The OIG Wants to Know How You Feel about Sick Leave

Apr 27 2009
OIG Blog Category: Labor 158 Comments

Career employees earn 4 hours of sick leave for a full pay period (80 hours), or at a rate of 5 percent. Some career employees are currently taking sick leave at approximately the same rate, liquidating their leave bank. The Postal Service’s sick leave absence rate (absenteeism) was 4.3 percent in 2008. This seems high compared to the 1.1 percent rate the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports for employees in the private sector and 1.7 percent rate for employees in the federal sector. So why was the Postal Service’s rate higher? A 2007 private sector survey by CCH Incorporated indicates two thirds (66 percent) of U.S. workers who take unscheduled sick leave do so for reasons other than physical illness, such as personal and/or family issues, stress, or entitlement. Is the Postal Service’s sick leave rate higher because employees call in sick for reasons other than physical illness?

The Postal Service cannot ignore the $1.4 billion spent on sick leave last year and recognizes that the best person to do the job is the person hired for it rather than a replacement. The Postal Service identified approximately 35,000 employees in 2008 with 20 or more unscheduled absences. That means 5 percent of its employees have nearly one absence for every paycheck! What is the impact on morale to the other 640,026 career employees? Is there something the Postal Service can do to reduce the number of unscheduled absences? We’d like to know how you feel about these issues.

Please take our survey.

This blog topic is hosted by OIG Human Capital.

Comments (158)

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  • anon

    I have worked as a clerk now for a year and 1/2. Probably the reason that people end up using their sick leave, is for a few different reasons. 1 is 2.5 weeks of annual leave doesn't feel like enough when you are working 6 days a week. Another reason is Annual leave is often denied, due to a lack of coverage or some other reason. My post master just told me he didn't want to work by himself in the morning, and would therefore probably deny 1 day of annual leave a requested off. I haven't taken any annual leave since July, and I have 14 hours left. I was denied for the end of September, until the middle of October already, because another employee is off. We have another girl going on maternity leave the end of December, so that only really leaves the 11th of October-Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving no one can take leave. All in all I see why postal employees end up going postal. The only thing that can't be denied is sick leave. Now that being said, I have only used my sick leave for caring for my sick children or doctors appointment. I actually need a filling, but have had to cancel my appointments for that because of lack of coverage. I can definitely see why people would abuse their sick leave. It's for their mental health, because this job can stress you right out.

    Sep 21, 2016
  • anon

    It's because postal employees are over worked. We are told to work overtime, multiple routes and shifts. Then told to work 6 some times seven days a week as ccas!

    Jun 23, 2016
  • anon

    Are you willfully misreading the report on absenteeism? You didn't use the absense rate numbers and your postal percentage is not a part of the report at all. It must be from another source entirely, with possibly an entirely different way of looking at things. Manipulating numbers is another way of lying.

    Apr 03, 2012
  • anon

    Worthwhile read. I'm not sure I agree with everything that was mentioned but it definitely has given me something to consider.

    Jan 30, 2012
  • anon

    Thanks for the info.. Great insight :)

    Jan 06, 2012
  • anon

    Very useful content, keep up the good work. Awesome info, very useful will take into consideration.. I like this info you are providing here, keep up the good work..

    Dec 20, 2011
  • anon

    Good post with good information. I'm not sure I agree with everything that was mentioned but it definitely has made me think.

    Dec 07, 2011
  • anon

    Hey Nice Article! Thanks for the good information Keep up the good posting.

    Nov 15, 2011
  • anon

    Does anyone ever even try to come up with an informative or constuructive post on blogs? I am constantly amazed by the number of people who post nonsense or simply troll...

    Nov 02, 2011
  • anon

    I think the reason you are seeing more sick calls as the years pass, is because the workload for the letter carrier has risen constantly. The latest FSS implementation has made the letter carrier route longer on the street. You may not think an extra 45 minutes hoofin it on the street is much of a big deal. But then again, if you think that, you have never carried mail. The increased "physical labor" part of our job, has greatly increased. We're not complaining ( generally ), but when people get on our case for the occasional sick call, we are forced to defend our actions. Sometimes, all we need is an extra day off, to recover, rejuvenate, and get back on track. Small price to pay seeing as how by the time our 30 year career is over, most of us need knee/hip/shoulder surgery at least once.

