Author Archives: AdminUN

About AdminUN

FEDSMILL staff has over 40 years of federal sector labor relations experience on the union as well as management side of the table and even some time as a neutral.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT QUIZ: WHO STAYS AND WHO GOES? If one employee alleges that another employee in the same office is sexually harassing him, does the Agency have to move one to another workplace while it investigates the matter?  If so, who … Continue reading

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LOVE THIS PIP PROTECTION IDEA Being put on a PIP is often the beginning of the end for an employee. The manager uses it to focus the crosshairs on their target and all that remains is to pull the trigger. … Continue reading

Posted in Performance, Unacceptable Performance | Tagged | Leave a comment

GRIEVANCE QUIZ: ALMOST PERFECT EXCEPT FOR … Below is a hypothetical grievance inspired by one that actually went to arbitration and FLRA. The union lost on a technicality in both forums. See if you can spot the error before we … Continue reading

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UNION REP TEST #5 (Negotiations –An Agency’s Specific Notice Obligation) We have said it often before.  The biggest process mistake management can make while bargaining is to violate this obligation, and aggressive enforcement of this obligation by the union increases … Continue reading

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THE $5.97 TRAVEL CLAIM VICTORY A fed traveled for an agency to a Vegas conference, but before leaving he submitted a travel voucher for the projected cost of the trip.  For some unknown reason the agency took over three months … Continue reading

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FLRA, RETIREES & OTHER FORMER EMPLOYEES Can the FLRA help retired or other former employees when an agency or a union interferes with that person’s current or potential employment? For example, suppose a federal agency negotiated a settlement with an … Continue reading

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NOW THIS IS A WHOPPER… of a remedy that union reps should keep in mind when drafting grievances, especially those that allege an EEO violation. It is the kind of remedy order that opens up the mind as to what … Continue reading

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5 COMMON TYPES OF REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS Looking through the blogs posted by law firms representing federal employees, we ran across a useful post from PINESFEDERAL, a firm operating out of D.C., Houston and Atlanta. Fedsmill has posted a ton of … Continue reading

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DEFENDING FEDERAL EMPLOYEES IN PIP CASES From time to time, we scan the blogs of various law firms that specialize in representing federal employees and find very useful information.  So, we thought we would start passing on links to these … Continue reading

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TWO FEDS GET SHARE OF $1.7 MILLION FINE AGAINST CHEATING CONTRACTORS Private contractors are everywhere in government because a bundle of politicians believe that private sector firms can always do the work faster, better, and cheaper than federal employees.  I … Continue reading

Posted in A-76/Contracting, Contractor Fraud | Tagged | Leave a comment