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A Refresher on NAPS Reports

A Refresher on NAPS Reports
By Chuck Mulidore
NAPS Secretary/Treasurer

Every now and again, I go back and refresh an article for publication in The Postal Supervisor that continues to be relevant or about which I have received many calls or inquiries. In the past, I have written about the monthly reports that come from NAPS Headquarters.

I regularly get questions about these reports and, as a few things have changed, I thought I would dust off that article and refresh it a bit. That way, as branch officers, you can have a better understanding of the reports NAPS Headquarters sends each month. It’s an important topic, so here we go.

First of all, as branch leaders, you get four monthly reports from NAPS Headquarters: the DCO, the Non-Member Report, the Change Report and the Mail List. In honor of the hoped-for return of baseball, let’s start at the top of the order—the DCO, or Dues Check-Off.

This report lists the transfer of funds from NAPS Headquarters to local branches, paid by an ACH deposit into your local branch bank account near the end of each month. The Postal Service transfers this money to NAPS based on the withholding of members’ dues each pay period. NAPS Headquarters then transfers this money to the local branches, minus the per capita charge of $3.50 per member per pay period used to help fund the operations of NAPS Headquarters.

As of the May 2020 DCO, NAPS Headquarters transferred $587,522 back to local branches to help them fund their operations at the local level. Each year, NAPS Headquarters transfers approximately $5 million to our local branches to support their member representation efforts.

You also may see on the report certain codes next to members’ names. Let me explain. Generally, these are postal codes used by HRSSC; NU-EMP is a new employee, pretty easy. NO-DED is a member in a non-deduction status. However, NAPS Headquarters still is collecting the per-capita dues of $3.50 per pay period from the local branch. It is up to the local branch to collect dues from that member to reimburse the branch for lost revenue.

NO PAY indicates a member is in a non-pay status at the USPS. However, again, NAPS Headquarters is collecting the $3.50 per-capita charge from the branch; the branch must recover that revenue from the member. Similar is NO T/C, indicating the member is in a no-timecard or non-pay status.

And, of course, RET is the code for a person who is retiring, which is an excellent opportunity for you, as branch leaders, to sign that pending retiree as an associate member, using NAPS Form 1187-A, available on the NAPS website, naps.org. Remember, we need retirees’ knowledge and expertise. Plus, an associate member is charged only $1.75 per pay period by NAPS Headquarters. As in other instances, it is up to the branch to collect membership dues from their associate members. This is another source of local branch revenue.

Next is the Non-Member Report, which we need you to shrink as much as you can! These are potential NAPS members. We need them to join and they need to join NAPS. Once we sign these non-members, it can take up to two months or more for them to come off your Non-Member Report and move over to your DCO. This is normal, but we do consider them members while this transition occurs.

Taking members from the Non-Member Report to the DCO affords them the benefits of NAPS membership and brings much-needed revenue into your branch treasury. As of May 2020, there were over 10,400 EAS employees who are potential members, but have not joined our organization. We must redouble our efforts to sign these EAS employees as members. They may not even know they need to be members of NAPS, but we know they do!

Next up is the Change Report. This report illustrates any changes for branch members or non-members. For example, a member of Branch A gets a job in an area covered by Branch B, which triggers a change in finance number. Thus, on the Change Report, each branch is notified of a member leaving one branch and arriving in the other branch.

Also on the Change Report, NAPS Headquarters can input manual changes. For example, a cancellation of dues notice. Under postal regulations, though, a Form 1188 is processed only in March and September of each year. So, NAPS Headquarters would inform the branch a member is requesting to cancel dues, but will stay a member until either March or September, whichever is closer, of that year.

Branch Exceptions are listed on the Change Report, as well. These are members whose home finance number may be in one branch, but they are domiciled in another branch. An exception, initiated by the NAPS area vice president and approved by the NAPS resident officers, allows the member to be in the branch in which their work location is domiciled.

Finally, our last report is the Mail List, which provides branches the physical address and email address, if available, of its members. This allows branches to generate mailing lists and improve communiation with its members.

There you have it—a condensed and refreshed version of the reports NAPS Headquarters generates for our branches each month. Our goal, as always, is to benefit members any way we can.

A final reminder: Please update your branch officer profiles with NAPS Headquarters whenever there are changes in your branch leadership. This form also is available on the NAPS website.

If ever you have questions, please contact our outstanding membership manager, Emily Christophersen, at naps.ec@naps.org or me at naps.cm@naps.org. We are here to serve you.

Okay, now that you’ve read your reports, get out and enjoy these dog days of summer!