PS Form 1723, the USPS Assignment Order, is the document a supervisor completes any time an employee is temporarily moved into different duties, a different work location, or a different schedule than their bid position calls for. It is the controlling record for the assignment: it sets the start and end dates, drives the payroll system, and gives the local union the notice required under the national agreement. Without a properly completed 1723, higher-level pay often does not post, and the employee has no clean proof the change was management-directed.
When a Supervisor Must Issue One
The form’s instructions list two broad triggers: temporary assignments to duties outside the employee’s official position (including higher-level and training assignments), and changes to scheduled hours or days off that were not posted in advance.1USPS. PS Form 1723, Assignment Order
Higher-Level Details, Including 204-b
The most common use is detailing a bargaining-unit employee, such as a letter carrier, clerk, or mail handler, into a temporary supervisory role known as a 204-b. The 1723 is the single document that determines whether someone is in 204-b status on a given day. While on that status, the employee cannot perform bargaining-unit work outside the narrow emergency circumstances in the national agreement and cannot be used for bargaining-unit overtime in place of a craft employee.2NALC. Contract Talk 2000
Cross-Craft and Location Moves
Management also issues a 1723 to move an employee between crafts temporarily, for example shifting a mail handler to clerk duties during a holiday surge, or to send someone to a different station or work unit. These moves do not change the employee’s permanent bid. The form ties the hours worked to the finance number at the temporary location so payroll charges land in the right cost center.
Unposted Schedule Changes
If a supervisor changes an employee’s days off or reporting hours without posting the change in advance, the 1723 records the new schedule. It is easy to overlook in the field, but it is the employee’s proof that the change was directed rather than voluntary.
How to Fill It Out
Identify the employee by name and Employee Identification Number, and record the current craft designation and salary level, because that baseline drives any higher-level pay calculation.3United States Postal Service. Employee and Labor Relations Manual – 417 Temporary Assignment to Nonbargaining Unit Positions (Career Employees)
Select a reason for the assignment from the checklist on the form: vacancy, scheduled day off, annual leave, sick leave, detail, or “other” with an explanation.1USPS. PS Form 1723, Assignment Order Enter the temporary job title, the facility or unit where the work will be performed, and the pay location code and finance number for that unit. Precise start and end dates go on the form along with the specific hours of the assignment. If the assignment involves a higher pay grade, identify the grade and level of the temporary position. The actual pay increase follows Employee and Labor Relations Manual rules and is not written freehand.
Signature and Timing
There is a signature line for the employee. If the employee is unavailable or unable to sign, the supervisor documents how the employee was notified in the Employee Notification Box, and the assignment is still valid.4FormsPal. PS Form 1723 The 1723 is a management directive rather than a mutual agreement. An employee who disagrees follows the assignment and grieves later; refusing the detail can lead to discipline.
Complete the form before the employee starts the temporary duties. Filling it in after the fact creates payroll problems and invites grievances, because the form is the controlling document for the employee’s status on any given day.2NALC. Contract Talk 2000
How Higher-Level Pay Works
The pay rules depend on where the employee is coming from.
Bargaining-unit employees receive higher-level pay for all time worked on the higher-level assignment, with no waiting period. The salary increase equals 5 percent of the employee’s actual salary or the minimum salary for the higher grade, whichever is greater, and the total cannot exceed the maximum rate of the higher-level position.3United States Postal Service. Employee and Labor Relations Manual – 417 Temporary Assignment to Nonbargaining Unit Positions (Career Employees)
Executive and Administrative Schedule employees begin receiving higher-level pay after five consecutive workdays on the assignment; normal days off do not break the count. Moving directly from one higher-level assignment to another does not restart the five-day wait.3United States Postal Service. Employee and Labor Relations Manual – 417 Temporary Assignment to Nonbargaining Unit Positions (Career Employees)
Bargaining-unit employees on a higher-level detail keep their craft pay premiums under the applicable collective bargaining agreement, but they are not eligible for the supervisory differential adjustment or the Pay for Performance Program.3United States Postal Service. Employee and Labor Relations Manual – 417 Temporary Assignment to Nonbargaining Unit Positions (Career Employees)
Time Limits on the Assignment
Temporary assignments are not open-ended. Handbook EL-312 sets an initial ceiling of 90 calendar days for details at the same, lower, or higher level, extendable by the next higher level of management above the detailed position.5United States Postal Service. Handbook EL-312 – Employment and Placement – 716 Positions Filled Temporarily
A separate 120-day rule applies when the detail fills a vacant position at a higher level and the detailed employee could become a candidate for the permanent job. The assignment must end before the 121st calendar day; serving beyond 120 days makes the employee ineligible for placement in that position. The rule does not apply to same- or lower-level assignments, coverage for a temporarily absent incumbent, officer-in-charge assignments, initial-level supervisor positions, or Headquarters positions.6United States Postal Service. Handbook EL-312 – 743 Selection Process
Details running beyond one year require prior written approval from the vice president of Area Retail & Delivery Operations, Regional Processing, or Logistics for field assignments, or the relevant functional officer for Headquarters positions.5United States Postal Service. Handbook EL-312 – Employment and Placement – 716 Positions Filled Temporarily
Collective bargaining agreements can be stricter. Under the APWU agreement, 204-b details are permitted only when a supervisor is absent or a supervisory vacancy exists for 14 or more consecutive calendar days, and usage is normally limited to a single 90-day period, with exceptions reserved for situations like extended maternity or military leave. A different 204-b cannot be rotated in for a second 90-day stint once the first employee completes the initial assignment.7APWU Local 195. Grieving 204-B Violations
Who Gets a Copy
A completed 1723 does not stay in one place. Missing any of the required distributions causes problems.
The employee gets a copy for their own records. It is their proof that the temporary duties were authorized and the document they will need if a pay dispute or grievance comes up later.
The national agreement requires management to give the local union a copy of every Form 1723 showing the beginning and ending dates of the detail, provided in advance whenever possible.8Branch 38 NALC. 204Bs and 1723s If management ends a detail early, a revised 1723 goes to the union representative as soon as practicable.2NALC. Contract Talk 2000
How the form reaches the Time and Attendance Collection System depends on the length of the assignment. For details of one full week or longer, the supervisor sends a copy to the local TACS office, which enters a temporary job assignment (coded “T”) in Employee File Maintenance; only authorized TACS staff can modify these master-file records. For details shorter than a full week, the supervisor manually enters a higher-level authorization code (Code 90) in the system each day the employee works at the higher level.9United States Postal Service. TACS Time and Attendance Collection System Supervisor Training Most pay errors on details start here. If nobody enters the code or the temporary assignment record, the paycheck will not reflect the higher-level rate, and a manual correction or grievance becomes necessary.
Where to Get the Form
PS Form 1723 is an internal USPS document. Active supervisors and managers access it through the USPS intranet, commonly called Blue or LiteBlue, or through internal administrative portals. It is not published on the public-facing usps.com site. Some union locals and third-party form repositories host downloadable copies, but the version used for official purposes should come from the current internal system to make sure it reflects the latest revision.