§ 7.1.vi NA2022

MOU re: MHA Automatic Conversion to Career

The U.S. Postal Service and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union agree that Mail Handler Assistants (MHAs) in 200 work year offices who reach 24 months of relative standing will be converted automatically to full time career and be subject to the step placement and corresponding progression as outlined below. Any MHA automatically converted to career status under this MOU will not be required to serve a probationary period.

A new entry step will be established for MHAs automatically converting after 24 months of relative standing in Grades 4 and 5. The new entry step waiting period will be determined per grade using step waiting periods as established in Article 9.2B of the 2022 National Agreement. The new entry step for MHAs automatically converting after 24 months of relative standing will be set as follows: at Grade 4, $40,417 (Annual), $19.43 (Hourly); at Grade 5, $42,022 (Annual), $20.20 (Hourly). Any contractual wage increase received by career employees up until the implementation of this new step (Under Article 9.1 and 9.3) will apply to these rates for each respective grade. The new entry step will not apply to Full Time Regular (FTR), Part Time Regular (PTR), or Part Time Flexible (PTF) employees in Grades 4 and 5, and will not be added to the FTR pay schedule. However, after the appropriate step waiting period in the new entry step (see Article 9.2B) of 48 weeks, automatically converted MHAs will progress into the Article 9.2B pay schedule.

The new entry step will receive COLAs calculated using the current formula in 9.3C, adjusted proportionally to 57.50%. In 200 work year offices, automatically converted MHAs will convert to Full Time Flexible (FTF). The new FTF employee category is deemed to be part of the regular work force in the full time category as set forth in Articles 6.1A2 and Article 7.1A, and will only be used for MHAs who auto convert. FTF employees will have flexible reporting times, flexible non-scheduled days, and flexible reporting locations within the installation depending on operational requirements as established on the Wednesday preceding the service week. The work schedules for FTFs will consist of five workdays per week, eight hours per day with two consecutive rest days.

The slotting provisions for 24 month automatic MHA conversions do not apply to MHA conversions occurring before the MHA reaches 24 months of relative standing. Any conversions occurring before reaching 24 months of relative standing will be done consistent with relevant contractual provisions, including the Filling of Residual Vacancies Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the Mail Handler Assistants MOU Section 1(a)(g) and Section 3(D).

MHAs who automatically convert to FTF after 24 months of relative standing and who later transition to FTR positions will be slotted into the FTR pay step commensurate with their number of weeks as a FTF and will retain time in step credit. For example, an MHA who reaches 24 months of relative standing and converts to FTF at the beginning of Pay Period 02 will slot into the new entry and will advance to Step AA at the beginning of Pay Period 26. If in Pay Period 11 of that same year, the FTF, before completing 48 weeks, successfully bids on a FTR duty assignment or is placed into a residual vacancy, the employee will slot into Step AA upon placement into the FTR duty assignment or residual vacancy and will retain time step credit. Under this scenario, the employee will advance to Step A in Pay Period 26.
Conversions to career and the above described associated step changes and employee classifications will be completed no later than the first full pay period six (6) months after NPMHU ratification of the 2022 National Agreement.