, and are continuing to make, imprudent and unnecessary purchases during a time of severe economic uncertainty in the Postal Service. While such purchases are generally not in direct violation of Postal Service policies, they conflict with the Postal Service’s objective of driving down costs in all operations and processes. Moreover, the public’s view of such imprudent purchases could have a detrimental effect on the Postal Service’s public image due to the perception that the agency is using funds from sales of stamps to purchase expensive items.
Imprudent Purchases Made by Postal Service Employees
Employees have made purchases, primarily gifts and items for meetings, which we believe are imprudent and unnecessary during a time of severe economic uncertainty in the Postal Service. In a recent report on the Postal Service’s progress in the areas of network strength, realignment planning, accountability, and improved communication, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) stated the Postal Service “must increase efficiency and decrease costs across all its operations” in order to respond to declining mail volumes. In addition, the Vice President, Controller, has directed employees to “continue efforts to control expenses” by making “prudent choices and deferring or eliminating non-critical activity.” Some examples of imprudent purchases we identified follow.
Employees put these purchases into the eAwards System (eAwards):
1. Electronic and household items such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS), navigational systems, video game consoles, camcorders, digital cameras, personal computers, printers, an espresso machine, and a TiVo® system given as employee awards/recognition, purchased in late fall 2007, and costing a total of $93,234.
2. Thirteen 23-inch high-definition televisions given as employee awards, purchased in fall 2007, and costing $6,435.
3. Three designer watches given as employee awards, purchased in fall 2007, and costing $4,370.
Employees did not put these purchases into eAwards:
4. Carnival type games and amusements for an employee appreciation and family day event, purchased in fall 2007, and costing $7,995. Cardholders are not required to put purchases related to employee appreciation into eAwards.
5. A 2-day year-end meeting held in November 2007 by one area costing $26,884, including the cost of breakfast, lunch, and dinner; meeting rooms; audio-visual equipment; and incidentals such as baggage handling and gratuities for 60 people. The purchase included lodging for 14 attendees whose duty station was less than 50 miles from the meeting place. Cardholders were not required to put these purchases into eAwards since this was a business meeting and not an employee recognition award event.
6. Tickets for sporting events, purchased in late fall 2007 and winter 2008, costing a total of $28,498. These purchases included a professional basketball game that 450 employees attended and where they received food and hats, and season tickets for a major league baseball team. Cardholders were not required to put these purchases into eAwards because the per ticket cost was less than $50.
We found the documentation supporting the purchases listed above and others did not always provide sufficient detail to identify the number of items purchased, the number of people attending events or recognized for awards, or the specific purpose or reason for the purchase. Without extensive testing, it is not possible for management or the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) to determine the extent to which some of these purchases (i.e., events) occur because they are not always tracked separately.
Items of value – such as GPS and navigational systems, electronic appliances, watches and gift cards – are captured in eAwards. Some of the purchases we identified – tickets to sporting events, business meetings and appreciation days – are associated with recognition or events; therefore, they are not required to be put into eAwards. As cited in a recent OIG report, expenses associated with internal and external events (meals, refreshments, employee recognition gifts, gift cards, et cetera) should be separately tracked to facilitate transparency and accountability.
In addition to the types of purchases noted above, we identified spending for food and meals made using Purchase Cards totaling over $7 million in FY 2008. However, we did not include specific examples in our report, as the Postal Service recognized the need to strengthen its policy in this area and recently issued a management instruction that provides additional guidance. The Postal Service travel policy states that anyone in travel status must deduct all meals provided from their per diem expense. Managers told us that meals are provided only under specific circumstances, often to ensure that people in travel status are available for a meeting for the maximum amount of productive time. We plan to continue to monitor these purchases throughout FY 2009 to determine whether the new management advisory is effective.
Although most of the purchases we tested were not in violation of Postal Service purchasing procedures, the nature of the purchases is in direct conflict with the Postal Service’s objective of driving down costs in all operations and processes. In addition, due to the perception that the Postal Service is using funds from stamp sales to purchase expensive items, this kind of imprudent spending could damage the Postal Service’s public image (goodwill). Both managers and those with awards approval authority should consider the costs of the awards and the perception of these awards to outside individuals. The imprudent purchases we identified represent items of value that are above and beyond employee salaries and bonuses.
We believe a reduction in purchases is feasible based on our analysis of Purchase Card data from October 2006 through September 2008. In fact, chart 1 shows that in Quarter 4, FY 2008, purchases decreased to an average of $24 million per month, down from an average of nearly $32 million per month for the first 9 months of FY 2008. We believe this is due to a recent emphasis on cost cutting, and further reductions are possible to realize additional cost savings by emphasizing the need to limit the amount of spending on non-cash items.
