CONTRACTOR CHUTZPAH

CHUTZPAH-Definition:  Nerve, Gall, Audacity. Private contractors doing government work are a lot of things.  They are often more expensive than government, they are notorious for missing deadlines, and they have no shame about taking government work paid for by our country’s income tax collections and shipping some citizen’s income-producing job overseas.  Yup! Contractors bring a lot of things to government, and another thing they bring is chutzpah.  Despite shouting from the rooftops, soapboxes, and campaign contribution pedestals that they are cheaper than government, they just insisted on and got the right to increase what they charge the feds for the executives’ time from an annual rate of $693,951. To $763,029.  That is almost four times what the top SES folks and cabinet officials earn a year to lead entire agencies. Continue reading

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THE NTEU-AFGE RACE CONTINUES AT DHS

Not long ago we posted a piece entitled, “LR’s ‘Biggest Losers.””  It was about how the LR decision-making at DHS is so poor that NTEU has a .789 winning percentage against DHS and AFGE .761 percentage.  That winning record would put them ahead of the 1927 “Murders’ Row” Yankee team that won 110 out of 154 games. So, here is an update on the May 13 posting. Continue reading

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WINNING OVERTIME COMPENSATION GRIEVANCES

The FLRA is obligated to impose remedies that make employees whole for harm suffered due to contract violations or ULPs as well as impose remedies that discourage continued violations. It recently reminded everyone what employees and their union reps must prove to force management to compensate employees for lost overtime. Continue reading

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WHEN NOT TO GRIEVE WIGI DENIALS

In virtually every other situation, the rule of thumb is that the deadline for filing a grievance begins to run when the agency issues its written decision. But not when a WIGI is involved–and not knowing the WIGI rule  cost one employee a lot of back pay. Continue reading

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THE BEST OF FEDSMILL.COM—SO FAR

FEDSMILL.com just hit a milestone with its last posting. It was our 150th since we started last September.  To mark the occasion, we thought you might appreciate a quick review of our best or most popular postings among the 150. Continue reading

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BILINGUALISM AS A MANAGEMENT WEAPON

Bilingualism is a highly valued skill in our diverse society, but some managers over at the Social Security Administration have found a new use for it, namely as a weapon to retaliate against an employee.  This is not the usual story of a bilingual employee being the one discriminated against, but of someone being punished for lacking the skill. Continue reading

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ARE YOU “GETTIN’ ENOUGH”— FROM GRIEVANCES? (Part 1)

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

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CONGRATS TO NWSEO

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

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WHEN IS SEVERE OBESITY A PROTECTED DISABILITY?

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

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WHAT IS “ASSOCIATIONAL” DISCRIMINATION?

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

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