US mail service not work for seven days?

[Guest Jim & Ling]

My husband told me post office is close at Sat afternoon and Sun,even UPS and FEDEX...why ???? .....our post office works seven days a week !! what's the meaning of post office close one and half day ? no mail in and no mail out ??

 

I can't understand it.....and I don't like it.

 

Ling

[floyd]

They save on labor. Labor is a high cost in the USA. UPS and Fedex cater to businesses which generally are closed on the weenkends. You can get them to deliever on Saturdays but it costs more. The mail still moves in transit on these days, and there is often a regional processing center you can go to and get mail into the system if you know what th postage should be. I think the postoffice is not allowed to not have delievery more then two days in a row.

Do they take off the week long holidays in China?

 

Also, what is it that you do not understand or like about it? As a person, it basically just means no mail delievery on Sunday. I only go to a post office a few times a year so it does not effect me if they are open or not. Is there something you think the post office needs to be open for other then sending mail? Maybe there is something you use a post office for that we use something else for that type of business?

[owenkrout]

Part of American culture is having a 40 hour work week and having two days a week off work. Not everybody falls under this system, but most people do. Government jobs are almost always of this type.

 

Anywork over 40 hours a week is, by strictly enforced law, "overtime". Overtime work must be paid at a pay scale that is 1.5 times the regular payscale for the employee or the employee must be give "comp time". Comp time is time equal to the overtime worked that is given as paid time off work at a later date.

 

I know that theoretically China has similar laws, but in the US the company cannot get away with ignoring the law. Having "guanxi" doesn't matter, everybody has to abide by the law. I know of workers here in China who are forced to work extra "voluntary" hours without extra pay. My niece's boss called her a couple of weeks ago on her normal day off on Sunday and told her she had to do a translation for him before she got to work on Monday. She was not paid for the extra work. In the US the labor laws are too strictly enforced for bosses to get away with anything like that for very long at all.

 

The US Postal Service actually delivers and collects mail at peoples homes six days a week. The offices themselves are closed early on Saturday, but the mail carriers work. The carriers are paid extra for that Saturday work.

 

Culturally, the US regards Sunday as a special day off and people regard having to work on Sunday as a very bad thing. Stores and restaraunts etc. are open, so obviously some people do work, but they normally get two days off sometime during the week.

[tonado]

Mail is delivered from Monday thru Saturday. Only Sunday is off. Some people go to church on Sundays. If you needs stamps, you can get them at malls and other locations everyday.

[tonado]

Anywork over 40 hours a week is, by strictly enforced law, "overtime".  Overtime work must be paid at a pay scale that is 1.5 times the regular payscale for the employee or the employee must be give "comp time".  Comp time is time equal to the overtime worked that is given as paid time off work at a later date.

 

If you an exempt employees (like techies - software engineer), you don't get overtime pay and you are expected to get your work done (even if it takes more than 40 hours a week).

[owenkrout]

Ah, yes. I should have made that clear as I have been such most of my life.

 

What I said earlier was for "hourly" employees. People who get paid according to how many hours they work every week.

 

"Salary" employees are people who get paid so much a month regardless of the hours they work. Theoretically it means they are paid to get a job done and if they could work fewer hours if they got the job done early. In reality, it means they work at least 40 hours a week and usually more. Technical workers, engineers, teachers, and some others are often "on salary". Bosses are on salary. Even for these people though, working on Sunday is usually an exception. The Sunday off rule is a very strong cultural tradition in the US.

[owenkrout]

Another point just occured to me.

 

In China, people have to go to the post office to mail a letter. Not true in the US. Everybody (with very few exceptions) has a mail box and they can mail (post) a letter from their home mail box and it will be picked up. The system varies from everybox checked everyday in the cities, to putting up a red flag to signal the mailman (postal worker) to pick up your outgoing mail in rural areas. Most Americans get mail almost everyday. Most Americans rarely go to the post office itself. You can even order stamps and even envelopes through your mail carrier who will deliver them. I worked a rural route for awhile and the rural carriers will usually just leave the stamps and make change when people leave the money in the mailbox.

 

The mail is more secure in America than it is in China. In America, theft of the mail is a federal crime and is taken very seriously. Here in China I have seen that it is treated as just normal petty theft and not pursued at all.

 

On the other hand, I think that they manage to lose or misdeliver mail just as often as they do here in China.

[PJ]

As far as mail delivery goes, I know there has been talk of eliminating Saturday delivery, for the purpose of coming within budget and losing less money. Personally, I feel this is not such a bad idea.

