HOW NTEU DEALS WITH RECLASSIFICATIONS

Assume that management wants to change the series classification from one series to another without any change in the employees’ grade, work, or location.  What can the union do about that given that it cannot grieve to overturn the decision?  A recent NTEU victory at FLRA shows us one way to do that while also getting a major remedy imposed on the agency. (See NTEU, 66 FLRA 528) Continue reading

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RESIGNATION REGRET & PROBATIONERS

What do you do for the probationary employee who calls you from home not only to tell that he resigned last week, but that he wants the union to get his job back? Extend your sympathies? Wish him luck? Tell him that he should have checked with the union before he made that decision? Continue reading

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DOES AFGE OVERTIME WIN MEAN BACK PAY FOR YOU?

The Authority has just upheld an arbitrator’s decision (AFGE, 66 FLRA No. 100) which could mean retroactive overtime pay for a lot of federal employees.  It all began when the Bureau of Prisons decided that it needed more elaborate procedures to ensure that overtime was paid only after necessary approval forms had been signed by authorized managers. Continue reading

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FREEBIE FOR FMLA REPRESENTATIVES

If you represent members in FMLA matters, check out the America Bar Association’s latest overview of FMLA legal developments.  It is free, very thorough, and likely leave to you with a deeper understanding of arguments to raise on behalf of your co-workers.  The most relevant to the work most union reps do will be Chapter 6.V.,  dealing with what is required in a medical certification, and Chapter 10’s review of what constitutes FMLA Interference, Discrimination and Retaliation.

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ILLEGAL TELEWORK DEALS

What do you call it when a bargaining unit employee asks her manager to allow her to telework, the manager agrees, and they work out the details of when, where, and under what conditions? “Illegal” is what we at FEDSMILL.com call it. Continue reading

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A NEGOTIATOR’S THREE MAGIC WORDS

Abracadabra won’t work; neither will hocus-pocus. But the phrase, “Management has determined” will open doors at a bargaining table. Continue reading

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WATERBOARDING SELECTING OFFICIALS

Ever wonder how to get selecting officials to tell you the real reason why you were not selected for a promotion?  Tens of thousands do each year.  Here is how. Continue reading

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TICKLE TORTURING PROMOTION RATING OFFICIALS

“Tickle torturing” might be an option when rating officials will not explain their scoring system that denied you a promotion.  After all, unlike selecting officials whose vagueness and secrecy make you want to waterboard them for an explanation of why you were not selected, rating officials do not make the final decision.   But a far less violent option for the disappointed fed applicant is to use civil rights case law.  A Texas Rangers interviewing panel learned this the hard way. Continue reading

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HOW TO MINIMIZE CONTRACTING OUT

While management has a right to contract out work, the union has a right to negotiate procedures making that decision a fair one and softening the impact on employees. Here is how. Continue reading

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POPA & NTEU LOWER EMPLOYEE PARKING COSTS

Agencies are no longer regularly including free parking for employees in the buildings they rent.  They save money by shifting the cost of daily parking to the employee.  But here is how the union can help the employee. Continue reading

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