Posted on June 13, 2013 by AdminUN

TEST YOURSELF- FMLA, DISABILITIES, AND LIGHT DUTY

An employee, Jessie Crutch, had a long-time reasonable accommodation of being allowed to rest his hip for a few minutes every few hours while working as a warehouse custodian.  As the injury got worse and management less tolerant of his need to sit for a few times a day, he started to take time off using his FMLA rights to rest his hip.   When he returned after two days of FMLA leave, he submitted the same medical documentation he always did, namely that he could perform all his duties but needed intermittent periods to sit. However, his supervisor informed him that he would not be permitted to work again until he either submitted new medical documentation certifying that he no longer needed to rest his hip during the work day or he submitted a formal request for light duty.  So, Crutch went home.  While a sad situation for Crutch, are there any violations of law and regulation here? Continue reading →

Posted in Discipline/Adverse Action, EEO/Disabilities, FMLA, Test Yourself | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Posted on June 12, 2013 by AdminUN

WHAT IS FRONT PAY?

Let’s say that you are representing a terminated employee and realize three things about his/her situation.  First, the job the employee held before being fired no longer exists.  Second, even if you get the employee reinstated, it is going to be a terrible situation because the same supervisors and managers who fired him/her are still there and clearly do not like the employee; nor does the employee want to work with them again.  Third, one of your grievance claims is that the employee was fired in violation of the Civil Rights acts.  If the only remedies you request are that the employee be reinstated and given back pay with interest, what other remedy option are you missing? Continue reading →

Posted in EEO/Discrimination, EEO/Remedies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on June 1, 2013 by AdminUN

LACTATION DISCRIMINATION

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held unanimously recently that firing a woman because she is lactating or expressing milk is unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978). Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act to protect working women against discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition.  Check out the EEOC press release and watch for this form of discrimination in any personnel action, e.g., performance appraisal, promotions, assignments, etc.

Posted in EEO/Discrimination | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Posted on June 1, 2013 by AdminUN

OUR FAVORITE APPROPRIATE ARRANGEMENT PROPOSALS (Pt. 3 – Union Needs)

Unions and their reps can be just as impacted by a proposed agency management rights change as any other bargaining unit employees.  Consequently, the FLRA allows unions to make bargaining proposals to lessen the impact on them as well. Here are a few of our favorites. Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining Negotiability, Bargaining Proposals | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Posted on May 28, 2013 by AdminUN

ACCOMMODATING ALMOST EVERY TIME IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH

Not long ago the Dept. of Defense tried to defend itself against an allegation that it had failed to provide a deaf employee a reasonable accommodation by pointing out that it had done so 11 out of 15 times the employee asked during the period in question. But complying with the law 73% of the time is not a defense, and the EEOC told DOD to figure out how much of a check to give the employee as compensation for the harm done. Continue reading →

Posted in EEO/Disabilities | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Posted on May 24, 2013 by AdminUN

 WHEN AGENCIES LIE IN SETTLEMENT TALKS

Here are the facts that MSPB recently faced.  Two employees got into a fight at the workplace and were fired. As their MSPB appeal hearings grew closer, the agency made settlement offers and one employee agreed to drop her appeal and leave if the agency changed her removal to a resignation.  She contends that the agency assured her that it was not (and would not) offer the other employee in the fight reinstatement.  But it turned out that it did reinstate the other employee.  Is the settlement valid? Continue reading →

Posted in Discipline/Adverse Action, MSPB | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on May 23, 2013 by AdminUN

CANCER VICTIMS’ RIGHTS IN THE WORKPLACE

EEOC has just updated its Q&A about the rights cancer victims have in the workplace.   Among the more relevant questions are 1-  What other types of reasonable accommodations may employees with cancer need? 2- May an employer request documentation when an employee who has cancer requests a reasonable accommodation? and 3-When may an employer refuse to hire, terminate, or temporarily restrict the duties of a person who has or had cancer because of safety concerns?  It is a must read if you are representing cancer sufferers.  Check out Questions & Answers about Cancer in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

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Posted on May 23, 2013 by AdminUN

OUR FAVORITE APPROPRIATE ARRANGEMENT PROPOSALS (Pt. 2- Postponing Implementation)

When management finally notifies the union of a proposed midterm change it wishes to make pursuant to its 7106 management rights, it usually is very eager to implement it.  Often, it is so eager that it will make concessions just to get the union’s agreement.  Because the union typically has other many reasons for delaying implementation, a skilled union negotiator needs to know the variety of appropriate arrangement proposals FLRA has approved as negotiable that permit it to delay implementation of the change even after agreement is reached.   Here are some of our favorites. Continue reading →

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Posted on May 19, 2013 by AdminUN

WHY VA NURSES SHOULD STUDY WALL STREET

Wall Street moguls might not care about values, ethics, morality, statutes, humanity, the environment, the common good, or world peace, but the U.S. Veteran Affairs nurses could benefit greatly from doing what they do.  Those who run The Street know how to protect themselves personally from risk, profit from information, produce wealth through relationships, accumulate power, shape the future to their advantage, and, except for a sprinkling of indictments here and there, always come out on top.  That is precisely what VA nurses need from their labor unions, but are not getting.  Here is why. Continue reading →

Posted in Union Administration | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Posted on May 18, 2013 by AdminUN

OUR FAVORITE APPROPRIATE ARRANGEMENT PROPOSALS (Pt. 1)

Agency managers are free to change anything in an employee’s working conditions they choose (and whenever they choose) so long as they are exercising a 7106 management right.  They can assign an employee new duties overnight, move him to another building  in the commuting area, double the number of factors on which the employee will be evaluated, add five new conduct rules, abolish his formal training programs, and even reassign him from the day shift to the night shift.  The only thing standing in an agency’s way of instantly making an employee’s working conditions intolerable is a union and its right to negotiate “appropriate arrangements” to lessen the adverse impact of the change.  Without a union highly skilled in these negotiations federal employees are the proverbial sitting ducks. Continue reading →

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