    Oct 28, 2011
  • anon

    interesting nice for share this information

    Oct 18, 2011
  • anon

    In my station the only way to get a day off is to call in. Others have asked only to get denied. So it is better to call in then to miss a family event or other special occassion. It is unfortunate that staffing or mis-management causes this. I can only speak over the last 15 years and if you do ask for a day they wait till the day before to approve or deny.

    Oct 18, 2011
  • anon

    HI there, Nice post. I'm bookmarking your site and I'll be visiting your blog again. Thanks, Mark

    Oct 07, 2011
  • anon

    Awesome info.! I enjoyed the read. Thank you.

    Oct 07, 2011
  • anon

    Great info.! I enjoyed the read. Thank you.

    Oct 06, 2011
  • anon

    Is this is the only blog you are maintaining or is their any other site you have?

    Oct 03, 2011
  • anon

    Thanks for the information. I really appreciate it... Thanks,

    Sep 30, 2011
  • anon

    thank you ovvv very much:)

    Sep 29, 2011
  • anon

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    Sep 29, 2011
  • anon

    Why is this a disjointed unintelligible comment?? Is it a joke, way 2 sms?

    Nov 19, 2011
  • anon

    Hi, this is a excellent post, i think you'll can post more stuff later on. Keep up the great function as well as lets us understand when you have more data. This is actually the very first time i have seen this blog, i must say this is fairly nice.

    Sep 28, 2011
  • anon

    thanks really, this information is very important to me

    Sep 22, 2011
  • anon

    Awesome post, I just found this site but Ill come back often for new posts! Keep up the great work!

    Aug 27, 2011
  • anon

    Does that really answer the original question??

    Aug 18, 2011
  • anon

    SUPERVISORS can be sometimes so hard on people

    Aug 10, 2011
  • anon

    Nice post. I rarely comment but wanted to commend you for these efforts - however your website is going slower than usual this morning

    Aug 03, 2011
  • anon

    Ive been reading a lot about this subject lately and i learned a little more from reading this, thanks for the post

    Jun 28, 2011
  • anon

    The answer is abusive management who create a hostile and stressful work environment for the workers. I can tell you this from first hand experience. I am a retired letter carrier I have been retired for over 3 years. I have also worked at another job for all of those three years. I was sick all the time at the post office. I have only used ONE day of sick leave in the last three plus years. That is because I am now treated as an ADULT. I'm left to do my work without constant HARASSMENT. I'm not required to follow a million useless rules made up by people who have no idea of what I do, but am just required to do my job. The number one reason for the Postal Service's attendance problems is the poor management practices, the multitude of rules that make the job harder for no reason, and the abusive managers who make the workers lives a living hell.