 

P.J.

[Charlotte]

Another point just occured to me.

 

In China, people have to go to the post office to mail a letter.  Not true in the US.  Everybody (with very few exceptions) has a mail box and they can mail (post) a letter from their home mail box and it will be picked up.  The system varies from everybox checked everyday in the cities, to putting up a red flag to signal the mailman (postal worker) to pick up your outgoing mail in rural areas.  Most Americans get mail almost everyday.  Most Americans rarely go to the post office itself.  You can even order stamps and even envelopes through your mail carrier who will deliver them.  I worked a rural route for awhile and the rural carriers will usually just leave the stamps and make change when people leave the money in the mailbox.

 

The mail is more secure in America than it is in China.  In America, theft of the mail is a federal crime and is taken very seriously.  Here in China I have seen that it is treated as just normal petty theft and not pursued at all.

 

On the other hand, I think that they manage to lose or misdeliver mail just as often as they do here in China.

One observation I have when I first came here in states is that every house has a mail box that is totally open to access. This is beyond a Chinese comprehension because in China people locked their mail boxes. They would open a hole in the mail box and mailman can only drop the letter in, but no one can take it out without a key. Although mail theft is a punishable crime, it was still quite a shock to me: how can you ever catch one if someone steals from your mail box? Especially, unlike in China, there are so few people in the neighborhood. 10 years ago, Chinese did have any mail commercials like they do today. Many households did not have much mail if they don't have any children or friends out of town. Chinese were not as mobile as they are today.

In a word, China is becoming more and more commercialized as well as westernized. I am happy to see what is becoming in my hometown, but at the same time, I also feel we have lost our innocence, simplicity of life as well as some treasurable tradition upon which I was brought up.

[Guest Jim & Ling]

Thank you help me understand how US mail system works,it makes sense why he told me how-much-per-hour when I asked him about my expecting salary......it got me lost I know we do work 40 hours a week as American,but our salary is based on and paid by month (as my case,no matter how many hours or days I work for a month,I mean,no matter more or less).......I'd better to take a calculator when meeting my new boss...

[April]

i'm a little confused here.Now i live in downtown Boston,here i see people all have mail boxes and almost have mails everyday except Sunday;but i haven't seen any open mail box,each mail box is locked and only the owner has the key;when we send a mail,we just put it in a big mail box outside on the roadside which is easily found each 20 or 30 meters(no idea on feet or mile).

[chinadave2001]

Going to add my two cents here:

I believe that the mail isn't delivered on Sundays because of what used to be called "Blue Laws." The laws basically restricted the kinds of activities that could take place on Sunday - or the Sabbath as Christians call it. Christians believe that the seventh day of every week should left for rest and paying respect to God. No work allowed. The laws have eroded over time - as has the concept of keeping Sunday reserved for religious observation- but there are still legacies left. Here in Connecticut liquor stores and car dealerships are still required by law to be closed on Sundays. As one would expect, all government services are closed on Sundays except for essential ones like fire and police.

dave

[owenkrout]

i'm a little confused here.Now i live in downtown Boston,here i see people all have mail boxes and almost have mails everyday except Sunday;but i haven't seen any open mail box,each mail box is locked and only the owner has the key;when we send a mail,we just put it in a big mail box outside on the roadside which is easily found each 20 or 30 meters(no idea on feet or mile).  B)

The confusion, April, is caused by cultural differences within America.

 

It is true in the larger cities that you will only see the small, locked mail boxes. In fact, in the cities, some people will rent a mail box that is located inside the post office itself.

 

I have lived most of my life in the more rural and suburban areas where the mail box is rarely locked but can be if an individual feels the need. I carried the mail on a rural route for a little while and had over 600 mail boxes that I delivered to and none where ever locked. (Many people in the areas where I have lived never locked a door much less the mailbox! Of course they all had at least a rifle and a shotgun and a couple of large dogs for protection around the home.)

 

The original reason for no mail delivery on Sunday was indeed primarily due to the "Blue Laws". However, nowdays the concept of Sunday being a day of rest is more just a cultural custom. Few people truly observe it as a religious day of worship except for an hour or two at the local house of worship, if that much. In the case of the post office, they could not afford Sunday delivery. They would like to stop Saturday deliveries if people would tolerate it! Anything beyond the normal 5 day a week, 40 hour a week job gets very expensive due to overtime pay.