MYTHS & FACTS ABOUT THE EEO PROCESS
EEOC has issued an interesting comment and analysis about our process.
WHEN ARE UNION-EMPLOYEE CONVERSATIONS CONFIDENTIAL?
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
Posted in ULPs, Union Rights
Tagged AFGE, Confidentiality Privilege, Cook Paint, NTEU
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SECRET SERVICE’S SILLY SEX STORY
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
Posted in Discipline/Adverse Action, Religion
Tagged Nexus, Prostitution, Religion, Secret Service
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TEST YOURSELF- A New Kind of Posting
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.
MSPB’S 13TH DOUGLAS FACTOR
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
Posted in Arbitration, Discipline/Adverse Action, MSPB
Tagged Douglas, Medical, Mental, Mitigation
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