Monthly Archives: September 2022

EEOC REMINDER ABOUT LEAVE AND REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS Given the increasing number of requests for reasonable accommodations, union reps need to remember the following EEOC precedent: “forcing an employee to take leave when another accommodation would permit an employee to continue … Continue reading

Posted in Disability | Tagged | Leave a comment

MSPB CHANGES SIXTH DOUGLAS FACTOR MEANING If a union rep cannot undermine the agency’s evidence that the employee committed the alleged infraction, then s/he uses the “Douglas Factors” to argue that even though guilty the employee’s penalty should be mitigated … Continue reading

Posted in Discipline/Adverse Action | Tagged | Leave a comment

ON YOUR OWN; WE ARE ON RETREAT The Fedsmill.com executive board has called a three-weeks long meeting of all officers, staff, international correspondents, imbedded informants, and its nighttime all-Norwegian cleaning crew starting September 19. We will be on Cap-aux-Meules at … Continue reading

Posted in FLRA | Tagged | Leave a comment

UNDERTAKING A HGDG REVERSAL STRATEGY We are back on the issue of OPM standing in the way of employees receiving back pay for all the time they spend performing higher graded duties. See our recent post entitled, “Money For Higher-Graded … Continue reading

Posted in Back Pay | Tagged | Leave a comment

PROPS TO THE NLRBPA FOR THIS UNUSUAL GRIEVANCE We are happy to tip our hat to these union leaders for filing and winning a grievance involving probationary employees. Showing that they know their way around the Code of Federal Regulations, … Continue reading

Posted in Probation Period | Tagged | Leave a comment

WHOPPER OF A REMEDY AGAINST INFAMOUS AGENCY Off the top of our head, we can’t think of an agency that did more to recklessly follow the labor relations advice of the last White House Administration – even though any LR … Continue reading

Posted in Bargaining Law, Remedies | Tagged | 1 Comment

GRIEVING THE DENIAL OF A DEBT COLLECTION WAIVER To our surprise, both FLRA members decided to interpret the law differently from Chairman Dubester.  The case raised the question of whether an agency’s denial of an employee’s request to repay an … Continue reading

Posted in Grievance/Arbitration | Tagged | Leave a comment

IS ICE JUST THE BEGINNING OF A SOLELY DHS FOCUSED UNION? FLRA has approved AFGE’s request that it no longer be considered the exclusive representative of Immigration & Citizenship Enforcement (ICE) employees. From all we have heard and read, the … Continue reading

Posted in AFGE | Tagged | 2 Comments

DON’T MAKE THIS HGDG GRIEVANCE MISTAKE One of the more satisfying grievances to win for employees is a claim that they be paid for doing work above their normal salary grade.  Often these are called Higher Graded Duty Grievances (HGDG), … Continue reading

Posted in Back Pay, Grievance/Arbitration, Higher Graded Details | Tagged | Leave a comment

FLRA FORCES UNIONS TO WEAPONIZE RATIFICATION VOTES If an agency does not like a FSIP decision, all it needs do is have the agency head disapprove the agreement. That gives the agency an official platform on which to challenge the … Continue reading

Posted in FSIP | Tagged | 3 Comments