For those who meet our employment requirements, our highly competitive compensation and benefits packages are outstanding.

Compensation
In addition to highly competitive basic pay rates, most Postal Service employees also receive regular salary increases, overtime pay, night shift differential, and Sunday premium pay. Overtime is paid at one and one-half times the applicable hourly rate for work in excess of 8 hours per day, or 40 hours within a workweek. Night shift differential is paid at a specified dollar rate for all hours worked between 6pm and 6am. Sunday premium is paid at 25 percent for work scheduled on Sunday.

Health Insurance
The Postal Service participates in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, which provides excellent coverage and flexibility with most of the cost paid by the Postal Service. There are many plans available, including both traditional insurance coverage and Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs). Employee premium contributions are not subject to most taxes, making health insurance even more affordable.

Retirement
The Postal Service participates in the federal retirement program, which provides a defined benefit annuity at normal retirement age as well as disability coverage.

Thrift Savings Plan
Career postal employees may contribute to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which is similar to 401(k) retirement savings plans offered by private sector employers. Employees contribute to TSP on a tax-deferred basis, and may receive automatic and matching contributions (up to 5 percent of pay), from the Postal Service.

Social Security and Medicare
Newly hired postal employees are covered under Social Security and Medicare.

Life Insurance
The Postal Service offers coverage through the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program. The cost of basic coverage is fully paid by the Postal Service, with the option to purchase additional coverage through payroll deduction.

Flexible Spending Accounts
Career employees may participate in the Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) Program after one year of service. Tax-free FSA contributions can be used to cover most out-of-pocket health care and dependent care (day care) expenses.

Leave
The Postal Service offers a generous leave program to career employees that includes annual (vacation) leave and sick leave. For the first 5 years of service, full-time employees earn 10 days of annual leave per year, increasing to 15 days per year after 5 years of service, and to 20 days per year after 15 years of service. In addition, full- time employees earn 3 hours per pay period as insurance against loss of income due to illness or accident.

Holidays
The Postal Service observes 10 holidays each year.