One of the first mistakes a union can make when drafting a grievance is to not ask for enough of a remedy. Not only does the grievant potentially lose something she might have been entitled to, but the union misses a chance to raise management’s liabilities and risks. The FLRA has approved over three dozen different remedies arbitrators can impose. Are you aware of each? Continue reading
It is never easy to get any job upgraded, but boosting the grade of those doing clerical and admin support has been particularly hard. OPM considers them overgraded already and there rarelya re enough of them in any agency to get anyone’s attention. But the National Weather Service Employees Organization pulled it off. Continue reading
A federal district court recently backed up EEOC’s position that severe obesity is considered a disability protected by law. That leaves us with the question of what is a severe disability. Continue reading
The courts are recognizing a new form of illegal discrimination, which means that union reps should be notified and trained how to prove it exists. In short, it involves an employee being discriminated against because of the people with whom he/she associates. Continue reading
Agencies are allowed to consider aggravating factors when choosing adverse action penalties. These could include prior disciplinary actions, poor work record, lack of rehabilitative potential, etc. However, MSPB just reminded us that there are limits union reps can enforce to defend employees. Continue reading
Not long ago FEDSMILL.com posted a piece entitled, “Who Are the Similarly Situated.” We noted that at least one circuit court did not require that the employees in the compared cases have the same supervisor, seriousness of offense, and standards. Continue reading
While management seems to work very hard to avoid unions soliciting new members in work area or while anyone in the area is working, it is illegal to prevent it. The FLRA has held that union reps can solicit new members while in work areas, even if the employees are working—at least under certain circumstances. Here is how this works. Continue reading
Everyone knows that if a fed is called to jury duty, he/she continues to receive salary for the duration of that duty. But what if the employee volunteers for jury duty; in fact, what if the employee actively seeks every moment of jury duty she can get? Is there a limit on how much jury duty time she can be paid for? Continue reading
Assume that you have a union member who performed official travel to Pennsylvania, leaving his home in Ohio at 7:15 a.m. and returning at 8:15 p.m. Is the employee entitled to any per diem allowance if she spent an hour each way commuting from her Ohio home to the Pennsylvania work site? Continue reading
Unlike the popular TV show from which we have borrowed our headline, it is not a good thing to be the biggest loser among management LR staffs in the federal government. But the Department of Homeland Security unquestionably has the most losses before the FLRA over the last two years. NTEU hammered CBP management in 15 out of 19 cases while AFGE won 16 out of 21 cases over DHS components such as Border Patrol, ICE, and CIS. Added together, that is 31 loses out of 40 FLRA decisions. Here is what it means. Continue reading