    Mar 23, 2011
  • anon

    You said it. My spouse has stage 4 ovarian cancer, and has been fighting this disease for 32 months. Like you I have used all my annual, sick, and borrowed sick leave to care of her, take her to doctor's appointments, surgery, 18 chemo treatments so far, treatments for blood clots, and more other things than I can list here. Unless you others out there have lived my life you have no idea what I (we) are going through on a daily basis. As a side effect of the chemo her blood counts remain very low, which means she cannot spend time in public, or around others that may be sick. Of the 32 months she has fought cancer, she has been confined to the house for over 20 months, of which, the other 12 months, she was in remission, but later scans showed the cancer had come back, requiring more chemotherapy. Have you ever felt like a caged animal, standing or sitting in front of a window for hours each day, wanting to go outside, but couldn't? Have you ever taken a medication that totally wiped out your immune system, or suffered side effects from this medication that were so bad you needed help walking from the bed to the bathroom and felt like just giving up and dying would be a blessing? Have you ever cared for anyone in this condition? Have you ever had to leave them and go to work, only to have them on your mind all day, wondering if they were ok or not? Some of us do not abuse our sick leave. I go to work sick because I have no choice. I wear a mask and gloves at home when I am sick so I don't infect her. I do everything in the house because she simply doesn't have the strength to do it anymore. I work as many days as I possibly can, and on those days I agonize in my mind and heart because I know she is alone at home. Does this put any added stress on me? Of course it does. Believe me, I am not complaining here, I am very blessed. I am dealing with this situation with the help of my Postmaster and I do provide documentation for each and every day I am out of work. This letter is for the others out there that seem to pretend in their own minds they know what is going on in the lives of all their fellow employees. It is easy to stand on the outside and make judgments and gossip behind other's backs. My Postmaster is very understanding, and my hat is off to him, he is wonderful to work for. He has a huge heart and is very understanding and sympathetic for those who really need help. The Postmaster before him was totally the opposite, and I thank God she wasn't diagnosed with cancer under his watch. It may look as if a lot of us that are out of work are abusing the system, but we may have legitimate cause not to be there. When the self-righteous gossipers out there call in sick, are you really sick yourself? Are your so called friends talking behind your back when you aren't there? Think about it.

    Jan 09, 2011
  • anon
    dog meat

    my manager seems to think fmla is a joke she doesnt pay me sick leave she just lwop me without pay.

    Sep 15, 2010
  • anon

    Wow. A lot of anger at s/l "abusers" by coworkers. Hey, here's a thought...just because you are my coworker and you see I am out for however many days this year, you do NOT have the right to label me an abuser! You are NOT privy to my personal life, my or my family's medical records and do not have a clue (or at least, legally SHOULD NOT have a clue) as to why I am not in today, tomorrow, or whenever! If I am scheduled to work but call out, I have notified management as I am required to do. If I am on extended leave, I have also fulfilled my duties to report the circumstance and YOU are not entitled to a reason. Being sick, disabled, or caring for a family member while using sick leave (up to 80 hrs/yr) does not make me a sick leave abuser. It makes me a responsible human being - sparing coworkers from my illness which also spares my employer from further related costs, and a caring parent - teaching my child(ren) compassion while tending them. I don't ask for the USPS to "give" me pay, I am using a benefit I have earned for just this use. While some "overuse" sick leave and need to be addressed via discipline or legislative reform to equalize the CSRS/FERS issue, the real abuse here is perception. People get sick. Family members get sick. Accidents happen. Surgeries are needed and parents age. And to coworkers and management who "know" who is abusing this benefit....it must be great to be that involved in everyone's life that you work with that intimately that you know when sick leave is appropriate and when it is being abused. Then you certainly know about the disabled child I have at home who has had 7 surgeries in the past 24 months, and the 3 major surgeries I've had in the last 48 months. You must know about every stomach virus I've had that resulted in way too much time in the bathroom. And the ear infections one of my other children suffers with. You must know about my disabled veteren husband and my parent facing cancer. Should I go on? I guess now it doesn't look like I've abused my sick leave anymore, does it? Maybe now, between the dr. appts, therapy appts, hospitalizations, traveling to and from said appts, the need to sleep occasionally, etc., you are wondering how I make it in to work as much as I do? Yeah, me too. And for the record, I personally have no sick leave left. I've used a fair amount of my annual leave in lieu of sick and quite a bit of leave without pay too. I have borrowed the maximum amount of advance sick leave and paid it back. Do I still look like an abuser?

    Mar 31, 2010
  • anon

    Employees must remember they volunteered to come to work for the United States Postal Service. As a condition of employment sick leave is earned. When you have employees who abuse sick leave every paycheck it makes a difficult situation to cover the workload. FMLA is abused due to the frequency someone may use it. Postal Service should give credit just as they do with Annual. Set a maximum carryover and offer a buy back option at the end of the year.

    Jan 24, 2010
  • anon

    Buy back all sick leave. If the workers have no sick leave, absenteeism would be minimal. Also, the imbecile managers could stop pretending to be leave administrators.

