In this factional postal world, a lot of people seem to agree on one thing: U.S. Postal Service workers should wear uniforms, regardless of position or career status.
Comments to two previous blogs on postal uniforms support that assessment. In 2012, we ran a blog asking if rural carriers – who aren’t required to wear uniforms – should have a uniformed shirt of some kind. The response was overwhelmingly positive, as it was to a blog two years ago on uniform allowance for temporary workers.
More than 300,000 employees are eligible to participate in the Postal Service’s Uniform Program, which gives eligible employees – including letter carriers, clerks, and postal officer employees – access to a Uniform Allowance Purchase Card (UAPC) to buy approved uniform items from licensed vendors. Our recent audit report found many areas needing improvement in the program.
For example, we identified more than 2,000 purchases from non-licensed vendors during our review period. We also found employees had used the UAPC to buy non-approved items, such as flashlights, knives, and batteries. We also found license agreement documentation that was missing proper signatures. Finally, we were able to place uniform orders online and in stores with licensed vendors without having to prove we were postal employees.
We recommended management strengthen validation and reporting processes. We also recommended USPS institute a periodic reconciliation process of vendor sales transactions to the approved vendors list to identify transactions at non-licensed vendors.
Let us know if you have experienced any issues with the Uniform Program.
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