Monthly Archives: March 2015

FIVE UNION RIGHTS YOU MAY NOT REMEMBER We all know that union activists cannot be fired, denied a benefit, or even poorly evaluated if the decision is based on or even related to our choice to be union activist.  But … Continue reading

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WHAT DO YOU THINK? LEGAL OR ILLEGAL? Can a union constitution prohibit members from holding more than one elected office at a time even if at different levels of the organization, e.g., local president and regional vice president on the … Continue reading

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DEPT. OF LABOR & IRS REPORT PROBLEMS? Given the political climate, unions need to avoid any suggestion of internal problems, especially federal employee unions which are regulated by these two agencies.  So, imagine the fallout if AFGE had any significant … Continue reading

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ATTENTION FMLA ENTHUSIASTS AND ENFORCERS If you are the person in the local who handles all the FMLA cases or you are negotiating a contract that will address FMLA matters, then you need to open the gift the American Bar … Continue reading

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  NEGOTIABILITY: FIRST, THE GOOD NEWS A new FLRA negotiability decision (NTEU, 68 FLRA 334 (2015)  makes it a little bit easier for unions to enforce merit-based promotion decisions—if they can convince management to include the concepts in their collective … Continue reading

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WHAT UNION REPS CAN DO THAT EMPLOYEES CAN’T All employees do not have equal legal rights.  Union representatives have far more rights than most.  In fact, they have far more rights than the average manager. So, if you hear anyone … Continue reading

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NTEU PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN BEGINS The Washington Post carried a nice piece March 9th about the retiring NTEU National President, but the bigger news may be what it did not address, namely, the campaign to replace her.  The first announced candidates appear to … Continue reading

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DEPRESSION AS A MITIGATION FACTOR A recent MSPB decision further validated that an employee’s depression is a legitimate mitigation factor in personal actions, even if it does not become known until after the action was taken.

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EEOC SPEAKS TO BACK PAY TAX LIABILITIES Here is a very interesting case from EEOC in which it ordered a federal agency not only to reimburse an employee for any extra tax liability flowing from a large back pay check, … Continue reading

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THE ELAW ADVISOR As we have said before, several federal agencies have developed what we will call “A-Z Indexes” to simplify a user’s search for HR/ER/LR information.  Typically, these indexes pull together the most important information a user might need … Continue reading

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