FLRA has made it very clear that while unions cannot negotiate over an agency’s substantive decision to contract out work, they can negotiate over impact and implementation issues. (See NAGE, 61 FLRA 593 (2006)). They can also pursue a ULP remedy if an agency unilaterally contracts out unit employees’ work without notice and bargaining out (See IFPTE, 64 FLRA 508 (2010)) or even denies information the union needs to represent members (See PASS, 65 FLRA 950 (2011)). But all of those rights mean very little if unions do not know how to find out what work their employer has contracted out or is about to contract out. LR rarely tells unions because even it knows virtually nothing about contracting out. Here is how to get the information you need right off the web, thereby avoiding reliance on the kindness of the LR, procurement, and FOIA shops. Continue reading
We can’t say this often enough. When Selecting Officials non-select BQ candidates, especially those with higher scores than the selectee, the Selecting Official (SO) must provide the non-selected applicant something more than a vague, subjective, zero-content, non-verifiable reason why he/she was rejected. If the SO refuses to do it voluntarily, simply file an EEO complaint and the SO will be forced to go on the record and under oath. Continue reading
An agency recently asked the General Accountability Office (Comptroller General) if it could use agency funds to buy refreshments for an employee CFC rally designed to boost contributions. While GAO used the occasion to spell out the basic rule and its exceptions, it unknowingly shined a bright light on an opportunity for unions. GAO’s decision said, Continue reading
Look over the facts listed below to see if you can spot the potential problem in how this grievance was written. Sarah Smith, our fictional employee, did not make the Best Qualified List for a promotion because the agency used a ranking factor it should not have. If that factor had not been used, Sarah and three other employees would have been on the BQ list instead of the four who were on it when management chose the top-ranked person on the list. Sarah sensed something was wrong when she was not placed on the BQ list, and brought her concern to the union. It obtained the promotion package, found the error and represented Sarah on the grievance she filed. It did not file on behalf of the other three harmed employees because they were not members and when asked if they wanted to be covered by the grievance they told the union to leave them alone. Continue reading
Suppose an agency decides that the most advantageous way for you to travel from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Billings, Montana for three days of official duty there is by air with a rental car while there. However, rather than go by air, you choose to drive your POV, which required you to leave Sunday for a Monday 1 PM appointment and also stay another night on the road when travelling home after your last appointment in Billings. Most everyone knows that you will be reimbursed for the lesser of the cost of travel by air versus the cost of travel by POV. But just how are the two figures calculated? A recent CBCA decision shows that the Department of Interior’s own travel regulations had it wrong, which leads us to believe other agencies do as well. (See Cherry, CBCA 3878-TRAV) Here is a more formal interpretation of the rule: Continue reading
The EEOC just published a report showing that about one-third of the time an agency dismissed a discrimination complaint on procedural grounds it is wrong. If your local represents members in that process, you should at least page through this to familiarize yourself with the most common blunders agencies make. It is entitled, “Preserving Access to the Legal System: Common Errors by Federal Agencies in Dismissing Complaints of Discrimination on Procedural Grounds.”
The Authority recently called for input from all interested parties on a case before it. An ALJ has recommended that an employee of an agency that is excluded from coverage under the labor statute by Presidential Executive Order can never be held liable for violating other covered employees’ labor law rights. If the FLRA upholds this recommendation, managers in every agency will have the right to call on employees from one of these government entities to come in and do any illegal dirty work for them. While we hope that unions assign their best legal minds to respond to FLRA, there is also a lot of common sense at issue here that any union leader should feel free to share with the Authority. Here are some facts of the case. Continue reading