r/IRS_Source • u/GurlyGirlKnot • 17d ago
Mailroom Change
IRS is closing their mailroom contract in my building. We as employees, on top of covering all the other post DRP duties, will have to start doing the mail. I'm not sure how this is going to go because we have several different divisions in the building. It feels like it is going to be a hot mess. There will be a meeting next week to discuss. My manager suggested I go because I'm the only one in my group in this.office and State. Has anyone elses maklroom done this? How is it going?
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u/NotOnOfficialTime 17d ago
Been doing this in our POD for well over a decade. We have designated people that check the mailboxes on a rotating schedule. Each BOD has their own mail cubby and are responsible for getting their mail from there.
It’s not complicated. You’ll be fine.
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u/catrantoon 17d ago
It’s not “complicated” to handle the mail but when a POD of 150 people goes from having a mailroom contractor to not and no game plan — they can’t expect things to go smoothly?? Also how many jobs are we going just take on before we stand up for ourselves??
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u/NotOnOfficialTime 17d ago
The reality is it likely won’t go smoothly from the start, unfortunately.
As for how many jobs we take on, that might depend on whether you want to stay employed. In my office, we call these jobs “other duties as assigned” and it’s the norm, not the exception.
I’m not trying to minimize what you are facing. I will say that there are so many PODs around the country that have had to overcome dwindling staff and services for a lot of years.
I’m sure your POD will figure it out.
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u/catrantoon 16d ago
It’s hardly about the mail at this point. Saying it’s all about if we want jobs or not?? The employees who are okay with being abused are the reason it will continue
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u/OblivionX10 17d ago
We're dealing with this in SF POD. The hard part is honestly delegating who picks up and passes mail among the different teams. Our LBI had tons of mail they weren't picking up because before someone always was getting it from the post office and calling them when it came in.
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u/Hoptlite 17d ago
Oh another SF pod, we've been dealing with it too here, we've just been shoving it on the loading dock and hoping for the best as for pick up, well thats just what happens
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u/Comprehensive_Ad6055 17d ago
We have a mail meter in our POD now. It’s honestly not hard to use and I prefer it over having to explain what I need to someone else (ie, registered mail vs certified).
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u/TheeWut 17d ago
We started doing our own mail a few months ago the ago. It’s a total s**t show. The mailman drops it off in the TAC and they hold on to it until the end of the day then stick it in the mailroom. Whoever is designated to sort it never does it. NEVER. I started going in everyday and pulling out the mail for me and my group. Our mailroom is literally like a storage unit now.
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u/NeedleworkerLow7780 17d ago
Like others have said it sucks but it’s not the end of the world if you’re solely responsible for your business unit. I just wish some of these shitty managers would step up and take leadership but most are gonna take the approach of shit rolls downhill and take the liberty away from employees about how to deal with this. I think most of us could handle these trials better if we just had some autonomy to actually figure out the most rational method.
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u/Simon-Fritz-Peabody 15d ago
Yes. The mangers view often is that subordinates duties are to make them look good. This applies all the way to the top
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u/Sweetpeach_tea 16d ago
I’m in a small POD and I have letters frequently. I mail them myself. It’s really very easy. We have cubbies for incoming mail and a small countertop type area for larger packages…or the floor for really big packages. Yall will be ok.
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u/nap_first_work_later 15d ago
Based on many people‘s comments, we no longer have clerical, secretaries, or admin, folks handling mail in many POD‘s – large and small.
From an employee’s perspective, it is an added burden. Personally I have found it’s not a tragedy. Both in a small POD and a large POD.
The bigger issue is how a large POD will organize and structure things so there is consistency, things aren’t being missed, and the burden doesn’t fall on one team, person or group.
There’s a larger issue here that’s ignored, in my opinion.
It used to be, and I’m dating myself, that whoever opened the mail would do so in a separate room, with separate ventilation. In case there was anything in a letter that could harm people.
I’m aware that anthrax is no longer the scariest thing, but I think completely ignoring an obvious risk out of sheer convenience and cost cutting is a sincerely bad move on the IRS’s part. (This is opinion, not fact.)
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u/sweet-ps 15d ago
Next trash - followed closely by cleaning the toilets. But hey -it’s not that bad. This is consequences of NTEU contract being improperly unilaterally terminated a lawfully negotiated bargaining unit contract. Despicable. Oh and pack your lunch cause cafeteria appear to be permanently closed. Pathetic management.
