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NOTICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES

THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN FACT SHEET

Percentage returns released October 4, 2004, by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board

*Rates of return for May (inception of S and I Funds) through December 2001.

Future performance of the funds will vary and may be significantly different from the returns shown above. See the Summary of the Thrift Savings Plan for detailed information about the funds and their investment risks. The monthly returns of the TSP Funds represent net earnings for the month after deduction of accrued administrative expenses and, except for the G Fund, after deduction of trading costs and accrued investment management fees as well. The returns for the four indexes shown do not include any of these deductions.

* Implemented May 2001.

Please post on bulletin boards. Discard/recycle all previous notices.

Annual Leave Exchange Option

The Annual Leave Exchange Program provides an option for eligible employees to receive a lump sum payment in exchange for a portion of the annual leave that would otherwise be advanced at the beginning of the 2005 leave year.

Note: Annual leave earned and accumulated through the 2004 leave year, which ends January 7, 2005, cannot be exchanged for cash.

Eligible Employees

Employees eligible for the Annual Leave Exchange Program include the following:

• Career nonbargaining employees from Rate Schedule Codes (RSCs) E, F, S, and U who have an annual leave balance of at least 160 hours at the end of the leave year.

• Bargaining unit employees from the following RSCs who have an annual leave balance of at least 440 hours at the end of the leave year and have used less than 75 hours of sick leave during the leave year:

- National Postal Mail Handlers Union - RSC M.

-International Association of Machinists - RSC T.

- American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO - RSCs C, N, and P.

- Operating Services Division Agreement - RSC K.

- Fraternal Order of Police, National Labor Council, USPS No. 2 - RSC Y.

Letter Soon Mailed to Eligible Employees

The Eagan Accounting Service Center (ASC) will mail a letter providing details of the eligibility criteria and instructions for using PostalEASE to make annual leave exchange elections to eligible employees at their address of record during November 2004. Undeliverable letters will be returned to the personnel office, which should ensure that they are forwarded to the employee's work location along with PS Form 1216, Employee's Current Mailing Address. Employees who have access to either the Employee Change of Address feature on on the intranet (go to http://blue.usps.gov; under "Employee Resources," click on Employee Self Service, then Employee Change of Address) or to an employee Self-Service kiosk (available at some facilities) should use those methods rather than completing PS Form 1216.

PostalEASE Elections

Employees who meet the eligibility criteria and want to exercise that option must use PostalEASE to make elections. For the election to be considered timely, employees must complete their entries in PostalEASE by midnight, Central Time, December 15, 2004.

Employees who are unable to use PostalEASE to complete their elections should contact their local personnel office before December 15, 2004, for assistance.

We will not distribute forms for the November 15, 2004, to December 15, 2004, election period.

Payment by Lump Sum

Payment under the Annual Leave Exchange Program will be a lump sum calculated on the employee's base salary as of the first day of the 2005 leave year (January 8, 2005). Paychecks dated January 28, 2005, will include the 2005 lump sum payment.

- Compensation,
Employee Resource Management, 10-28-04

PLEASE POST ON ALL BULLETIN BOARDS THROUGH DECEMBER 15, 2004.