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
EEOC has issued an interesting comment and analysis about our process.
The short answer is, “Most times, but not always.” The FLRA rolled out a decision recently making that crystal clear by endorsing management’s right to force a union representative to reveal to its investigators what an employee had told him in confidence. Continue reading
Brace yourself, America—and especially federal employees. The culture war is about to flare to near-nuclear levels over the recent Secret Service Agents’ interaction with a salacious slice of Columbia’s service sector. First there will be accusations that federal employees’ values are not those of normal Americans, and if the agents are not terminated shortly there will be a wave of stories about how hard it is to fire federal employees. A few TV talking heads, perhaps even the misogynistic one with a string of three divorces so far and a predilection for recreational oxycontin, will call us feds godless. So, what could be a better time than to put the Secret Service silliness in its proper legal context. Continue reading
Starting today we plan on posting fact patterns that will give you a chance to challenge your knowledge of labor/employment laws, regulations and strategy. Each will deal with a situation union representatives are likely to encounter at some point and be accompanied by our own FEDSMILL.com answer. Our goal is to put a little more variety into our postings while also giving you some material you can use to train others in your local union. If you disagree with our answers or believe you have even better ones, use the blog space at the end of the particular posting to share your perspective with the rest of us. Immediately below you will find the first Test Yourself.