Monthly Archives: May 2014

ADVOCATES’ ALERT: AT LEAST MAKE THE ARGUMENT The Authority just posted a new decision and the lesson for advocates on either side of the arbitration table is that they should get all their arguments on the record, even if they … Continue reading

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TELECOMMUTING CAN BE A REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION Just a few weeks ago another federal circuit court held that a disabled employee’s request to telecommute can be a reasonable accommodation.  If an employer wants to deny the requested accommodation, it has the … Continue reading

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WHICH GS GRADES PAY BELOW THE MINIMUM WAGE? Thanks to SEIU and a few other justice-minded folks the City of Seattle has set the minimum wage at $15.00 an hour, giving over 100,000 workers around the city a raise.  While … Continue reading

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DETAILS: WHAT ABOUT THOSE LEFT BEHIND? Most agreements contain a clause that spells out how employees are to be selected for details, but what about the employees who are left behind when someone leaves on a detail or reassignment?  The … Continue reading

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NAVY DELAY TOSSES $300,000 OVERBOARD These stories just keep on coming thanks to less-than-stellar agency efforts to provide reasonable accommodations–and employees willing to stand up for themselves.  EEOC just issued a new decision ordering the Department of the Navy to … Continue reading

Posted in EEO/Disabilities, Reasonable Accommodations | Tagged | Leave a comment

GRIEVING NON-SELECTION FOR PROMOTION Knowing how to overturn a Selecting Official’s decision not to promote someone is a critical skill every union local needs.  Success might not only get a member priority consideration, but also retroactive promotion, back pay with … Continue reading

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HOW TO CHALLENGE VAGUE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS Do your members work under performance standards that require tasks be completed “in a timely manner” or that the employee efforts “result in timely service?”  If so, MSPB just issued a decision that will … Continue reading

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CAN THE UNION  GET THIS EMPLOYEE COMPENSATED? Imagine an employee walks into the union office asking for help because she believes her manager has retaliated against her for filing an EEO discrimination race, age and disability charge.  She tells you … Continue reading

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10 NEW (AND LEGAL) WAYS AGENCIES CAN SPY ON EMPLOYEES A union not only works on current employee problems, but also looks ahead to looming ones. Agency spying on employees (or monitoring, if you want to be polite) is one … Continue reading

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ETHICS TEST: DID THIS UNION SELL OUT ITS MEMBERS? (ANSWER)  Last week we posed a hypothetical fact pattern involving a union’s decision to trade five grievance/ULP charges, that potentially could have given unit employees millions in back pay, in return … Continue reading

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