Lead Clerk Q & A
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Questions & Answers
The APWU’s Position on Lead Clerks
May 24, 2012
The Questions & Answers below represent the APWU position on Lead Clerks.
Question: What is the meaning of “facility clerk craft complement” for establishing the Lead
Clerk ratio in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)?
Answer: It is the total number clerk employees (including career clerks and PSEs) in the facility.
Question: What is the definition of a facility?
Answer: USPS Publication 32 defines a facility as any physical building used by the USPS
primarily for accepting mail, processing and distributing mail, and/or delivering mail (e.g. a Post
Office, processing and distribution center, station or branch).
Question: What is the definition of an Officer-In-Charge (OIC)?
Answer: USPS Publication 32 defines an Officer-In-Charge (OIC) as a career employee appointed
temporarily to fill a postmaster vacancy during which the accountability of the postmaster is
transferred to the employee.
Question: Are there any exceptions to the 90-day rules for 204-Bs in offices with a supervisory
vacancy management cannot fill, such as to cover a SDO vacancy in an office that is under an
AMP study where the USPS is not hiring because of the potential EAS impact?
Answer: No.
Question: Will the USPS be required to cover the Lead Clerk duties with an employee on a
higher-level detail when the Lead Clerk is on annual leave or sick leave?
Answer: No. However, if the Postal Service decides to cover Lead Clerk’s duties, it must be
accomplished in accordance with Article 25 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Question: Can a Lead Clerk lead employees from other crafts?
Answer: Yes.
Question: Can a part-time flexible be a Lead Clerk (for example, in an office with five PTF Clerks
and no FTR Clerks)?
Answer: No. A Lead Clerk position is a newly created duty assignment posted for bid to full-
time regular clerks. If a facility has a complement of at least a five clerks or less than a five-clerk
complement without direct supervision, the duty assignment must be posted for bid.
Question: What is the intent of the Lead Clerk positions?
Answer: To provide oversight, direction and support in the absence of supervisory presence to
bargaining unit employees in retail or mail processing operations. If the employees in the group
comprise more than one craft, the Lead Clerk has authority via the direction and guidance of
postal management. The expectation is to reduce/eliminate 204-B activities where Lead Clerks
are present.
Question: Does a clerk working in an OIC assignment come under the 204-B guidelines and
restrictions?
Answer: Yes.
Question: Can you have a Lead Clerk duty assignment in CFS (Computer Forwarding System) or
the BMEU (Bulk Mail Entry Unit)?
Answer: Yes. The parties agree that upon consultation with the Union at the national level,
Lead Clerk positions may be created in certain assignment areas with specific qualification
requirements (for example, CFS). However, the creation of these Lead Clerk duty assignments
shall not impact the number of Lead Clerk duty assignments in the facility, which are
determined solely by the ratio established in the MOU. The Lead Clerk positions in areas with
specific qualification requirements would be additional assignments and they would be one
level above other employees in the group.
Question: Can a Lead Sales Service Associate (LSSA) duty assignment be posted with a scheme
requirement?
Answer: No.
Question: How will employees be assigned to higher-level details in Lead Clerk positions?
Answer: Article 25.4 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement requires a detail of an anticipated
duration of one week (five working days within seven calendar days) or longer to be filled by
the senior-qualified employee in the immediate work area in which the temporarily vacant
higher-level position exists. If the detail is less than five days, the same applies except the
employee does not have to be the senior employee.
Question: If a section is undergoing excessing and/or there are clerks with retreat rights to a
section and level where Lead Clerk duty assignments are being posted, will the assignment be
posted installation wide?
Answer: Excessing is still by level in the Clerk Craft as of the signing of the lead Clerk Questions
& Answers.
Question: Are clerks with saved grade Level 7 required to bid on Lead Clerk jobs with less than
40 hours (if they are posted as NTFT duty assignments)? If they do not bid and cannot be forced
into less-than-40-hour assignments, would they lose their saved grade Level 7?
Answer: No. If the employees were full-time regulars as of May 23, 2011, they do not lose
saved grade.
Question: The Lead Clerk position states that clerks must meet KSA (Knowledge, Skills and
Abilities) and testing requirements (473 Exam) related to the bargaining unit qualification
standard. What does this mean?
Answer: The Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) is standard language that has always been in
every senior-qualified job. The 473 Examination is the entrance hiring examination.
Question: Will Lead Clerks have access to TACS?
Answer: The Lead Clerk will have access to TACS with supervisory approval.
Question: What are the requirements for the Lead Clerk positions?
Answer: All Lead Clerks - Senior Qualified and pass entrance exam 473 (formerly the 470)
Lead Mail Processing Clerk - One year experience in a mail processing position (F-1)
Lead Customer Service Clerk - One year experience in a customer service (F-4) position
Lead Sales Service Associate - One year experience in a window position and window
qualified. (To be considered “window qualified,” the senior bidder must have a live
record or must qualify on the window exam.)
Question: Will a Bulk Mail Clerk in an F-4 assignment with one year experience be considered
to be meeting the one year requirement for a “customer service position” qualification
requirement?
Answer: If the Bulk Mail Clerk is part of the Function-4 area and not the BMEU Function-7 area,
they would meet the customer service requirement.
