USPS is charting its own course on masks and vaccines at a time when the rest of the federal workforce faces a tightening of restrictions. Agencies last week reinstated mask mandates for employees working in areas of substantial or high community transmission of COVID-19.
The Biden administration is also requiring the federal workforce to get vaccinated or comply with masking, social distancing and COVID-19 testing requirements.
Administration officials, however, told Federal News Network Tuesday that USPS employees are not subject to the administration’s vaccine guidance, but are “strongly encouraged” to follow it. The Washington Post first reported USPS employees were not subject to the federal workforce’s vaccination requirements.
APWU data shows total quarantines among the USPS workforce hit a low point on June 28, when fewer than 2,600 employees were out on leave. Those quarantines, however, continue to trend upward and exceeded 3,200 on July 23.