Postal Worker Gifting

Around the holidays, it is acceptable and encouraged to give your regular postal person [I recommend either your local carrier or the friendliest person at your P.O.] a holiday gift. It needn't be fancy, and in fact, shouldn't be because of the ethical guidelines involved. From the USPS website:

    "While many Postal Service customers have traditionally thanked their mail carrier with gifts of cash during the holiday season, this practice puts our employees at risk of violating federal law.  The Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch ("Standards"), specifies that Postal Service employees may not accept gifts from outside sources (including Postal Service customers) or gifts given to them because of their official positions. Postal Service employees are also prohibited from soliciting gifts from outside sources.

There are a number of exceptions and exclusions to the general gifts rule . Postal Service employees may accept the following items:

• Snacks and beverages that are not offered as part of a meal.
• Items with little intrinsic value (i.e., greeting cards, plaques, pens, coffee mugs, etc.).
• Perishable items (i.e., flowers, chocolates, cookies, etc.); if the items are clearly worth more than $20, employees should share them with others in the Postal Service workplace.
• Items with a market (retail) value of $20 or less.

Postal Service employees may not accept cash  - in any amount or form (bills, checks, money orders) - from an outside source.

Last year, I gave Big Jeff a Moleskine notebook because I noticed he always carried a notepad in his pocket. This year, Big Jeff has moved on and I'm going to get something for Precious. I'm not making that up; my new mail carrier's name is Precious. I'm thinking of getting her a little Burt's Bees toiletry kit or a coffee shop gift card. And I'll bet the residents of Cadman Towers are going to get something nice for their postman too.

Comments

[Cindy R.]

Very informative post--thanks for sharing!

[ana]

Phew! Dodged a bullet there. I hadn't gotten out to get a gift card for my postal carrier this year and was just going to pop some cash into his card but I'll wait and give him his card tomorrow when I can do it properly.

Thanks!