Salary Protection
568.1 Entitlement
 If a carrier’s route is reduced and the carrier is entitled to the guaranteed salary based upon the national agreement, the carrier may also be entitled to salary protection for the remainder of the 2 calendar years. If the route was reduced for the benefit of the Postal Service and if the carrier qualifies for salary protection, refer to ELM 421.511 and 421.512.
 
568.2 How It Works
 As an example, the route is a 44H route, and the annual salary is $38,889. The route is reduced to a 38H route in pay period 14 because the Postal Service added the territory to another route. The carrier is entitled to the guaranteed salary and COLA of a 40-hour route until the end of the guarantee period. If at the end of the guarantee period the carrier is entitled to salary protection for the remainder of the 2 years, the salary protection would expire in pay period 13, two years later. The protected salary would be the basic salary of a 40-hour route and the COLA of a 38-hour route. The carrier is entitled to all salary increases related to the 40-hour route. If the route exceeds 40 hours during the 2-year protection period, the protected salary will terminate automatically.
 
569 Protected / Salary Code E
569.1 Entitlement
 A carrier who was injured on duty and returns to work on limited duty for an extended period of time is entitled to the salary at the date of injury/disability evaluation. To ensure the salary will be correct, personnel must process a Form 50, Notification of Personnel Action, with a special salary code E and the evaluated hours or miles. The employee’s salary will not be affected by changes in route evaluation. When the carrier returns to full duty, process Form 50 to remove special salary code E.
 
569.2 How It Works
 As an example, the route is a 42-hour evaluated route. The route had territory added to it and is now a 44-hour evaluated route. The local office must prepare paperwork to have personnel office process a special salary code E and to lock the evaluated hours to 42. The carrier is not entitled to be paid as a 44-hour evaluated route until he or she returns to full duty status. Another Form 50 must be initiated to remove the protected salary code.