USPS Has Shorted Some Workers' Pay for Years, CPI Finds

Supervisors found to be cheating employees out of pay were rarely disciplined — often receiving only a warning or more training

By Alexia Fernandez Campbell • Published August 31, 2021 • Updated on September 1, 2021 at 10:10 am

A Center for Public Integrity investigation finds that the U.S. Postal Service regularly cheats mail carriers out of their pay. Arbitrators and federal investigators have found managers at hundreds of post offices around the country have illegally underpaid hourly workers for years. Private arbitration records from 2010 to 2019 show that at least 250 managers in 60 post offices were caught changing mail carriers’ time cards to show them working fewer hours, resulting in unpaid wages. And since 2005, the Postal Service has been cited 1,150 times for underpaying letter carriers and other employees.