    Dec 02, 2009
  • anon

    I have been a letter carrier for over 23 years and have EARNED and accumulated my sick leave. When one calls eLRA correctly and receives his confirmation numbers and if it is over 3 days it states, that documantation MAY be needed UPON return to work. In my station, EVERY craft employee for the past 6 months is being LWOP for legitimatly documented sick leave both FMLA and non-FMLA. Management in our city is "playing" with the eLRA system. An OIG investigation is already in process regarding this. If you are not being paid for documented and legitimate sick leave, contact the OIG. NOT being paid for something you have EARNED not only affects you, it affects your family too. THIS PRACTICE IS NOW A PERSONAL MATTER AND MUST BE STOPPED !!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Oct 17, 2009
  • anon

    Sick leave is earned. If an employee is sick, that employee should be able to use sick leave without the added stress of having to deal with an abusive supervisor upon the employee's return to work. At my plant, we are understaffed and our "leaders" now use the phrase: "Do more with less". (Fewer people, more work) Then these same clowns want to lecture employees who dare to use 8 hours of sick leave. I have more accrued s/l than my supervisor yet he had the nerve to counsel me for going home sick and using 4 hours. He told me that (the ubiquitous)"they" would want documentation. The more he talked, the less I listened. I've used a grand total of 12 hours of s/l this year and this dummy has the nerve to try and threaten me. I know that it's coming from the people above him, but still...

    Oct 05, 2009
  • anon

    HOW WE FEEL? WELL FIRST OF ALL IT IS MY BENEFIT NOT THE P.O. BENEFIT. IT IS FOR ME TO KEEP MY MIND AND BODY AT ITS PEAK PERFORMANCE. MY HEALTH IS ONE OF THE ONLY THINGS I WILL NOT LET ANYBODY TAKE FROM ME. JUST BECAUSE I SEEM OK DOES NOT MEAN IM NOT AT MY TRYING POINT MENTALLY AND NEED TIME TO RECOOP MY MENTAL WELLBEING. THE POST OFFICE HAS NO MERCY WHEN THEY FORCED YOU FOR OVERTIME IN THE PAST OF MADE YOU WORK SCREWED UP HOURS. I HAVE BEEN IN THE PO FOR 25 YEARS AND CANNOT GET NORMAL HOURS OR DAYS OFF THAT PUTS A LARGE STRAIN TO MY FAMILY AND MYSELF, NEVER MIND THE SCRUTINY YOU ARE ALWAYS ON. I ALSO DEAL WITH INEPT MANAGEMENT THAT ARE ON POWER CONTROL TRIPS INSTEAD OF DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR THE WORKER AND COMPANY.

    Aug 15, 2009
  • anon

    How is a person supposed to know ahead of time that they are going to be sick? How is my wife supposed to know ahead of time that my 4 year old is going to have an ear infection? Is it not better to have my wife call in sick rather than have day care call my wife in the middle of her route telling her that she HAS to come pick up our daughter?

    Aug 14, 2009
  • anon

    MY SUPERVISOR RECENTLY GAVE US A SERVICE TALK ABOUT THE COST TO THE AGENCY CALLING IN SICK. AND A VERY NEXT DAY. YES THE NEXT DAY. SHE CALLED IN SICK HERSELF. SO HAVING SUPERVISORS LIKE THAT WHO IS ALSO VERY ABUSIVE RUDE AND A BULLY. SHE IS MY ROLE MODEL. MY HERO.

    Jun 09, 2009
  • anon

    Sick leave is part of our compensation package as is our pay and annual leave. If you earn it, you should be allowed to either use it or be paid for it. Like our salaries, it is accounted for when making the budgets and calculating the cost for our services. There are two main problems related to the use of sick leave. The first problem is not employees using sick leave but employees using unscheduled sick leave. When people call in unscheduled it does put a burden on the rest of the operation and can result in extra costs to get the mail out (overtime). The second problem is the one often cited by higher level management and that is that many people earn sick leave at one rate, save it as requested, and then use it later in their career when it is paid out at a higher rate. I would like to see accounts set up for each employee like a TSP account. Put the amount of money you earn for your sick leave into that account each pay period. Have the accounts accrue interest that will at least match the whatever contractual raise you get every year. If you need to use it later, it has gone up in value to meet your current rate. If you save your sick leave until you retire, you get to keep what is in the account (after all, you earned it as part of your compensation). I think the postal service could easily find a bank or financial institution to make this work.

