Category Archives: Union Rep Test

UNION REP TEST #10 (Crediting Plans)  We just read a Dept. of Treasury case where it was ordered to retroactively promote an accountant because the selecting officials on two promotions packages stumbled all over themselves (aka made stuff up) on … Continue reading

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UNION REP TEST #9  (Ratifying FSIP Orders) QUESTION: What happens when a union refuses to ratify a term agreement partially based on an order from the Panel?  Can the agency just turn around and ask the Panel to impose the … Continue reading

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UNION REP TEST #8 (Part 2) – Prohibited Personnel Practices (PPP)  This continues the self-assessment of your knowledge of prohibited personnel practices. Read through the hypothetical situations provided under each PPP and decide what you think.  The correct responses are … Continue reading

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UNION REP TEST #8  (Part 1) – Prohibited Personnel Practices (PPPs) Although union reps are much more likely to encounter agency actions violating provisions of a labor agreement or federal regulations, there are situations where one of these 14 statutory … Continue reading

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UNION REP TEST #7 (Probationary Employee Rights) Newly hired probationary employees sometimes decide not to join the union because they think it cannot do a thing for them if they are fired.  They could not be more wrong about that. … Continue reading

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UNION REP TEST #6 (FMLA) The COVID crisis is going to create a lot of traffic for union stewards from employees with an entire range of FMLA questions.  The web and other fed employee news sites currently are loaded with … 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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UNION REP TEST #4 (EEO- Medical Information Privacy) The rehabilitation Act prohibits managers from disclosing physical or mental medical information they have about an employee to anyone without a legitimate reason to know.  Nonetheless, managers repeatedly ignore the rule and … Continue reading

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UNION REP TEST #3 (LR – COVID CHANGES)  Read over the facts below and identify what, if anything, the union can do to help. The answer is provided below the facts. FACTS: Assume that an employee’s administrative workweek starts in the wee … Continue reading

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UNION REP TEST#2 (EEO- Religious Accommodation) QUESTION: An employee calls her union rep, you, on the phone to ask if anything can be done to help her comply with the demands of her faith.  She practices Islam and is at … Continue reading

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