Postal Service Employment

GAO discussed its review of 15 post offices' compliance with the United States Postal Service's (USPS) procedures for screening job applicants and evaluating probationary employees' work performance. GAO noted that the post offices: (1) generally did not comply with screening requirements, with some not conducting any of the required screening tests and others screening employment history but not conducting police checks; (2) did not check the job histories of 63 percent of their newly hired employees; (3) did not conduct police checks of 58 percent of their newly hired employees; (4) cited previous employers' refusal to cooperate and insufficient staff and time as reasons for not conducting preemployment screening; and (5) frequently allowed probationary employees to automatically convert to permanent employee status, without conducting required performance evaluations before the probationary period expired. GAO also noted that USPS and the individual post offices acted to strengthen controls to ensure compliance by: (1) automating the hiring and testing system to detect noncompliance with preemployment screening requirements; and (2) sending delinquent notices to supervisory staff when they fail to timely submit performance evaluation reports for probationary employees.