USPS Office of Inspector General

Non-career employees, or temporary workers who do not receive full employee benefits and privileges, make up a significant part of the U.S. Postal Service’s workforce – about 130,000 in fiscal year (FY) 2016. The USPS uses non-career employees throughout its operations.

King Louis XIV of France did more than usher in a golden age of art and literature and preside over a dazzling royal court at Versailles in the 17^th century. He also introduced the world to the inspector general concept, appointing agents to review his military and report back what they found.

Out with the old; in with the new. It's a common saying at the start of the New Year. In the postal world, however, some old things go out at the end of the year, only to return again in the New Year, like postal reform.

And, of course, some things never go away completely, which is a good thing. For example, we continue to get mail delivery to our doors at least 6 days a week no matter what is happening with the U.S. Postal Service's financial condition.

Pushing the Envelope wishes our readers a joyful holiday season and a prosperous New Year. We will take a break this week, but we encourage you to read over the past year's blogs and let us know what you think on any of the wide range of topics we covered in 2016.

We post comments as they come in, even if you have something to say about a blog that we posted years ago. Indeed, many of our older blogs have been getting new comments, generating new threads of discussion.

Do you have a stockpile of Forever Stamps in a drawer? Isn't it great to know you can use those stamps any time, and they'll be good no matter how much the postage rate may have changed? You can put them on this year's holiday cards, even if you bought the stamps 3 years ago.