Annual leave. To bank or not to bank?

[Spaf]

Well lets see here now.. 1 we do keep track of everything, especially medical, but nowhere near enough to itemize, but we try every year...

7. Working for Post Office and being FERs what does maxing out leave do for me?

1. My 2nd biggest expenses are medical (hospitals, doctors and prescriptions). It comes with age, same, same dearh and taxes....;)

7. FERS; you retire at the end of the month. Your next checks (FERS/SSA) could be +/- 45 days. Govt will send you a check for unused leave that can tide you over....:nuts:

[Show-me]

7. Working for Post Office and being FERs what does maxing out leave do for me?

Banking A/L will give you huge nest egg/vacation egg/party egg/ egg to live on until pension kicks in.

USPS you can bank 440 hours plus if you do not take any A/L the last year and you retire at the end of the year. You will get an additional 208 hours. 648 hour times your hourly equals.......one heck of a vacation.:cool:

[Wolverine]

Banking A/L will give you huge nest egg/vacation egg/party egg/ egg to live on until pension kicks in.

USPS you can bank 440 hours plus if you do not take any A/L the last year and you retire at the end of the year. You will get an additional 208 hours. 648 hour times your hourly equals.......one heck of a vacation.:cool:

I never figured this into the mix of things.

It will be put into effect I do believe now. I still have the time yet to actually have 648 hours when I retire. It would mean sacrifice some annual each year but, this amount of check could make it easier to do.

Thanks for the input with this.

[nnuut]

We DOD employees can only carry over 240 hours a year, but can save our last years leave (208 ) to total 448. What's up with that?:nuts: I'm going POSTAL!!!:nuts: :nuts: :rolleyes:

[Tri-ing]

If you spend a tour overseas with DoD and return with 360, that becomes your new A/L threshold. As long as you don't drop below it, you keep it for life. I finish each year with 360.

[Spaf]

I never figured this into the mix of things.
It will be put into effect I do believe now. I still have the time yet to actually have 648 hours when I retire. It would mean sacrifice some annual each year but, this amount of check could make it easier to do.
Thanks for the input with this.

We had annual leave, credit time, compensation time and sick leave. I think credit and comp time were payable. credit and sick leave were not.

You can slowly build up your annual and use the other ones for whatever. Use your sick leave for check ups so you retain your health.

Social Security pays by the alphebet: a-x 1st week, x-x 2nd week and so on. Civil service checks around the 1st. Tsp around the 4th week. So if you are use to a pay check ever 2 weeks. It all changes when you retire, plus there is a gap of one month while all this stuff switches over.

[vic]

If you are managment with the PO, you can carry 560 hrs. of AL.

[Show-me]

If you are managment with the PO, you can carry 560 hrs. of AL.

You bet! When you think of it in these term it does add up to a nice going away party.:nuts: It has been my plan all along. I already have my 440, now I just bide my time.:cool: I take my A/L in the fall so if I need to I can turn in a few days or a week to tweak up the carry over.

Another thing for USPS folk. Use the A/L in lieu of Holiday Pay. It adds up quick. Another aspect is that when you bank A/L every pay increase adds money to the till. I figured up my increases once (generically) and it was unbelievable, if your a new guy at the bottom of the scale.

[Wolverine]

Another thing for USPS folk. Use the A/L in lieu of Holiday Pay. It adds up quick.


I am not getting the full of what you are saying with this bit here.

I need it Splained better to the Brain Cells. LOL

Let me tweak them a bit here and you will be good to go with the Splain thing again. LOL

Thanks

[Show-me]

USPS craft employee's bargained that if we work designated holiday we can either get the holiday pay or exchange the holiday pay for 8 hours of A/L. Annual leave in lieu of holiday pay.

[Wolverine]

Sidebar I will move the A/L discussion to a thread of its own this evening. Sorry for hijacking the ROTH thread.

Ok, when you move this I will get into more of this A/L stuff to get it cleared up.

[Spaf]

Yep, mover her over Show-me! Seems like we got 2 important discussions going on...........:)

[Show-me]

New thread. Let'r ripe Wolverine!

[Wolverine]

Okie Dokie Show-me lol

Thanks again.

Are you talking about the situation that when our day off falls on a Holiday and we get the day before off?

This bargained exchange by USPS craft employee's for this blew by me for some reason. Never heard it talked about at work either.

I never volunteer for the free day off because my day off falls on a Holiday. It has been rare also that I have been ordered in for that day also over the years.

Does it matter if you volunteer or get ordered for this to work with this exchange thing?

If I got it right, if you volunteer you only get straight pay. If ordered you get time and a half.

This is Part 1 of getting this understood and you can take it from here. I'll go to Part 2 after you get through this if need be. LOL

Thanks

[Show-me]

First I need to clear something up. Are you USPS?

[Wolverine]

Yes, USPS.

[Show-me]

Alright here we go.