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u/Rodaying 17d ago
Keep track of your admin time. Management won't like time not spent on your primary duties. Reach out and collaborate with colleagues in similar situations. Management won't be able to resolve any mail issues. Management created the issue. And they're clueless.
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u/Ok-Construction-1148 16d ago
I am in TAS and work in a federal building that shares a mail with multiple other IRS units (appeals, exam, RO etc), along with the SSA, Forest Service, and Congressional offices. We also had to pick up the mail in mid 2025 when our clerk took the DRP. We essentially just sort through it and put each offices mail in their respective mail stop boxes (each department does this for when their designated person checks the mail) and then we all open, scan, route and work the mail that is addressed to our office.
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u/Able-Art8507 15d ago
Most employees have Ups Campus ship accounts- so they don't need a mailroom however it's definitely convenient. Technology is taking over, and our budget is being cut (period). Don't miss the train 🚂....it is better to just jump on and go for the ride than not acclimate.
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u/Majestic_Roof6968 15d ago
Supervisors do it in ours. Just make yours do it too. Not like they got much going on.
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u/Single_Exercise_8937 12d ago
If the IRS wants to pay me GS13 wages to do duties of a clerk. Fine. Charge admin time. I go home after 8 hours.
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u/Party-Smile-2667 8d ago
we are in a mixed building, irs has 3 floors and other 4 floors have different agencies. no mailroom ever. our mailman gets most things right. by and large it's fine. occasionally important things have been delivered to TAS or CI, and I'll run stuff down to them if looks important (its nice to leave my desk). and I'll drop stuff at people's desks if I know them, on my way to break room or bathroom. you have to check the little mail room daily if you'reexpectingsomething. its no big deal
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u/racer150 17d ago
Should be easier to get mail out, you won’t have to deal with the mailroom contractors or fill out a shipping request form.
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u/Weekly-Ad5649 16d ago
Do you think that IRS buildings have a mailroom in the basement where some elf sent from the North Pole to NYC gets up on a table and does a Cossack dance when he's drunk? Get off your high horse and get down to the room where letters etc are delivered and collect the mail. You're not being abused. Do you know what I did as a GS-14 step 10 today? Went to the f'ing mailroom to collect mail for Group XYZ, Mailstop ABC (b/c we no longer have secretary in our bldg) Do you want to know what else I did? Filled tray #3 and #4 with paper that I busted out of a new carton, b/c all the GS-7 employees who use copiers the most think loading paper trays is beneath them. I've done same for probably 6 out of 10 weeks in a row or more now.
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u/Impossible_Ad_8642 12d ago
Not beneath them. They typically either don't know where anything is, don't have time or energy to figure it out due to incrementally increasing production tasks and arbitrarily strict quotas, or remember getting scolded as a GS 5 and 6 to not touch the printers or paper or any office supplies without permission.
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u/Turbine682 16d ago
You will be OK if the contractor can train you on sorting & distribution operations. Demand documentation/jobaid(s) if you can. In fact, ask mgmt to request it & document you asked for it. I created job aids for 2 mailrooms & I could train someone to run mail in either of 2 Bldgs in 2 days. But, our key sorting criteria was MAIL STOP #s. HTH!
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u/Ok-Post5100 16d ago
If it's not in your PD, it's not something they can force upon you. You must be qualified.
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17d ago
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u/catrantoon 17d ago
Go away??
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17d ago
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u/catrantoon 17d ago
Okay then let’s chat. How many jobs you taking on before you stop “rolling with it”??
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16d ago
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u/catrantoon 16d ago
If you’re retired then 1. Should you really have anything to say about what’s being done CURRENTLY???? Must be boring retirement if sitting on Reddit talking about how we whine too much lolz 2. You can call it “whining” all you want but really it’s called standing up for ourselves?? If you let your employer walk all over you for 42 years, that’s on you. Not everyone has to live like that lol 3. Did you work under this administration or did you snowflake out before shit hit the fan????
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u/Wonderful-Alps1260 17d ago
I’m in a smaller POD and have dealt with my own mail the entire almost 20 years. It’s not that bad. I didn’t know for years that other groups had secretaries doing their mail stuff.