HOW TO READ YOUR PAYSTUB
Earnings Statement - How to Read Your Form 1223
 (From Left to Right, Top to Bottom)
Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. The U.S. Postal Service makes periodic changes to the Earnings Statement as conditions change. Recent changes include printing only the last four digits of the SSN (for privacy and security reasons) and the reclassification of RSC/LEV (in the Detailed Earnings area) for some employees. (For example: Letter Carriers from PS 05 and 06 to Q 01 and 02.)
PAYLOC — Your pay location code indicates where you are assigned to work. (Often it is the last two digits of your work location ZIP Code.)

FINANCE NO — Finance number for your work location.

EMPLOYEE NAME — Your name.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER — Your Social Social Number. For privacy and security purposes, only the last four digits of your SSN are displayed.

PAY PERIOD — This is the pay period and year of the payments (PP-YR or 01-00). Each calendar year is broken up into twenty six (26) pay periods of two (2) weeks each.

SERIAL NUMBER — This is either the serial number of the check issued to the employee or the sequence number of the Earnings Statement issued to the employee when the net pay has been directly deposited to a financial institution.

DETAIL EARNINGS
This is a general heading for several columns which identify the type and number of hours being compensated for, the week in which those hours occurred, the rate schedule and level, the designation/activity code, and the gross payment amount for the period.
WK — This specifies the week, either 1 or 2, of the pay period in which the hours were worked. If an adjustment is being made, the week that the adjustment is made for will be printed on that line.

RSC — This is the Rate Schedule Code for the hours stated. This code will be the same as on your time card. It will either be a "E" or a "Q".

LEV
This is the Grade Level for the hours stated.

RATE
This the Base rate (annual or hourly), including the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) for the hours stated.

CODE
This is the employee's Designation/Activity code. For a Regular Carrier, the code would be 134. For a PTF Carrier, the code would be 434.

TYP
This is the Type of Hours code. Codes include:

G Guaranteed time or guaranteed overtime hours
H Holiday work hours
L Leave hours (either paid leave or leave without pay)
N Night differential hours (for hours worked between 6:00 at night and 6:00 in the morning)
O Overtime hours
V Penalty overtime hours
P Out-of-Schedule Premium
S Sunday Premium
W Straight work hours

HOURS
This space will show the actual hours and hundredths worked for every hours type listed.

PAY
This space will show the total gross pay for each type of hours worked.

GROSS TO NET
This is a general heading for two columns which show the total gross pay, all deductions, and the resulting net pay for the current pay period and the pay year-to-date.

GROSS PAY
This is the gross pay for this pay period and the year-to-date, including COLA.

FED TAX
This is the amount deducted for federal tax this period and year-to-date. Your claimed marital status and number of exemptions will appear  next to FED TAX. M2 would mean married with two exemptions. S0 would mean single with no exemptions.

ST TAX
This is the amount deducted for state tax this period and year-to-date. Again, your claimed marital status and number of exemptions for the state will appear next to ST TAX. TXMO1 would indicate the taxes were withheld to the State of Texas for a person married claiming one exemption.
RETIRE
This is the amount deducted to your retirement account for this pay period and year-to-date. You will see one of the following codes next to RETIRE:

1 CSRS - Civil Service Retirement System
2 FICA - Federal Insurance Contribution Act
5 CSRS Offset - A combination of Civil Service Retirement and Federal Insurance Contribution

FICA/MED
This is the amount of FICA or Medicare deductions for this period and year-to date. If you were hired after 1984, your retirement contribution will be smaller and FICA/MED will be higher.

FERS
The Federal Employees Retirement System covers all career employees first hired on or after January 1, 1984, and those CSRS employees who chose to convert to FERS. If you are covered by FERS, you will see one of the following codes next to FERS:

8 FERS
A FERS (elected)

Anything identified will show the dollar amount both for the pay period and year-to-date.

ALOT would indicate an authorized payroll deduction from your salary that is deducted each pay period for deposit to a financial institution.

C followed by a four (4) digit number would indicate a local charity campaign and where the money is sent.

C SUP or CS/SS indicates child support or alimony payments.

GARN would appear if you had a commercial garnishment levied against you.

HP followed by three (3) letters or numbers would show your health benefit plan enrollment code.

IN indicates your life insurance choice.

LEVY would show a deduction has been made for some sort of outstanding taxes.