[Show-me]

Okie Dokie Show-me lol

Thanks again.

Are you talking about the situation that when our day off falls on a Holiday and we get the day before off?

This bargained exchange by USPS craft employee's for this blew by me for some reason. Never heard it talked about at work either.

I never volunteer for the free day off because my day off falls on a Holiday. It has been rare also that I have been ordered in for that day also over the years.

Does it matter if you volunteer or get ordered for this to work with this exchange thing?

If I got it right, if you volunteer you only get straight pay. If ordered you get time and a half.

This is Part 1 of getting this understood and you can take it from here. I'll go to Part 2 after you get through this if need be. LOL

Thanks

You can request "Annual Leave in Lieu of Holiday Pay" whether you volunteer of not.

This is for your "Holiday" or "designated Holiday".

Example: You work T-3 with Sun/Mon off. (This is how I banked a ton of A/L) Monday is the day that most Holidays fall on.

So I would volunteer to work my "designated Holiday" which is Saturday because I already have the actual Holiday off beings I have Sun/Mon off.

If I got my wish I would submit a PS3971 on that day for other:A/L in lieu of Holiday Pay.

Next pay stub would credit me with 8 more hours of A/L. Sweet!

[Wolverine]

Ok, here comes the DUH question. lol

When we work our designated Holiday are we giving up being payed for that day then in order to get this extra day of A/L. This is the confusing part for me with this.

[Show-me]

No bad questions! Check you PM i

You get paid your 8 hours of straight time and your other 8 hour of holiday pay goes to 8 hours of Annual Leave.

So if you have Sun/Mon off and you designated Holiday is Saturday and you work that Saturday "designated Holiday". You will get 40 hours for the week and 8 hours of Annual Leave. That 40 hours is if you do not work any overtime.

[Wolverine]

Ok, that I get now. What is this PM i thing? That T-3 thing also? I never been involved in this thing this way. When was this bargained for and how long has it been in effect?

I'll leave it here for tonight and get back some more tomorrow Ok. Getting tired.

Very much appreciated and will have to bring this up with work in the near future when a situation of this nature comes about again. That should be interesting. LOL

Thanks a bunch Show-me

[Show-me]

The "i" was a typo......I had to go let the dog out. LOL

Now a PM is a "Private Message" like e-mail. Look in the upper right hand of your screen where is sez Welcome Wolverine.

Two lines below that is a blue "Private Messages" link. Click it and it will take you to your Private Messages. Click on the messages and they will open for you to read.

[Show-me]

T-3 is Tour 3 or 3rd shift. From approximately 3 pm to midnight. I work at a Processing and Distribution Facility. 24/7 operation.

[Show-me]

It has been in effect for 4 or 5 years.

[vol46]

You bet! When you think of it in these term it does add up to a nice going away party.:nuts: It has been my plan all along. I already have my 440, now I just bide my time.:cool: I take my A/L in the fall so if I need to I can turn in a few days or a week to tweak up the carry over.

Another thing for USPS folk. Use the A/L in lieu of Holiday Pay. It adds up quick. Another aspect is that when you bank A/L every pay increase adds money to the till. I figured up my increases once (generically) and it was unbelievable, if your a new guy at the bottom of the scale.

The negative side of banking annual leave is that when your pay is cut, your banked leave is worth a hell of a lot less. EX. Carrier going from a 40k to a 40h. Use it or lose it.

[Show-me]

The negative side of banking annual leave is that when your pay is cut, your banked leave is worth a hell of a lot less. EX. Carrier going from a 40k to a 40h. Use it or lose it.

You need to change crafts. :D

[Show-me]

I will add that if you are a new employee bank as much A/L as possible. The majority of my motivation to bank A/L was my lack of Sick Leave (S/L) banked. I have a history or thyroid cancer and the USPS does not have a short term disability plan.

I looked at my Earnings Statement and asked "how can I protect myself if I have a major recurrence". Building S/L takes a long time and the quickest way to protect yourself is banking the A/L. A 1000 hours of S/L goes quick with a major illness or accident.

Another way I protect myself is to take my A/L in the fall. That way I have the option to use the A/L if I have a recurrence. Bad part is after taking a entire month off I forget were I work. LOL :laugh:

True story: Guy had a accident and has been unable to work since like October of 2006. He "used it or lose it" his whole career. Now he has to tweak his S/L and A/L to about 20 hours a week to stretch it out. Now there is a pay cut with medical bills.

Another: Guy in 40's is found on the floor. Had a heart attack. Six months latter he is begging to come back to work because he has no more S/L or A/L.

One more: Guy goes to the dentist to get some teeth pulled. Doc sez no smoking. Guy does not listen. Get a MAJOR infection and has to have his jaw bone scraped numerous times to get rid of the infection. Ends up running out of everything and asking for Leave Donations.

Now would you donate Leave to some one who does not plan for themselves. I don't!