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.

SHOULD EMPLOYERS INVITE EMPLOYEES ON FMLA LEAVE TO HOLIDAY PARTIES? That seems like a very good question especially around this time of the year. Does it violate the employees’ right to exclude them simply because they are on FMLA leave? … Continue reading

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WHEN HR DISRESPECTS DECIDING OFFICIALS Sitting as the deciding official over a proposed adverse action is a big deal.  Not only does the DO have to respect employee Constitutional rights, but also the requirements of law, regulation, agency policy, past … Continue reading

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EEOC PROVIDES ADA GUIDANCE FOR EMPLOYEES’ DOCTORS If you have ever been involved with a disabled employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation, you know that a lot depends of what the employee’s doctor does and writes.  EEOC just gave them … Continue reading

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FMLA QUIZ: WHO IS RIGHT AND WHO IS NOT? Here are the facts of a 2015 MSPB decision in an adverse action suspension case.  See if you remember the right answer.  The employee left the office the morning of September … Continue reading

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FLRA OFFERS TUTORIAL SLIDES FOR BARGAINING OVER OFFICE MOVES While we are not about to call it absolutely the best advice any LR practitioner can get on how to bargain over office moves, if you are involved in that situation … Continue reading

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AFGE CELEBRATES ITS NOT-SO-SECRET SUCCESS FORMULA Even a quick check of AFGE’s current  national newsletter will give you an idea of how proud and happy the union is to have achieved an on-going level of 300,000 dues paying members. While … Continue reading

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FEDERAL WHISTLEBLOWER RIGHTS AND PROTECTIONS VIDEO Whistleblowing laws have changed a lot in the last few years and most of the change has been good for employees.  Union reps should make sure they can spot the situations where employees qualify … Continue reading

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TIMELINESS OF GRIEVANCES VERSUS REMEDY TIME PERIODS: LMR RUSSIAN ROULETTE Let’s assume that a union filed a timely institutional grievance on May 1, 2014 claiming that its members had been denied full travel mileage reimbursement as required by the agreement … Continue reading

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CHURCH LADY SMITES DOD Score another one for all the Sunday church-going Christians in their battle to spend their Sabbath worshiping.  This time DOD learned the hard way that it must offer a “reasonable accommodation” to allow employees to practice … Continue reading

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UNIONS NEED MANAGEMENT’S HELP ON THIS Tucked away in a little visited part of the labor law (5 USC 7120(c)) is an obligation that unions with exclusive recognition over federal employees must file annual financial reports with the IRS and … Continue reading

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