Footnote: There were 183,208 award transactions and $43,633,292 recorded in eAwards for 183,208 career and non-career employees during FY 2008, compared with a total of 765,088 career and non-career employees
see also
Hurry up you douche bag Letter Carriers and RUN your GD route! You Supervisors Pay for Performance Bonuses are on your backs. Maybe you can skip your coffee breaks and lunch break too and give back an hour or two of (undertime) so you can grab a (piece) so we can cut a few hours of overtime as well! How do you spell low life bottom feeding scum? Time to Privatize NOW!
Okay, here is what gets me irate. Millions per month in gifts and they are talking about cutting our benefits in 2010 to make budget? I am tired of higher taxes to pay for Corporate America and their greed, and now am facing a reduction in benefits to pay for our company perks? Our plant takes up a collection among EMPLOYEES to pay for our holiday dinners. It is made from volunteers as pot lucks. We have no “paid” entertainment and Im not complaining, management entertains me enough. I am totally amused by their abundance of head space. This is an honest admission. Employees actually inform management on How its done, and managers take the credit. (we know better) I used to get irate with thier ignorance because I have low tolerance for continued stupidity. I may as well have been talking to my own hand. As ridiculous as the USPS is being allowed to run, and grievance after grievance on the same issues taking time away from productivity on the floor, NO ONE in corporate USPS headquarters seems to have a clue as to the abuse and waste among managers in offices throughout the entire country….We had only ONE plant manager, (of many who came through our doors)who shook our hands as we came in and left (showing respect)he smiled often, called us by our names, spoke to us intelligently, and guess what happened? Without him even having to be on the workroom floor but to do occassional “checks” our numbers were up, productivity was better than ever, moral was great! sick leave was down. (stress causes one to be ill) and work was pleasant. He moved on and its never been the same. Do you think just maybe….this could be a possibility USPS? can you get reasonable people in charge and get rid of the rift raft? Not one person in our plant had anything bad to say about this man. Whats up with having the wasteful, jaded, disgruntled morons you left in charge? Do you think it breeds success? This man wasnt a push over by all means, he did not pick favorites nor did he cave in to unreasonable employee demands, he just knew something not many managers seem to understand. HE was NOT on a power trip! He knew what needed to be done and he left us to do OUR job, believe it or not, we know how to do our jobs. Its not rocket science. My plea to USPS, give this a try, screen people for these jobs, get rid of the current management mentality. They are unreasonably predictable. We will succeed. I believe in the USPS employees, we need to have a say! We dont NEED gifts and prizes and little lapel pins none of us wear. Just leave us alone to do our jobs, quit kicking us in the A**. Save your grievance monies and lawsuit claims. These managers are not hard to replace, just quit looking under rocks.
Our plant manager just bought seven microwaves that we have actually seen and hear that three more are on the way. He is doing it so that he can send everyone to lunch at the same time! Herr Chavez is a raving control freak and is getting worse every day.
Most of these expensive gifts are doled out at Headquarters meeting….they’ve been doing it for years.
What I love is how I make all the numbers so the idiots get the pay raises. But I’m told mine is coming???? Not in the last 5 years. This place needs to starting firing people from the top down.
If you take the $436,332,92 and divide it amongst the 183,208 employees who received the awards you will come to $238. Rather meager compared to private industry. The bigger question is “Who gets these awards?” I am a clerk on the workroom floor and I can only gueestimate that less than 5% (and that is a very generous guess)have been granted to my co-workers. How about you carriers out there? I bet you could say the same! Hmmmm…….Who is ultimately responsible for gettiing the mail to the customer?
And who received those fancy watches….Let’s see… I received a plasitc pin in recogniton for my 25 years of sevice and another plastic pin to mark my 30 year milestone…..OK, I also recieved a piece of cake. Have I come close to my $238 yet?
Food……..Let’s see….We do receive a slice of cake for certain holidays. 2 slices if you know the person slicing. I suspect this is more than the average carrier receives. Have we come close to that $7 million yet?
If you take the $436,332,92 and divide it amongst the 183,208 employees who received the awards you will come to $238. Rather meager compared to private industry. The bigger question is “Who gets these awards?” I am a clerk on the workroom floor and I can only gueestimate that less than 5% (and that is a very generous guess)have been granted to my co-workers. How about you carriers out there? I bet you could say the same! Hmmmm…….Who is ultimately responsible for gettiing the mail to the customer?