    Jun 03, 2009
  • anon

    Why should we be compensated for sick leave if we don't need it???? It is a benefit, not a right! I am so grateful that we can accumulate as much as we can for when we really need it, but we get more Annual Leave than most people I know. If you aren't sick you should not be using your sick leave. What is wrong with people that they have such a sense of entitlement? We get paid a lot of money and benefits, why screw the company that makes that happen? I just listened to a video on this sight where employees were complaining about stress and having to work so hard. You should be working hard, that is why it is called WORK. I am sick of people coming to work and acting like this is the bar on the corner and that it is social hour. GET A LIFE OUT OF THE POSTAL SERVICE!!! GROW UP!!! Come to work , do your job, make money, and then when you are not at work----live your life.

    May 20, 2009
  • anon

    Some workers abuse sick leave due to poor & abusvie managers. They get annoyed about the stupid decisions that are made on a daily basis.

    May 20, 2009
  • anon

    YOU ARE ABSOLUETLY RIGHT. EVERYTIME I got sick was because of an abusive supervisor.

    Jun 09, 2009
  • anon

    The PO is alot of wear and tear on your body regardless of age. If they acted like they cared about us, maybe it would increase the morale among the post office.but you have supervisors talkin to you like you are nothing, disciplining for everything to 2 mins being late over 5 pm to more serious things. The stress is unbelievable!! no wonder people are going out on sick leave for stress and stress causes other medical conditions or exacerbate existing conditions. We have no incentive for wanting to be there. everything is micro managed, to why did you have to go to the bathroom twice today? That will stress anyone out. they want to know every move you make! Yeah there are people who abuse it ,but forthose that are really sick, its stressful to even be called in for investigative interview as to why you are using FMLA! Its ridiculous and it needs to stop!The work conditions and management need s to get better and i bet the sick leave will go down. make us feel like we are worth something other than dirt on ground or slaves. Quit nitpicking on every little thing! Morale will improve, people will enjoy coming to work, etc. and they wont be so stressed that they make an existing illness worse or stressed that they need to take 2 sick days or whatever. TREAT US BETTER!!!!

    May 18, 2009
  • anon

    I am a ten year Part Time Flexible (PTF) clerk working more than 40 hours per week with NO hope of ever making regular due to the "decline of mail volume." I work six days a week EVERY week and I have worked 13 days in a row every fourth week for over four years. That translates to three days off per month. Yes, some days I do not work an eight hour day but, I still have to go to work and NEVER have a scheduled day off. My day ranges from 3:00AM begin tour (BT) to 1:30PM BT and I work split shifts, which may require my day to be stretched over a 12 hour period. Now, why would I use sick leave?

    May 15, 2009
  • anon

    Being a clerk for nearly 18 years, the answer is simple to me. The workforce is growing older. Automation was supposed to make our jobs easier, it has in fact made them MUCH more difficult...PTF's used be hired on a regular basis. Normally the PTF's were young and strong...as a new group was hired in, those before them would "move up" and no longer have to do the "grunt work". Very few jobs remain in the clerk craft where employees are not required to be on their feet for eight hours a day lifting heavy buckets and/or trays of mail repeatedly. I am a 44 year old female in fairly good health, but the job has gotten so much more difficult since I started in my late 20's. I go home nightly with sore aching muscles and swollen feet and legs...Often I find it impossible to work a full month without taking a day or two off due to physical stress and exhaustion. Bottom line is, I seriously don't know how much longer I'll be able to work at this extremely physically demanding job...

