Overview

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is a cornerstone of national logistics, managing one of the world’s largest civilian workforces. Within a major USPS distribution center, complex labor requirements, union rules, and fluctuating delivery demands created persistent scheduling challenges. To modernize workforce planning and optimize shift assignments, USPS partnered with Care System’s parent company to deliver, a flexible and policy-driven staff-planning platform.

Challenges

• Complex shift patterns requiring union rule compliance
• Inefficiencies in manually assigning overtime and weekend coverage
• Frequent schedule changes due to fluctuating mail volume and staffing needs
• Lack of real-time visibility into labor costs and coverage gaps
• Administrative burden in managing time-off requests and approvals

CareWare Implementation

Care Systems configured CareWare to align with USPS’s unique operational needs and collective bargaining agreements. The system was deployed to streamline day-to-day scheduling while ensuring transparency and adherence to federal labor standards.

Key features included:

• Union Rule Enforcement: Custom rule sets ensured compliance with labor agreements, including seniority-based assignments and overtime distribution
• Dynamic Shift Assignment: Enabled real-time adjustments to schedules based on operational demands
• Time-Off Management: Automated request workflows and built-in approval hierarchies reduced delays and disputes
• Overtime Monitoring: Provided granular visibility into planned versus actual labor expenditures
• Audit and Reporting Tools: Delivered insights for workforce planning, grievances, and federal compliance reviews

Outcomes

• Reduced Scheduling Errors: Automated logic minimized grievances related to overtime and weekend assignments
• Operational Agility: Allowed supervisors to make data-driven adjustments to meet volume surges
• Enhanced Labor Transparency: Built trust among union members through equitable shift distribution and accessible schedule records
• Time Savings: Significantly reduced manual scheduling tasks, freeing supervisors for higher-value operational oversight
• Improved Labor Cost Management: Enabled real-time tracking of staffing-related expenditures

Conclusion

The implementation of CareWare at the United States Postal Service brought measurable improvements to workforce scheduling in a high-volume, unionized environment. By automating compliance with labor agreements and introducing real-time operational oversight, USPS improved labor efficiency, reduced administrative workload, and created a more transparent scheduling experience for its employees.