USPS Tells Workers to Protect the Sanctity of the Mail, Again

The US Postal Service told employees they have a responsibility to protect the sanctity of the mail. “When people send and receive mail through USPS, they trust that their mail will be treated with respect,” the organization told its workforce. “Damaging, delaying, tampering with or destroying mailpieces of any kind violates the sanctity of the mail and erodes the public’s trust in the Postal Service.”

The admonishment came in a post in the employee newsletter Link.

“Employees who violate the sanctity of the mail may be reprimanded or dismissed and could face federal criminal charges,” the USPS wrote.

Such violations can and do grab headline attention in the media. Last month, a former Massachusetts mail carrier was sentenced for stealing mail containing gift cards and cash to one year of probation and was ordered to pay a fine of $7,500 and restitution in the amount of $175.

And two weeks ago, a Florida contract employee was arrested in a matter of “theft of mail matter by a postal employee.”

The January 20th reminder echoes a similar warning 5 months ago when the USPS was observing Ethics Awareness Week. In that post, published on August 17, 2021, the USPS added: “Employees who have questions should call the ethics helpline at 202-268-6346 or send an email to ethics.help@usps.gov.”

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.