If you think you can ask for FMLA leave retroactively, think again. It is not always possible. The Board has held in the past that an employee is not required to specifically invoke FMLA when requesting leave, so long as he presents the agency with sufficient evidence to trigger consideration of his absence under FMLA. According to the Board, that holding is now incorrect. Here is why. Continue reading
The Board recently wrote that an agency cannot rest an AWOL charge solely on an employee’s failure to submit medical documentation on a particular form. If the employee has sufficient sick leave to cover the period in question, the agency must grant the request when the employee provides administratively acceptable evidence of incapacitation because of illness or injury and may not charge him with AWOL for the period, regardless of whether the employee has complied with applicable leave procedures. 5 CFR §630.401(a)(2) (mandating that an agency “grant sick leave” when an employee is medically incapacitated)… Regardless of its format, the appellant’s medical documentation was administratively acceptable, and the agency was required to allow him to use his accrued sick leave. Continue reading
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) is a very successful union of over 100,000 federal employee members across 35+ agencies with tens of millions in surplus investments. In many ways it is a model for how unions should operate. But it is also more of an autocratic kingdom run by one person alone than a democracy built atop checks, balances, and shared power as the law requires. (5 USC §7120) I know that because I worked for the union for 38 years, held its second highest elected political office for over a decade, and remain a member today. Consequently, I am going to use the FEDSMILL forum to highlight what is questionable, if not plain wrong, with the union and offer some suggestions to move it closer to the open democracy it should be. I will not only focus on certain aspects of the union’s governance, but also compare it to how three other unions operate. The first is the National Labor Relations Board Union (NLRBU) whose members are experts in labor law and union operations. The second is the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) which has the highest percentage of union membership among the feds it represents. The third is the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) which is the biggest federal employee union. If I do this right, it should generate some serious questioning among local NTEU leaders as well as changes at its next convention, if not sooner. It should also help those in other unions consider what they want to adopt from the NTEU model. This first part of the series examines several flaws in the national elected leadership of NTEU. Continue reading
As part of his plans to destroy America’s civil service as an effective institution protecting citizens, Trump has created a fictional status for federal employees that will enable him, Elon or whatever other mogul, hanger-on, groupie, or family member wants to fire a fed for any reason at all without appeal rights. God help these feds if they do not raise an arm in praise of him, or offend a donor, or protest the demolition of the White House in favor of a neo-bordello, Mara Largo theme, or get in the way of one of his family’s get-rich-quick-while-in-office schemes. It is the exact opposite of what President Teddy Roosevelt proved that the public needed from government and that the law allows. Unions, which are proving to be the last line of defense for a legitimate civil service, have moved to the courts to stop Trump from doing this. But in the meantime, it looks like the White House mafia is going to try to trick feds into signing away their rights by insisting they waive every protection they have under the law no matter what the courts say. Continue reading
You do not often hear about step increase denials, also known as WIGI or ALOC denials, but they are a big deal for an employee and not the easiest things to grieve or challenge. The first step for a union rep lacking experience with these denials probably should be to look over the four following FEDSMILL posts to get a big picture view of what is possible and mistakes to avoid. Continue reading
Terri, a Dep’t. of Interior employee, took an Uber to the airport for her four-day trip. When she filed a voucher asking for the agency to reimburse her $40.00 costs, it refused to pay. It alleged that if she had taken a cab, Uber or similar ride to the airport it would only have cost her $16.74. It based that on a website estimation of what the cost of the trip would have been on average. The employee appealed to the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) which is where feds take travel disputes if they cannot grieve the agency’s denial. The Board slapped Interior down and ordered Terri fully paid. But it is the reasoning it used that is important because we would not be surprised if other agencies are also using website estimations to reject employee travel claims. Continue reading
NFFE just announced it latest organizing victory adding another 174 workers to its Forest Service unit, but the even better news is that NFFE has won 60 straight organizing drives in 2025 and has already added 10 more to that streak. That kind of success is unheard of and an enormous testament to what the national leadership is doing there. It is also further evidence that The King of the golden gilded, bordello-like White House has created a Trump Bump for unions. Congrats NFFE.
Once it endorsed Trump in the 2016 election, he rewarded the Border Patrol Council with the most lavish collective bargaining agreement ever negotiated in the federal sector. (It was particularly sumptuous for the union leadership that was given near-endless amounts of official time. See our 2019 post entitled, “Trump Pay Off Border Patrol Union.”) But things have not gone so well for them since, as seen this week when Trump’s two FLRA appointees overturned a union arbitration victory. Continue reading
It was bound to happen that leaders would start to copy Trump’s control tricks, but it is sad to see a union leader doing it to her members. One of the most fundamental elements of democracy within a union is the right of a member to file charges against the union president for violating law, regulation, or union policy. Given that union president’s are predisposed to reject any claims they did wrong –as we all are, democracy requires that the member have the right to appeal the president’s dismissal of charges to the executive board and on to the convention. If there is no right of appeal, by definition you have an autocratic president—or to be more blunt, you have a Mini-Trump. NTEU’s national executive board just voted to make its president’s dismissal of charges unappealable to the board or the convention. Here is the very crafty way they did it. Continue reading