    May 15, 2009
  • anon

    I really feel you . Im a carrier 8yrs now with 2 lifelong medical conditions and it is getting harder for me with these conditions. if they had some kind of sympathy, empathy, anything!! it could make it easier somewhat.take care of yourself and i hope you can make it.

    May 18, 2009
  • anon

    WHY IS OIG CONSTANTLY CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT CRAFT EMPLOYEES ARE DOING? CRAFT EMPLOYEES CALLING IN? REALLY ? LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE YOUR SUPPOSED TO BE INVESTIGATORS NOT MGMT'S PUPPET. WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME TEAM OIG USPSIS & USPS. WHEN YOU MAKE THE MGMT PART OF THE TEAM STARTING WITH JACK POTTER ON DOWN START FOLLOWING THE RULES & HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE HOSTILE WORKPLACE THEY'VE CREATED. I GUARANTEE THAT SICK LEAVE WON'T BE USED NOT EVEN HALF AS MUCH AS IT IS NOW. START INVESTIGATING THINGS THAT WILL REALLY SAVE MONEY SUCH AS WHY A PERSON WHO SITS IN AN AIR CONDITIONED OFFICE ALL DAY (6HRS) GET $100,000 YR SALARY AND A 2HOUR LUNCH WHILE SOMEBODY GETTING SPIT ON & CHASED BY A DOG HAS TO HABITUALLY SKIP ALL BREAKS INCLUDING LUNCH JUST SO THEY CAN PLEASE THESE PEOPLE. BECAUSE WHEN MGMT ISN'T HAPPY YOU KNOW IT. MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO ABUSE PEOPLE FOR NUMBERS.

    May 11, 2009
  • anon

    To me, the fact that the postal service doesn't offer short term disability is shocking to say the least. I would love to know how many disabled veterans that the post office employs. To crack the whip on people who the postal service new was disabled and would have higher levels of doctors appt's than the average person is ludicrous. If the postal service wanted to stop the injuries and have more people show up to work they would have mail stations set out in the comunities where the letter carrier could walk in and deliver the mail to the sustomers box from the back of the box, no more falling into holes in peoples yards, no more slipping on painted porches (unless of course its a rural area and mounted deliveries are the best option). Also, having mail delivery monday through friday would put us in a better position with moral for the almost 84% of the carriers that have an off day other than saturday sunday. I would be willing to bet that saturdays are in conjunction with the most called in set of days of the week. This really isnt rocket science, everyone wants to be off for the weekends with their kids, friends or family, well almost everyone. Combine what ive said with the others who are commenting on FERS employees loosing their sick leave when they retire and i think you have a real recipe for fixing the sick leave.

    May 10, 2009
  • anon

    The reason there are so many abuses of sick leave should be obvious; One group (CSRS employees) are compensated for unused sick leave while the other group (FERS employees) are not. I suspect if you conducted a survey you'd find that the vast majority of sick leave abuse ties directly to FERS employees. I know a whole lot of CSRS folks who rarely use sick leave because it is money in the bank at retirement time. Conversely, the folks who retire under FERS receive absolutely nothing for all the unused sick leave they've accumulated during their career. It isn't really very difficult to figure this one out. Change the law so FERS retirees receive some compensation for unused sick leave when they retire and ninety percent of this problem goes away.

    May 08, 2009
  • anon

    this is in reply to sun city gal. I work in the same PO you do, but I read postal regulations. TACs/eRMS won't even accept partial day leave for EAS (exempt) employees. Open the ELM to part 519.7. It states: 519.72 Policy Nonbargaining unit exempt employees are paid on a salary basis. This means that under the FLSA they are not considered to be hourly rate employees. Therefore, partial day absences are paid the same as work time. While exempt employees are expected to work a full day, they may request time off to attend to personal matters during the workday, including time off due to conditions covered by FMLA. If approved, the time off is “personal absence time” and is not charged to annual leave, sick leave, or LWOP. This is why most EAS employees have a high balance on their sick leave. You may find the most current ELM at Postal Service Policy net.

    May 07, 2009

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