How To Read Your USPS
Earnings Statement
Below
you will see an example of the earnings statement that you receive from USPS
each payday. The exhibit is numbered (red)
to allow easy reference of data included on your statement.
Earnings Statement
Data Information
1.
PAYLOC:
Pay Location: This is your work assignment location. Where you work.
2.
FINANCE NO:
The USPS finance number for your work office.
3.
PAY PERIOD:
The pay
period for this earnings statement (first two digits) and the year of payment
(second two digits).
4.
SERIAL NUMBER:
Either
the serial number of the check issued to the employee or the sequence number of
the Earnings Statement issued to the employee when the net pay has been directly
deposited to a financial institution.
5.
DETAIL EARNINGS:
General heading for several entries which tell you the type and number of hours
being compensated for, the week in which those hours occurred, the rate schedule
and level, the designation/activity code, and the gross payment amount for the
period.
WK:
Specifies the week, either 1 or 2, of the pay period in which the hours were
worked. If an adjustment is being made, the week that the adjustment is made for
will be on that line.
RSC:
Rate Schedule Code for the hours stated. This code will be the same as on your
time card. It will either be a “E” or a “Q”. For Carriers, it will be a “Q”.
This space would remain blank for all adjustments and allowances. This code,
combined with LEV next , are significant and deserve special attention.
LEV:
This is the Grade Level for the hours stated. Did you perform Level 5 work, or
perhaps Level 6?
RATE:
Your Base rate of pay (annual or hourly), including the cost-of-living allowance
(COLA) for the hours stated. The base rates for the different steps and level
are printed regularly in the Postal Record.
CODE:
Your employee's Designation/Activity code. For a Regular Carrier, the code would
be 134. For a PTF Carrier, the code would be 434.
TYP:
Type of Hours code. Codes that might affect you would be:
G:
Guaranteed time or guaranteed overtime hours.
H:
L:
Leave hours (either paid leave or leave without pay)
N:
Night differential hours (for hours worked between
O:
Overtime
hours.
V:
Penalty
overtime hours.
P:
Out-of-Schedule Premium
S:
Sunday
Premium
W:
Straight
work hours. This space would remain blank for all adjustments and allowances.
HOURS:
This space will show the actual hours and hundredths worked for every hours type
listed. If you keep track of your hours worked in a record of your own, you will
be able to immediately take steps to correct any errors that the timekeeper may
have made.
PAY:
This space will show the total gross pay for each type of hours worked.
6.
GROSS TO NET
This is a general heading for two columns, which show the total gross pay, all
deductions, and the resulting net pay for the current pay period and the pay
year-to-date.
GROSS PAY:
Your gross pay for this pay period and the year-to-date, including COLA.
FED TAX:
The amount deducted for federal tax this period and year-to-date. Your claimed
marital status and number of exemptions will appear right next to FED TAX. M2
would mean married with two exemptions. S0 would mean single with no exemptions.
ST TAX:
Amount deducted for state tax this period and year-to-date. Again, your claimed
marital status and number of exemptions for the state will appear to ST TAX.
ALMO1 would indicate the taxes were withheld to the State of
RETIRE:
Amount deducted to your retirement account for this pay period and year-to-date.
You will see one of the following codes next to RETIRE:
1
CSRS:
Civil
Service Retirement System
2
FICA:
Federal Insurance Contribution Act
5
CSRS Offset:
A
combination of Civil Service Retirement and Federal Insurance Contribution
FICA/MED:
Amount of FICA or Medicare deductions for this period and year-to date. If you
were hired after 1984, your retirement contribution will be smaller and FICA/MED
will be higher.
FERS:
The Federal Employees Retirement System covers all career employees first hired
on or after
8
FERS
A
FERS (elected)
Anything in the following area will be the
Miscellaneous Deductions.
Anything identified will show the dollar amount both for the pay period and
year-to-date.
ALOT:
Would
indicate an authorized payroll deduction from your salary that is deducted each
pay period for deposit to a financial institution.
C:
Followed by a four (4) digit number would indicate a local charity campaign and
where the money is sent.
C
SUP:
Indicates child support or alimony payments.
GARN:
Would appear if you had a commercial garnishment levied against you.
HP:
Followed by three (3) letters or numbers would show your health benefit plan
enrollment code. HP322 shows that you are paying for NALC Health Benefits for
yourself and your family.
IN:
Indicates your life insurance choice.
LEVY:
Would show a deduction had been made for some sort of outstanding taxes.
MBA:
Indicates that you participate in the NALC's Mutual Benefit Association
insurance plan.
NT BK:
Shows that after all deductions and allotments have been taken out, the net pay
has been directly deposited to a financial institution.
OTHER:
Would appear if an indebtedness to another Federal agency other than the Postal
Service had been taken out. A collection for a loan from the VA for schooling
might be an example.
TSP:
Indicates a withholding for the Thrift Savings Plan. If you do participate in
the Plan, you will see two (2) or more lines regarding the Plan. The first line
would indicate either the percentage of withholdings or the dollar amount.
