Contrary to what the contractors will tell you, as a Mail Driver, you have a lot of rights and benefits due to you. One of the latest "neat" tricks some contractors are pulling is to force drivers to take their (as in the company's) insurance -- thereby allowing them to keep any extra money after the premium is paid -- niiiicccee. Another fun thing they are doing, is forcing driver's to have the "pension" portion of the contract wage put into a company 401k. Why do they do these things? Well, for one thing, they then don't have to pay payroll taxes on the money this way. And no, they don't really care about what is best for you or your family.
Some companies like to not pay driver's their full vacation for the first year. It's sad, really but this increasing minority is making our job harder. Some try not to pay the contract wage and some make it their job to pare down the hours they pay drivers. Guess what, you should get paid for your time -- what a strange concept, not working for free.
Anyway, we shall try and cover some of these things soon. Maybe a good discussion on exactly WHAT the contract wage is for each contract and how it should be paid.
Here's a good start:
Why is there no H&W pay after 40 hours
Because the different contracts are let out of different areas and each of them has a different pay scale, due to cost of living, etc. As to why the run pays less after 40 hours, well the reason is that there is a "base pay" and then a "health & welfare" portion of the pay which is paid up to 40 ours per week. Contractors pay (or are supposed to pay) the health & welfare to their drivers (unfortunately, some contractors force drivers to take their insurance and invest in their company 401k). You're supposed to get this addition up to 40 hours per week... make sense? Also, this money is paid by the POST OFFICe, per driver, not per run. So, you're not being stiffed your money if you work over 40, you just aren't entitled to more. As to overtime, well... that's a different story we'll cover some other time.