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UPDATE ON PAYROLL TAX DEFERMENT
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09/04/20
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The USPS has announced that it
will not participate
in the "Payroll Tax Holiday".
This is good news for postal
workers. Had the USPS
participated, employees would
see their paychecks increase as
Social Security and Medicare
taxes would not be withheld for
the rest of 2020.
While that sounds great, the
taxes would only be deferred,
and employees would have to
begin repaying the taxes in 2021
which would have resulted in
smaller paychecks in 2021.
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RETRO-ACTIVE PAY QUESTIONS
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09/04/20
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There have been a lot of
questions about the retro-active
pay coming in your September 4th
paycheck.
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Did I get all of my
retro-active pay? The
answer is most likely “yes”.
Your adjustments can be
viewed on liteblue
(ePayroll). Each adjustment
covers one pay period.
HOWEVER, there will be one
adjustment that covers 26
pay periods (a 1.3% increase
from PP25/2018 through
PP24/2019).
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What about the Cost
of Living Increase? The
multi-pay period adjustment
also includes a retro-active
COLA of $624 that was
effective August 31, 2019.
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Why did they
withhold so much in taxes? This
is due to IRS guidelines.
When your pay increases by a
substantial amount, the IRS
assumes you got a permanent
increase and assess your
taxes as if you were going
to get that much money all
the time. So, basically you
are overtaxed. You will get
that money back when you
file your taxes next year.
The APWU is aware of
approximately 2,000 employees
who did not receive their
retro-active pay. Most of
these situations involve
employees in higher level
details , or employees with
saved grade. The USPS is
working on fixing this problem
as you read this.
If anyone has questions,
contact your PPWU
representative.
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NEW AGREEMENTS ON ANNUAL LEAVE
CARRYOVER & EXCHANGE
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09/04/20
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The
APWU has announced two new
agreements affecting Annual
Leave. These, one time
only, MOUs increase the amount
of Annual Leave that can be
carried into 2021 and also the
amount of leave that can be
exchanged, or "sold back", for
cash. Click
HERE to read the MOUs
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| Program |
Old Limit |
New Limit for 2021 |
| A/L Carryover |
440 hrs |
520 hrs |
| A/L Exchange |
Up to 40 hrs |
Up to 80 hrs |
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MESSAGE ON PAYROLL TAX DEFERMENT
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09/04/20
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President Trump has signed an
Executive Order that would
temporarily suspend payroll (Social
Security & Medicare) tax
deductions. These tax
withholdings would stop
beginning on September 04, 2020
and continue until the end of
2020. These taxes are not
forgiven and employees would
have to pay the money
back beginning in
January 2021.
Some
American workers are choosing to
"opt out" of the deferrement and
will continue to pay the tax,
thus avoiding the increased
payments in 2021. It has
not been determined if USPS
employee will have that option.
APWU
Director of Industrial Relations
Vance Zimmerman reports that the
USPS official position is "
The attorneys are reviewing the
order to determine if it is
applicable to the USPS ".
Zimmerman also notes that the
USPS would have to do a software
modification to the payroll
system which would take numerous
weeks . Zimmerman notes, that it
is his opinion is that it is
very unlikely that the order by
Trump will be implemented.
This is good news for postal
workers.
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Tri-State
Seminar
Postponed |
PPWU
Covention
Postponed |
PLUSS Steward School
Postponed |
All Craft Conference
Sep 30 - Oct 02, 2021 |
APWU Convention
Oct 04 - 07, 2021 |
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Heather
Berg
PSE - Cyclone
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Yonai
Colton
PSE - Virginville
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Jessica
Corrigan
PSE - Drifton
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Charles
Davies
PSE - Millanville
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Michelle
DeJohn
PSE - Spring Glen
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Heidi
Green
PSE - Leraysville
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Kimberly
Hernandez
PSE - Mary D
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Kaitlyn
Huth
PSE - Sacramento
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Daryl
Leap
PSE - Westover
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Eve Marie
Mauer
PTF - Ashland
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Kimberly
Miller
PTF - Martinsburg
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Virginia
Miller
PSE - East Smethport
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Robert
Mireider
PTF - Starrucca
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Bosharat
Queshi
PSE - Centreport
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Christopher Russel
PSE - Port Clinton
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Pralisa
Sawangiang
PSE - Dewart
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Marissa
Spatz
PSE - Strausstown
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FFCRA WITHOLDINGS TO BE REFUNDED
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08/27/20
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If you
took leave under the Family
First Coronavirus Response Act,
after April 1, 2020, any
deductions for TSP or FERS/CSRS
retirement will be refunded to
you. The USPS has been
informed that FFCRA leave was
not subject to retirement
withholding. These monies
will be refunded to you in your
paycheck on October 02, 2020.
The refund of these monies will
not
impact your creditable service
time towards retirement
eligibility.
If you wish to leave this money
in TSP and CSRS/FERS, you will
have to change your leave from
FFCRA to a different leave type.
Contact your supervisor to
request an adjustment of your
FFCRA leave changing it over to
your
own annual or sick leave.
This is optional. If you
do not want to use your own
leave to cover your FFRCA
absence you need do nothing and
the retirement withholdings will
be refunded to you.
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