TSP02:
Indicates a two (2) percent withholding
TSP $:
Followed by a dollar amount indicates a regular dollar amount participation.
The following line's indicate the percentage of your withholding that is applied
to the different “Investment Options.”
G080:
Would
indicate that 80% of your total withholding would distributed into the
Government
Securities Investment Fund,
F015:
Would
indicate that 15% of your total withholding would be distributed into the Fixed
Income
Index Investment Fund, and
C005:
Would show that 5% of your total withholding would be distributed into the
Common Stock Index Investment Fund.
UN L:
Indicate that your Union dues to the NALC have been withheld.
NET PAY:
This is what you have left!
7. LEAVE
STATUS
This general area identifies the employee's use and balances of Annual and Sick
leave, and Leave Without Pay for the pay period and year.
ANNUAL LEAVE
FROM PREV YR:
This is the number of hours carried over from the previous year. The amount
could differ from the balance on the last pay period in the preceding leave year
if you tried to carry over more than the maximum limit. The most that we
Carriers can carry over is 240 hours. Hopefully, nobody that we know will ever
lose leave hours in this manner.
EARNED-THIS YR:
This is the number of hours earned to date this leave year. Between three (3)
and fifteen (15) years, we earn one hundred sixty (160) hours per year or six
(6) hours per pay period. From fifteen years on, we earn two hundred eight (208)
hours per year or eight (8) hours per pay period.
EARNED-BAL:
This is
the number of hours carried over from last year plus the hours earned this year.
USED THIS YR:
This is the total hours of annual leave used this year to date.
USED THIS PP:
This is the total hours of annual leave used in this pay period (including
adjustments).
BALANCE:
This is the total annual leave available to you now.
SICK LEAVE
FROM PREV YR:
This is the number of hours carried over from last year.
EARNED THIS YR:
This is
the number of hours of sick leave accumulated this year. Full time employees
earn one hundred four (104) hours per year or four (4) hours each full pay
period. Part time employees earn one (1) hour for each twenty (20) hours in a
pay period up to a total of one hundred four (104) hours per year.
USED THIS YR:
This is the total sick leave used to date this year.
USED THIS PP:
This is the total sick leave used this pay period (including adjustments).
BALANCE:
This is the total sick leave available to you now.
LEAVE WITHOUT PAY
THIS PP:
This is the total hours of LWOP used this pay period.
CUMULATIVE:
This is the total LWOP hours accumulated this year. If you accumulate eighty
(80) hours of LWOP within a year, your leave credits will be reduced by the
amount of leave earned in one (1) pay period.
BOND DATA:
This identifies an employee's current bond's), unapplied bond balance, and the
bonds issued this pay period.
UNAPPL BAL:
This is the amount applied towards the purchase of the next bond.
NO ISSUED:
This is the number of bonds issued this pay period.
USPS RETIREMENT:
This is
the total amount contributed to the retirement fund as of the close of the prior
calendar year.
Other important codes are:
FLSA:
The Fair Labor Standards Act is a Federal Statute of general application that
establishes requirements for child labor, minimum wages, equal pay, and overtime
pay. FLSA work hours and FLSA overtime pay is printed on the E&D whenever work
hours for one or both weeks of the pay period exceeds forty (40) hours for
nonexempt employees — that’s us. It seldom, if ever, affects us, even if noted
on the E&D. The rare occasion is related to Night differential or Sunday
Premiums.
ADJ FOR PP-YR PROCESSED:
Shows that an adjustment for a specific pay period and year was processed.
GARNISHMENT PAYMENTS COMPL:
Shows the garnishment balance as zero (0).
GRIEVANCE OR EEO SETTLEMENT:
Simple.
INCLUDES BOND REFUND:
Simple.
MERIT INCREASE:
Simple.
MERIT LUMP SUM INCLUDED:
Simple.
MULTI PP ADJS PROCESSED:
Shows that adjustments for multiple pay periods were processed.
PERIODIC STEP INCREASE:
Simple
RETROACTIVE PAYMENT:
Shows this is a special check and Earnings Statement for retroactive payment.
RETRO PAY IN YTD AMTS:
Shows that retroactive payment amounts have been added to the year-to-date
totals.
SCHEDULED COLA INCREASE:
Shows that a cost-of-living increase has been added to the base salary effective
with the pay period shown at the top of the E&D.
SCHEDULED CONTRACTUAL INCREASE:
Shows that it is now reflected in the base salary.
UPDT YTD BAL CANCEL CHK:
An adjustment for a cancelled check was processed that updated the year-to-date
earnings balance, affecting only the year-to-date fields.
UPDT YTD BK PAY AWD:
An adjustment for a back pay award was processed, affecting only the
year-to-date fields. Most of the things that have been discussed here will
seldom, if ever, affect you. Of importance to you, however, is that you pay
attention to your E&D. You should get paid for the hours that you actually
worked, at the rate that you should be paid, and your money should go where you
intend it to go. Make sure that the premiums that you intend to be paid are
actually paid.