Posted on December 30, 2012 by AdminUN

MSPB CLARIFIES INDEFINITE SUSPENSION RULES

The law gives management the right to put someone on an immediate, indefinite suspension if it believes the person is guilty of a criminal offense for which he/she may be imprisoned. Unfortunately, agencies are a bit reckless when they use this right and all too often leave a person lingering on suspension well after the threat of imprisonment is over. MSPB just ordered an agency to cut a sizeable back pay check for the employee who it left home without cause. Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 18, 2012 by AdminUN

EMPLOYEES CAN WITHDRAW RESIGNATIONS & DOWNGRADE REQUESTS

At times, agency managers will pressure and even harass an employee to the point that he gives up and resigns or asks for a downgrade to an easier job.  Once the managers have the signed request, they never want to let the employee take it back.  But MSPB has said that it is not up to them; it is for the employee to decide. Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 18, 2012 by AdminUN

AFGE PULVERIZES PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

No one on the union side of the table should ever argue that it is easy to evaluate employee performance.  It is not.  But at the same time, AFGE just showed that OPM, a wholly-owned subsidiary of OMB, makes it far harder than it need be. Continue reading →

Posted in Performance | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Posted on December 18, 2012 by AdminUN

CRITICAL CONTRACT CLAUSES (#2A) – Mandatory Gainsharing Awards

Given the complexity of a good Incentive Awards article, we have decided to supplement the original Awards posting #2 about Suggestion Awards.  Today’s is about negotiating to give employees a guaranteed share of savings they help management achieve.  That is commonly known as “gainsharing” and can generate millions for employees through a strong contract article. Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 13, 2012 by AdminUN

TEST YOURSELF: Is There a Violation Here?

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 hours of Sunday morning and goes through to midnight the following Saturday. Let’s call her Keisha Krull. During the last year, she has always had a tour of duty running from Tuesday through Saturday starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 4: 30 p.m. Those were her regularly scheduled 40 hours. However, due to extremely tight budgets, the agency’s regional manager has decided to adjust the schedules of the people in Keisha’s work unit so as to avoid the need to pay any overtime. He moved staff from the slow periods of the week to the busier periods. Keisha’s new tour was Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Her hours on Monday were from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. but the rest of the week she was to work from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Continue reading →

Posted in Grievance/Arbitration | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on December 13, 2012 by AdminUN

WHEN THE GERMANS BOMBED PEARL HARBOR

One of the great lines from film is the Animal House passage where one of the frat boys declares that nothing is over until the frat declares it over—just like it wasn’t over for America when the “Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.”  Despite a minor historical flaw, it is a good piece of wisdom to keep in mind when negotiating over the arbitration procedure in a new contract. Continue reading →

Posted in Arbitration, FLRA | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Posted on December 9, 2012 by AdminUN

OUR COMPLIMENTS TO GAO ANALYSTS FOR THEIR UNION WEB SITE

If you have followed FEDSMILL.com for a while you know that we try to shine a light on particularly good union web sites. We have spotlighted ones at NFFE, NTEU, & AFGE, and we want another to the list. The GAO Analysts, who are affiliated with IFPTE, have done a great job. Some of the things that impressed us were how easy it is to read–uncluttered, good colors, wonderful layout.  Beyond those features, Continue reading →

Posted in Union Administration | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Posted on December 2, 2012 by AdminUN

FMLA OFTEN REQUIRES PERFORMANCE STANDARD ADJUSTMENTS

Often an employer must adjust an employee’s performance standards once it approves the employee’s FMLA leave request.  Not long ago a Federal Circuit Court spelled it out for LR practitioners on both sides of the table. Continue reading →

Posted in FMLA, Performance | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Posted on December 2, 2012 by AdminUN

DISCIPLINE’S “DISPARATE PENALTIES” DEFENSE

MSPB just issued a decision that should help unions successfully represent disciplined employees.  It clarified, and some say expanded, the union’s ability to argue that any penalty must be mitigated, if not totally overturned, if the agency’s uses disparate penalties. Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 2, 2012 by AdminUN

COUNCIL OF PRISON LOCALS WINS OT PAY FOR PRE-SHIFT WORK

Most feds know that you have to be paid for any work they do, but not many recognize that the things they do before their shift to get ready for work are legally work that must be compensated—even if it means giving them overtime pay. This is a problem wherever employees must perform tasks prior to a shift to be ready to work the second the shift begins or even after the shift is over to conclude the day’s work activities or help the next shift take over. AFGE’s Council of Prison Locals (CPL) just won a very well written arbitration decision that will generate a lot of retroactive overtime pay for its members. It is a decision that should be read by any union leaders worried about similar violations because it explains the law and regulations so clearly.

 

Posted in FLSA/Overtime | Tagged , , | 2 Comments