$20 Gift Exception

• The ethics regulations generally prohibit Postal Service employees from accepting gifts from customers, suppliers or other outside sources.
• One of the exceptions to the rule prohibiting gifts from outside sources allows a Postal Service employee to accept a non-cash gift valued at $20.00 or less.
• Remember that the total value of gifts from the same source may not exceed $50.00 in a calendar year.

Our customers, suppliers, and the public should know that they will be treated fairly and professionally no matter what. Accepting gifts leaves the opposite impression.

Declining inappropriate gifts is not only the law, it’s smart business.

Contact the Ethics Office (ethics.help@usps.gov) for more information about the ethics rules on gifts from outside sources.

Building trustworthy timelines

Colleagues need to believe and rely upon each other.

• • Team members work more effectively — alone and in collaboration with colleagues — if they believe the data and timelines for performance are reliable.
  • Establish flexible formats and timelines, with a policy to revisit schedules. Some processes require flexible timelines and space for revisiting results (or buffering for delays).

Creating a structured timeframe that includes room for delays and unexpected timing requirements, paired with established and communicable milestones, helps all stakeholders in a process.

And that’s smart business!