MBA indicates that you participate in the NALC's Mutual Benefit Association insurance plan.

NT BK shows that after all deductions and allotments have been taken out, the net pay has been directly deposited to a financial institution.

OTHER would appear if an indebtedness to another Federal agency other than the Postal Service has been taken out. A collection for a loan from the VA for schooling might be an example.

PO DB means that a deduction has been made for some sort of indebtedness to the Postal Service. It might be for a previous overpayment, a shortage, a loss of or damage to the mails, loss of or damage to USPS property or vehicles, or perhaps outstanding travel or salary advances.

TSP indicates a withholding for the Thrift Savings Plan. If you participate in the plan, you will see two (2) or more lines regarding the Plan. The first line would indicate either the percentage of withholdings or the dollar amount.

TSP02 indicates a two (2) percent withholding

TSP $ followed by a dollar amount indicates a regular dollar amount participation.

The following line(s) indicate the percentage of your withholding that is applied to the different "Investment Options."
G080 would indicate that 80% of your total withholding would distributed into the Government Securities Investment Fund, F015 would indicate that 15% of your total withholding would be distributed into the Fixed Income Index Investment Fund, and C005 would show that 5% of your total withholding would be distributed into the Common Stock Index Investment Fund.

UN L - Union Dues.

NET PAY
This is what you have left!

LEAVE STATUS
This general area identifies the employee's use and balances of Annual and Sick leave, and Leave Without Pay for the pay period and year.

ANNUAL LEAVE

FROM PREV YR
This is the number of hours carried over from the previous year.

EARNED-THIS YR
This is the number of hours earned to date this leave year.

EARNED-BAL
This is the number of hours carried over from last year plus the hours earned this year.

USED THIS YR
This is the total hours of annual leave used this year to date.

USED THIS PP
This is the total hours of annual leave used in this pay period (including adjustments).

BALANCE
This is the total annual leave available to you now.

SICK LEAVE

FROM PREV YR
This is the number of hours carried over from last year.

EARNED THIS YR
This is the number of hours of sick leave accumulated this year.

USED THIS YR
This is the total sick leave used to date this year.

USED THIS PP
This is the total sick leave used this pay period (including adjustments).
BALANCE
This is the total sick leave available to you now.

LEAVE WITHOUT PAY

THIS PP
This is the total hours of LWOP used this pay period.

CUMULATIVE
This is the total LWOP hours accumulated this year. If you accumulate eighty (80) hours of LWOP within a year, your leave credits will be reduced by the amount of leave earned in one (1) pay period.

BOND DATA
This identifies an employee's current bond(s), unapplied bond balance, and the bonds issued this pay period.

UNAPPL BAL
This is the amount applied towards the purchase of the next bond.

NO ISSUED
This is the number of bonds issued this pay period.

USPS RETIREMENT
This is the total amount contributed to the retirement fund as of the close of the prior calendar year.

Other important codes are:

FLSA
The Fair Labor Standards Act is a Federal Statute of general application that establishes requirements for child labor, minimum wages, equal pay, and overtime pay. FLSA work hours and FLSA overtime pay is printed on the E&D whenever work hours for one or both weeks of the pay period exceeds forty (40) hours for nonexempt employees.

ADJ FOR PP-YR PROCESSED
Shows that an adjustment for a specific pay period and year was processed.

GARNISHMENT PAYMENTS COMPL
Shows the garnishment balance as zero (0).

GRIEVANCE OR EEO SETTLEMENT
Self Explanatory

INCLUDES BOND REFUND
Self Explanatory

MERIT INCREASE
Self Explanatory

MERIT LUMP SUM INCLUDED
Self Explanatory

MULTI PP ADJS PROCESSED
Shows that adjustments for multiple pay periods were processed.

PERIODIC STEP INCREASE
Self Explanatory
PO INDEBT-PAID-OFF
Shows the indebtedness balance as zero (0).

RETROACTIVE PAYMENT
Shows this is a special check and Earnings Statement for retroactive payment.

RETRO PAY IN YTD AMTS
Shows that retroactive payment amounts have been added to the year-to-date totals.

SCHEDULED COLA INCREASE
Shows that a cost-of-living increase has been added to the base salary effective with the pay period shown at the top of the E&D.

SCHEDULED CONTRACTUAL INCREASE
Shows that it is now reflected in the base salary.

