Posted on February 26, 2013 by AdminUN

BARGAINING OVER SEQUESTRATION’S IMPACT

If your union has not demanded to bargain over the impact of the pending sequestration, do not wait much longer.  The odds of it happening are so high that the union should put in its demand even if management has not provided specific notice, e.g., who get furloughed, for how long, etc..  Everyone has to decide what proposals to submit in their unit given the particular facts.  But here are a few proposal ideas that might be worth considering.  Let employees — Continue reading →

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Posted on February 20, 2013 by AdminUN

TEST YOURSELF- The Correct OT Remedy

Let’s assume that you find management has incorrectly told some employees over the last nine months that they may only be compensated with comp time to work extra hours, not time-and-one-half overtime pay.  Then, as soon as you point out to LR that the FLSA-covered employees should have received the extra money, it agrees you are right and offers to settle the dispute.  Its offer is to give them the difference between the straight-time salary rate of any comp time they already used and time-and one-half overtime pay.  Unused comp time would be compensated at the full overtime rate.  Is that a good deal? Continue reading →

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Posted on February 20, 2013 by AdminUN

WHEN DECIDING OFFICIALS GO EX PARTE

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals just administered a major smack down to HUD when it let a deciding official (DO) talk to witnesses after management had issued its proposed termination letter. (See Rayland Young v. Dept. of HUD, (Fed. Cir. 2013). The court made it clear yet again that once the proposed adverse action letter has been issued management is almost always barred from collecting additional information about the case.   Continue reading →

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Posted on February 6, 2013 by AdminUN

FMLA & SICK LEAVE RECORD RULES

EEOC has very specific rules about where employee FMLA and sick leave medical documents can be stored. If the agency violates them, they may owe the employee money damages—as a recent Dept. of Justice case demonstrated. Continue reading →

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Posted on February 6, 2013 by AdminUN

BRAVO, FLRA, YOU HAVE COME A LONG WAY!!!

We just took a look at the latest version of the Authority’s annual report and what a difference it shows between how well the FLRA is managed today under Carol Waller Pope in comparison to under her predecessor, Dale Cabaniss, an appointee of the previous President. Four years ago this agency was in shambles and a good candidate for the most poorly managed agency in government under Cabaniss, who resigned shortly after some damning information about her effectiveness hit the web. Continue reading →

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Posted on January 23, 2013 by AdminUN

THE “COVERED-BY” DEFENSE MUTATES

Those of you who have to deal with the “covered-by” defense to a bargaining demand should take a look at the most recent private sector decision.    It creates a third version of the doctrine that you will have to deal with soon no matter what side of the bargaining table you occupy. Continue reading →

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Posted on January 7, 2013 by AdminUN

LOOK AT WHAT THE NLRB JUST DID TO BARGAINING LAW

Although only FLRA sets legal policy for federal sector bargaining, it tends to follow what the NLRB does for private sector employees.  Consequently, a recent Board decision might mean substantial changes for fed sector negotiators soon—and changes that boost union clout. Continue reading →

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Posted on January 1, 2013 by AdminUN

CBP/DHS, LIKE A FISH, IS ROTTING FROM THE HEAD FIRST

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Service employees are among the country’s most vital feds. It is their job to stop terrorists and crooks from getting in while keeping out illegal drugs and banned imports, which competitively cripple American industries. They not only can seize property, but make arrests and shoot-to-kill, if necessary. They are the epitome of professional law enforcement. Unfortunately, something is very wrong in their agency. Continue reading →

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Posted on December 30, 2012 by AdminUN

DOL’s FINANCIAL CONTROLS TRAINING MANUAL FOR UNIONS

There is an interesting documents sitting deep inside the Dept. of Labor’s web site. It is a training PowerPoint manual it prepared, apparently for AFGE, to explain what the law requires union elected leaders to do when managing the local’s finances. It seems to be applicable for all unions, making it a very worthwhile document to read for the local president and treasurer. We advise you at least quickly click through it on their web site to see if anything jumps out at you.

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Posted on December 30, 2012 by AdminUN

SEQUESTRATION: WHAT UNION LEADERS NEED TO KNOW

If we fall off the cliff, “sequestration” will be a word union leaders use often over the next few months. There are two documents you might want to be aware of at the very outset of the process. The first is a web update that Government Executive is posting with information about what each department of government or independent agency has decided to do so far. We hope you get far more details from your LR folks, but if not, start here. The other is a report issued by the White House providing some details about how sequestration will operate in each agency. Union leaders will need far more details to bargain over the impact and implementation of the process, but this will give them a solid initial background in the topic.

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