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.

LACTATION QUESTION: WHAT DO YOU CALL IT WHEN… …(a) management was unable to give an employee access to the lactation room, forcing her to go home on leave to express, (b) management let employees use the lactation room as a … Continue reading →

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CALLING ALL UNION FMLA SPECIALISTS A number of unions have one person designated to help members who encounter problems getting their Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) rights respected. Those representatives need all the help they can get to deal with … Continue reading →

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HOW TO BEAT A “LACK OF CANDOR” DISCIPLINE CHARGE MSPB has a long record of terminating employees not just for making outright false statements, but also for failing to volunteer information about an incident that management did not even ask … Continue reading →

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

IRS APPLICANT GETS 11 YEARS BACK PAY, LEAVE, & A JOB Back in 2012 IRS informed an Africa-American applicant he was conditionally selected for a vacancy and gave him a preemployment background form to complete.  When he noted that he … Continue reading →

Posted in EEO/Discrimination | Tagged | Leave a comment

THE NEXT STEPS FOR COVID-TRIGGERED EDP/HDP We have no idea what is going on in the conference rooms of the lawyers who just lost the case that denies most feds the right to extra compensation based on prolonged exposure to … Continue reading →

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MSPB BURIES RELIGIOUS COVID MASK PROTESTOR A GS-6 Pharmacy Technician refused to wear a mask around the workplace during the COVID epidemic despite an agency order issued in November 2020. It required that they be worn everywhere on the premises … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipline/Adverse Action | Tagged | 1 Comment

BARGAINING I&I OVER SHUTDOWN FURLOUGHS Although it makes no sense outside the world of “stir-up-the-base-and-its contributions” politics, the odds are increasing that federal employees will have to endure shutdown furloughs once again in the near future. Consequently, if your union … Continue reading →

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NO ENVIRONMENTAL DIFFERENTIAL PAY (EDP) FOR COVID EXPOSURE Not sure why the union chose to take this case to the generally anti-employee Federal Circuit Court rather than to arbitration. Afterall, arbitrators have ordered EDP and the FLRA has upheld those orders. But … Continue reading →

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FLRA’S BIZARRE VALENTINES DAY GIFT FLRA slipped a bizarre gift under our L-M community pillow on the eve of Valentines’ Day. It held that unions can be obligated to reopen and modify existing term bargaining ground rules agreements in the … Continue reading →

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FLRA BOOSTS TELEWORK REMEDIES   Few things are as frustrating as winning a grievance, arbitration or ULP only to find that the sole remedy imposed is an order that management not violate the law or contract again.  FLRA claims that remedies should … Continue reading →

Posted in Telework | Tagged | 1 Comment