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USPS · Processing Line Teamwork

You witness a coworker deliberately sorting mail incorrectly to maintain a high processing rate that looks good on their performance metrics. What should you do?

Correct answer

Report what you observed to your supervisor — deliberate missorting to inflate performance metrics is a form of dishonesty that affects mail delivery quality and is not acceptable

  1. A Join in — high processing rates benefit everyone
  2. B Say nothing to avoid conflict
  3. C Report what you observed to your supervisor — deliberate missorting to inflate performance metrics is a form of dishonesty that affects mail delivery quality and is not acceptable
  4. D Confront the coworker aggressively in front of the team

Why this is the answer

Deliberate missorting to game performance metrics is a serious integrity violation — it falsely represents individual performance while actually degrading the team's and USPS's actual output quality. Reporting is the correct action, not confrontation (which escalates unnecessarily) and not silence (which makes you complicit). Frame your report factually: what you observed, when, and where. The USPS VEA specifically measures integrity under social pressure — this scenario tests exactly that.
Source: USPS 476 VEA, Integrity and Reporting

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