Background

In June 2023, the U.S. Postal Service authorized the creation of relief supervisor positions in customer service, mail processing, maintenance, and logistics. The intent of these newly created positions is to provide coverage for regular supervisors during their leave and scheduled days off and reduce the reliance on acting supervisors. Relief supervisors are responsible for performing the same job duties and have the same training requirements as regular supervisors. Relief supervisor positions are earned at the facility level using a ratio of one relief supervisor for every five authorized regular supervisors. As of fiscal year (FY) 2025, the Postal Service filled 1,949 of the 2,168 (89.9 percent) authorized relief supervisor positions nationwide. 

What We Did

Our objective was to evaluate the establishment of the relief supervisor position and its impact on the workforce. We judgmentally selected 17 Postal Service facilities nationwide based on relief supervisor positions and interviewed headquarters personnel, facility managers, and relief supervisors to understand the position and responsibilities.

What We Found

Overall, we determined the relief supervisor position was implemented successfully to provide coverage for regular supervisors on leave and scheduled days off. We found 31 of 33 (93.9 percent) relief supervisors believed the position was aligned with the job description and were satisfied with the position.

However, we concluded that the Postal Service did not effectively reduce its reliance on acting supervisors when it brought on relief supervisors, as was intended. During FYs 2023 through 2025, facilities with relief supervisors still accounted for more than half of all acting supervisors’ hours used nationwide. This occurred due to lack of effective workhour management, detailing relief supervisors into other roles, and organizational changes. As a result, in FY 2025, we identified $62.7 million in questioned costs due to the increase in total relief supervisor and acting supervisor workhours.

Recommendations and Management’s Comments

We made two recommendations to address the issues identified, and Postal Service management disagreed with both recommendations. We will pursue the two disagreed recommendations through the audit resolution process. Management’s comments and our evaluation are at the end of each finding and recommendation.