UPDT YTD BAL CANCEL CHK
An adjustment for a cancelled check was processed that updated the year-to-date earnings balance, affecting only the year-to-date fields.

UPDT YTD BK PAY AWD
An adjustment for a back pay award was processed, affecting only the year-to-date fields.
  


USPS Earnings Statement (Earnings) Abbreviations

·         W = Work Hours

·         N = Night Shift Differential (Hours worked between 6pm and 6am)

·         O = Overtime Hours

·         P = Penalty Overtime Hours

·         S = Sunday Premium

·         H = Holiday Work

·         P = Out-of-Schedule Premium

·         L = Leave Hours (Including Holiday Leave as appropriate)

·         C = Christmas Work (Christmas or Designated Christmas holiday)

USPS Earnings Statement (Deductions) Abbreviations (Alphabetical Order)

ALOT

Allotment

 

 

MED

Medicare

ATIP

Alternative Transportation Incentive Program

 

 

MEDIC

Medicare Adjustment

BOND

U.S. Savings Bonds

 

 

MERIT

Merit Lump Sum Payment

C XX

Common Stock Invest Plan (x=% of TSP Ded.)

 

 

MISC

Exceeded Line Limit on Stub

CXXX

Charity (x = charity organization code)

 

 

MLTCR

Military Credit

CDOA

Carrier Driveout Payment

 

 

OFL

Old Fund Liability Tax (Montana)

CP

Current Period

 

 

OTHER

Other Government Agency Deduction

CS/SS

Child Support/Spousal Support

 

 

P XX

Equip Maint Pymt (x = Evaluated Hours)

DO/SW

Carrier Driveout subject to withholding

 

 

PODBP

PO Indebtedness (Pre-Tax Dollars)

EIC1

Earned Income Credit (w/o spouse filing)

 

 

PODBT

PO Indebtedness (Post-Tax Dollars)

EIC2

Earned Income Credit (w/ both spouses filing)

 

 

RET

Retirement Adjustment

EXX

Equipment Maint Payment (x = eval. hours)

 

 

RETIRE

Retirement Deductions

EM-SW

Equip. Maint. Payment (subject to withholding)

 

 

SD-SW

Special Delivery - Subject to Withholding

F XX

Fixed Income Invest Plan (x = % of TSP Ded)

 

 

SOSEC

Social Security

FED

Federal Tax Adjustment

 

 

SPA

Special Pay Adjustment - Inspectors

FED TAX XYY

Fed Tax (x = Marital Status, y = Exemptions)

 

 

SPECD

Special Delivery Payment

FSADC

Flex Spending Acct - Dependent Care

 

 

SRVU

Supervisor Reimbursement for Vehicle Use

FSAHC

Flex Spending Acct - Health Care

 

 

STATE

State Tax Adjustment

G XX

Equipment Maint Payment (x = evaluated Hrs)

 

 

ST TAX XXYZZ

State Tax (x=State, y=status, z=exemptions)

G XXX

Government Securities Invest Plan (x = %)

 

 

SV-SW

Supervisor Reimburse.Veh Use (taxed)

GARN

Garnishment

 

 

TCOLA

Territorial COLA

HIP

Hospital Indemnity Plan (NPMHU Sponsered)

 

 

TRVLR

Travelers Insurance

HP XXX

Health Benefits (Pre-Tax, x = HB Code)

 

 

TSP $

Thrift Savings Plan ($ = Fixed Dollar Amt)

HT XXX

Health Benefits (Post-Tax, x = HB Code)

 

 

TSPLX

Thrift Savings Plan (x = last position of acct.)

INS XY

Optional Life Ins (x=age group, y=amount code)

 

 

TSPXX

Thrift Savings Plan (x=% of basic pay ded.)

LD/RT

Liquidated Damages/Rent

 

 

UNX

Union Dues (x = Union Code)

LEP

Law Enforcement Premium (Inspectors)

 

 

VBP

Voluntary Benefits Plan (APWU Sponsored)

LEVY

Tax Levy

 

 

VEH H

Vehicle Hire Payment

LO XXX

Local Tax (x = Local Tax Code)

 

 

VH-SW

Vehicle Hire (Subject to withholding)

LPA

Lock Pouch Allowance

 

 

WEP

Wage Earner Plan (Garnishment)

MBA

Mutual Benefit Association (NALC)

 

 

YTD

Year to Date