OK to Gift My Minnesota Mail Carrier This Christmas?

I am fortunate to have a great mail carrier, and she's the same person that delivers to my hours ninety-percent of the days during the year, se we actually get to know each other a little bit. She's not just great because she deliver's our mail, but because she's always good for a smile, a wave, and a quick, funny chat.

Each year when the holidays roll around, I wonder what the protocol is for gifting and tipping the people that serve you all year long. Mail carrier, trash collector; those kinds of things.

I ask specifically about the letter carrier, because we get to know her. I have no idea if it's the same person picking up my trash each week when I'm not even at home. I feel like it would be a nice gesture for Amie & I to get her a little something.

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I have also heard that they are not allowed to accept gifts or tips from customers along their route. However, that is not the final word, but this is. The official word from the United States Postal Service is,

Carriers are permitted to accept a gift worth $20 or less from a customer per occasion, such as Christmas, however, cash and cash equivalents, such as checks or gift cards that can be exchanged for cash, must never be accepted in any amount. Furthermore, no employee may accept more than $50 worth of gifts from any one customer in any one calendar year, period.

So the answer is, yes we can get them a gift, as long as its not a cash, check, or something that can be converted to cash -- and has a value of twenty dollars or less.

I'm leaning towards a Caribou or Starbucks gift card. Something to help stay warm delivering mail during a cold Minnesota winter.