No Bonuses for Bad Service Act: USPS Leadership Denied Extra Pay Unless 95% of Mail Arrives on Time

The 'No Bonuses for Bad Service Act' is a straightforward piece of legislation designed to align executive pay with the actual experience of anyone waiting for a package or a utility bill. The bill amends sections 202 and 2804 of title 39 of the U.S. Code to establish a hard performance floor for the people at the top of the United States Postal Service. Essentially, if the mail isn't moving as fast as it’s supposed to, the Postmaster General and the Deputy Postmaster General won't see a dime in bonuses, awards, or any monetary compensation beyond their base salary.

The 95% Rule

Under this bill, the Board of Governors is prohibited from approving bonuses in any fiscal year where the USPS fails to hit a 95% on-time delivery rate for its 'market-dominant product categories.' Think of these categories as the essentials: First-Class Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, and Periodicals. For a small business owner relying on the mail to send out invoices or a veteran waiting on a prescription, this 95% target acts as a quality guarantee. If the agency misses that mark on even one of its delivery targets, the top brass loses their extra compensation. It’s a classic 'pay for performance' model applied to a service that every American household relies on.

Accountability and Paper Trails

Beyond the paycheck restrictions, the bill tightens up how the USPS reports its progress. It requires the agency’s annual performance report to be submitted directly to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). While this sounds like bureaucratic shuffling, it’s actually about oversight. By sending these reports to the PRC—the independent agency that oversees postal rates and service—it ensures that the data used to justify (or deny) those executive bonuses is being scrutinized by an outside body rather than just staying in-house.

Real-World Stakes

For most of us, the impact is all about reliability. If you’re a freelance graphic designer mailing out physical proofs or a trade worker waiting for a specific tool to arrive, you care less about the Postmaster General’s bank account and more about your mail arriving when promised. This bill bets that by putting the leadership’s skin in the game, the internal pressure to fix logistical bottlenecks will increase. The challenge, of course, lies in the math; hitting a 95% target across every single category is a high bar, and the bill doesn't provide new funding to reach it—it simply says that if the service isn't excellent, the leadership shouldn't be rewarded as if it were.