Category Archives: Arbitration

UNTIMELY DISCIPLINE SUGGESTS CBP MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER What does it say about an agency when it takes months or even years after it becomes aware of an employee’s misconduct to discipline the employee?  We think it suggests a serious mental illness … Continue reading

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FLRA ANNOUNCES WEB-BASED ARBITRATION TRAINING The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) announced recently that its web-based Comprehensive Arbitration Training is now available on-line. The training is yet another example of the FLRA’s ongoing efforts to better serve the labor-management community, providing members with … Continue reading

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AFGE WINS WTH UNCOMMON DEFENSES TO PERFORMANCE CRITICISM If the average federal employee only knew how vulnerable he/she is to being fired for performance-based reasons, employee pharmaceutical bills would double. Management can unilaterally set the performance standards, need only produce … Continue reading

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TAX-RELATED OVERPAYMENTS MAY BE WAIVED Here is a new one that surprises even us. A federal agency, ironically the IRS, failed to withhold from the biweekly salary checks of its employees in Florence, KY the full income tax amount they … Continue reading

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FDIC FLIPS, FLOPS, FLAPS, & FLAILS The FDIC leadership is currently doing its best impression of a fish tightly caught on the end of an angler’s line. It’s struggling mightily in a desperate attempt to break free of the hook … Continue reading

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ARE YOU “GETTIN’ ENOUGH”— FROM GRIEVANCES? (Part 1) One of the first mistakes a union can make when drafting a grievance is to not ask for enough of a remedy. Not only does the grievant potentially lose something she might … Continue reading

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MSPB’S 13TH DOUGLAS FACTOR MSPB and virtually every arbitrator use the 12 so-called Douglas factors to decide whether to mitigate an adverse action penalty.  (See a complete list of the Douglas factors at the end of this posting.) It is … Continue reading

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WHEN UNIONS LIBEL MANAGEMENT More than a few contracts state that the union may not libel (or slander) any manager when using the agency’s internal communications systems.  But what can management do if the union does cross the line.  An … Continue reading

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FLRA FUBAR: ARBITRATING PROBATIONARY TERMINATIONS In December 2011 the Authority had a chance in NTEU, 66 FLRA 416 to fix an error it made decades ago that denied unions and agencies the right to consolidate the numerous appeal options of … Continue reading

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NTEU PROVES FDIC PAY RAISES VIOLATE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT NTEU charged the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation with discriminating against its African-American employees and those 40 and over when it distributed performance awards. Last week an arbitrator agreed ruling that FDIC … Continue reading

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