MSPB and virtually every arbitrator use the 12 so-called Douglas factors to decide whether to mitigate an adverse action penalty. (See a complete list of the Douglas factors at the end of this posting.) It is absolutely vital that union reps assert as many of them as possible when making replies, during grievance meetings, and at arbitrations or MSPB hearings. But it is just as important to know that from time-to-time MSPB recognizes more than the 12 Douglas factors as grounds to mitigate. Here is one such example. Continue reading
Just thought we would share some in-house news we are excited about. FEDSMILL.com has been operating for a little over six months now and thanks to you we have a mailing list of subscribers and others of over 800 folks. Moreover, those 800 readers (and a few others who stumbled on us via Google or Bing) read about 5,000 pages a month. We started this to help union leaders all over the federal government and it seems like we are off to a good start thanks to you.
AFGE just filed its annual LM report revealing that the number of dues paying members rose by almost 9,000 over last year’s report for a total of 289,023 dues paying members. Continue reading
Score another one for all the Sunday church-going Christians in their battle to spend their Sabbath worshiping. This time DOD learned the hard way that it must offer a “reasonable accommodation” to allow employees to practice their religion and when they do not they can pay dearly. In this case more than $25,000 in damages. Continue reading
No, at least not directly. FLRA recently dismissed yet another Customs and Border Protection exception to an arbitration decision. (NTEU 66 FLRA 556) No news there. But this is another in a long line of cases where the agency LR leaders opposed giving the union attorney fees–and lost. By our estimate, this case will cost CBP about $75,000 in attorney fees given the high-priced legal talent at NTEU and how long LR managers dragged it out. All that money goes into funding more NTEU litigation. Continue reading
Did you know that if you turn in someone who is making false claims against the federal government you can get 15 to 25% of whatever the government recovers? For example, suppose you are aware that a private vendor is submitting false claims for payment and that those payments amount to over $100,000. Continue reading
EEOC recently put employers on notice that they may violate the law if they demand more education to compete for a job than is actually required to be successful. Here is their reasoning. Continue reading