(This article appeared in the March/April 2026 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine)
Bosses are quick to declare their “management rights”— rights that are rooted in law but are not absolute. In the Joint Contract Interpretation Manual (JCIM), management agrees that they are limited by the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), postal regulations, and applicable laws. Let’s examine some of those rights.
Directing employees in the performance of official duties – Employees are required to follow instructions and then file grievances. However, management cannot order you to perform an unsafe act that exposes you to imminent danger; or an illegal, unethical, or immoral act.
An employee faced with those kinds of instructions may have to prove the above if they are charged with failing to follow instructions. No employee should intentionally refuse to perform legitimate instructions without actual justification. Orders must be clear, explicit, acknowledged, understood, reasonable, and lawful.
Suspend, demote, discharge, or take disciplinary action – Discipline must be corrective rather than punitive. Discipline must be for “just cause,” which is a term of art and generally divided into six sub-questions in JCIM Article 16.
Is there a rule and is the employee aware of it? Management often lists rules for alleged violations on disciplinary notices that do not apply or were not made known to employees.
Is the rule reasonable and related to business efficiency, safe operation, and performance expected of an employee?
Is the rule consistently and equitably enforced? Employees should not be singled out.
Did management conduct a thorough and “objective” investigation before issuing discipline? Employees are entitled to union representation and must be given reasonable details of the charges, so they have an opportunity to defend themselves. Handbook EL-921 gives stewards the right to ask management questions and to make comments and suggestions. Employees are required to cooperate in investigations and must fully understand all questions — especially leading, misleading, or coercive questions, before responding.
Was the severity of the discipline reasonably related to the infraction itself, in line with what is usually administered, and the seriousness of the employee’s past record considered? A record of previous offenses may never be used to establish guilt on a current case. For most offenses, to be corrective rather than punitive, management must issue discipline in a progressive fashion, including issuing less discipline for a first offense and increasingly severe discipline for succeeding offenses.
Did management take disciplinary action in a timely manner? Management should take disciplinary action as soon as possible after the alleged offense has been committed.
Determine the methods, means, and personnel by which operations are to be conducted – the CBA contains 438 pages of employee and management rights too lengthy to review in this article. However, Management cannot discriminate in such determinations. New jobs created by technology must be offered to present employees capable of being trained. Layoffs are restrict-ed. Schedule changes are restricted by the CBA craft articles, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), “Employee and Labor-Relations Manual” (ELM), and other handbooks.
For Light Duty, management must make “every effort” to reassign employees. If the request is refused, management must provide employees with the reason in writing.
Leave regulations must be administered in accordance with the ELM Chapter 510, which includes the requirement that management must administer the leave policies equitably, considering the needs of the service and the welfare of the individual employee.
No boss has a right to harass, intimidate or bully you! If they do, report it using the PS-Form 1767 and pursue violations of Article 3, 14, 19; Handbooks ELM Chapter 665.24; 666.17, the Postal Operations Manual (POM) 124.51, and the Administrative Support Manual (ASM) 273.132.
Regional Coordinators Tiffany Foster, Amy Puhalski, and I vow to continue fighting to protect your rights, and welcome newly-elected Regional Coordinators Vince Tarducci and Tony McKinnon to the National Executive Board.
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