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.

WHAT IS A DISABILITY UNDER ADAAA & REHAB ACT? The Dept. of Justice is about to issue its new regulation defining a disability. That means it is time for EEO, ER and Union leaders to take a few minutes to … Continue reading

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NFFE LIGHTS UP AUO-FLSA DISTINCTIONS FOR LEO PERSONNEL What do you do if law enforcement officers in your unit are suddenly switched to AUO compensation for work that for years they had been paid FLSA overtime to do?  Our advice … Continue reading

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HOW UNIONS  FORFEIT MID-TERM BARGAINING RIGHTS Although FLRA has issued close to a half-dozen decisions upholding the concept described below, unions still are making the mistake that forfeits their right to bargain over mid-term changes.  So we thought we would … Continue reading

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HOW NOT TO DEAL WITH TROUBLESOME UNIT MEMBERS What’s a union leader to do when a non-member (or even a member) openly criticizes the union or one of its leaders in front of other bargaining unit employees during work time? … Continue reading

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WHAT DOES A USERRA VIOLATION LOOK LIKE? Most everyone knows a law was passed in the 90’s protecting federal employees who are also armed services members or veterans from discrimination. But we suspect not many feel confident that they could … Continue reading

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NWSEO CHARGES AGENCY SPIES ON ITS MEMBERS The Washington Post just posted a story about the employees of the National Weather Service alleging that the agency has spied on them through the union’s Facebook page. Long time NWSEO union leader … Continue reading

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HANDLING INTERMITTENT, UNPREDICTABLE LEAVE REQUESTS AFTER FMLA ENDS Our fellow bloggers at FMLA Insights just published some advice for handling those situations where a chronically sick employees runs out of FMLA leave.  It is a good piece for any union … Continue reading

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UNIONS USE TECHNOLOGY TO GROW MEMBERSHIP       Unions are getting smarter about recruiting new members and like every other institution in this country that means using more technology for everything—including membership growth. Here is a good summary piece on a larger … Continue reading

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LOLLAPALOOZA OF ATTORNEY FEE CASE See if you can guess in advance of what happened when an attorney agreed to the following conditions for his fee for representing a federal employee: (1) he promised her that his work on the … Continue reading

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FEDSMILL CAN IMPROVE NATIONAL STAFF HELP, BUT WE NEED A SPONSOR FIRST Have you ever tried to get in touch with the national union staff person assigned to your local to deal with an urgent matter, but not been able … Continue reading

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