And who received those fancy watches….Let’s see… I received a plasitc pin in recogniton for my 25 years of sevice and another plastic pin to mark my 30 year milestone…..OK, I also recieved a piece of cake. Have I come close to my $238 yet?
Food……..Let’s see….We do receive a slice of cake for certain holidays. 2 slices if you know the person slicing. I suspect this is more than the average carrier receives. Have we come close to that $7 million yet?
If you take the $436,332,92 and divide it amongst the 183,208 employees who received the awards you will come to $238. Rather meager compared to private industry. The bigger question is “Who gets these awards?” I am a clerk on the workroom floor and I can only gueestimate that less than 5% (and that is a very generous guess)have been granted to my co-workers. How about you carriers out there? I bet you could say the same! Hmmmm…….Who is ultimately responsible for gettiing the mail to the customer?
And who received those fancy watches….Let’s see… I received a plasitc pin in recogniton for my 25 years of sevice and another plastic pin to mark my 30 year milestone…..OK, I also recieved a piece of cake. Have I come close to my $238 yet?
Food……..Let’s see….We do receive a slice of cake for certain holidays. 2 slices if you know the person slicing. I suspect this is more than the average carrier receives. Have we come close to that $7 million yet?
If you take the $436,332,92 and divide it amongst the 183,208 employees who received the awards you will come to $238. Rather meager compared to private industry. The bigger question is “Who gets these awards?” I am a clerk on the workroom floor and I can only gueestimate that less than 5% (and that is a very generous guess)have been granted to my co-workers. How about you carriers out there? I bet you could say the same! Hmmmm…….Who is ultimately responsible for gettiing the mail to the customer?
And who received those fancy watches….Let’s see… I received a plasitc pin in recogniton for my 25 years of sevice and another plastic pin to mark my 30 year milestone…..OK, I also recieved a piece of cake. Have I come close to my $238 yet?
Food……..Let’s see….We do receive a slice of cake for certain holidays. 2 slices if you know the person slicing. I suspect this is more than the average carrier receives. Have we come close to that $7 million yet?
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING !!! We were given 3 frig gen dollars per employee, for the people who actually DO the work, for food for Christmas in our district. Ever try to throw a party for $3 a plate?
Well, what about the monetary remedies for the constant contract violations? How much sense does it make for management to pay 2 or 3 people for the work of one? As long as they are encouraged to violate the contracts, the service will keep bleeding money that way also. Until each supervisor or manager is held accountable for their stupidity, it will continue.
DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO!! The next time you notice frivious spending just put on the blinders I gave you for your x-mas bonus. Warning, more big spending on the way, the hell with the recession, I am wearing the blinders that I gave myself in the $800,000 salary package!!
heehee, we had a standup talking about people were getting extra clicks of night pay. This is just after the plant manager had HD flat screens with satellite installed. What a freaking joke.
they spent all that money and i was called in the office because i was one click in to v-time
we did not even get a dam sandwich during the holidays
Very interesting, Anthony Vegilante, Executive VP and Chief HR Officer (big titles), in a memo dated 2/26/09, suspended all employee award spending(known as eAwards). He wrote that this action in no way suggests a lack of appreciation flor the tremendous job that postal employees do on a daily basis. So if you didn’t receive your hi def TV or fancy watch yet you are out of luck!
Al Gore says: “The Post Office has a fever.”
Of course they are hot after eating all of that food!! Laugh now management….but your’re days of sitting on your fat asses, promoting your ignorant friends or relatives, and harassing hard-working employees are coming to an end. Digital communications are the future. Now if we could only get the old, parasitic, cronies out of the House and the Senate. Both Democrats and Republicans along with Wall Street have been stealing the money way too long.
what a shame!
7 Million on food and meals in 2008??? Somebody’s eating high on the hog- We’re gonna have to sell alot of stamps to make that up. Maybe the 2 cent rate increase will cover it.
Going…down?
So what? I’m the boss and I will do what I want…so there 🙁
Denver GMF had to be included. These people couldn’t add or subtract unless it was going in their pocket. Sleeeeeeeeze!
I may be retired but I ain’t dead yet. More to come!
I think they should capture some of these savings back from the managers that didn’t follow direct orders. Maybe managment should learn the hard way for once. And we are curious, at our office we basicly wont a award for our numbers in our office and district, but we haven’t recieved any nice prizes as listed above. Are we still entitled to some goodies, who do we contact?