STEWARD ALERT! The right to be paid for all the hours we work is about as fundamental right as employees have and not far behind that is the right to be paid at an overtime rate when we are asked to work more than the basic work week or day. Consequently, all union representatives need at least a working knowledge of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and FEDSMILL.com has found a couple of places to get that. Continue reading
STEWARD ALERT! As explained in FEDSMILL’s recent four-part series on how to grieve promotion decisions, one way is to challenge the promotion scores. A large part of those scores often comes from an interview. This article reviews the 10 errors stewards should look for in any promotion interview. Continue reading
MEMBER ALERT! Employers get zillions of hours of work each year from employees who access their e-mail account on their own time to either answer e-mails, clear backlogs or just link up related messages for easier processing during the work day. Virtually none of the employers are paying for that work and some even boldly require that employees read certain e-mails before they start their compensated work hours. Well, the Labor Department has moved to put an end to the refusal to compensate employees for their on-line, off-duty work. Continue reading
STEWARD ALERT! A recent MSPB decision gives unions a valuable precedent to use when defending employee against discipline or removal. In this case (Raco v. SSA, (9/29/11)), the agency removed the employee for 22 alleged incidents of incorrectly completing her credit hour time card. Continue reading
MEMBER ALERT! In October, FEDSMILL.com published an article entitled, “EEOC To Managers: Zip It!” It was about various laws that prohibit managers from discussing publicly what they know about an employee’s medical or mental disability. We made the point that a comment is public if made to anyone (or a group) without a legitimate need to know, or where it can be overheard by folks without a need to know. We reprint that article below, but precede it with the latest case in this line of law. Continue reading
MEMBER ALERT! Almost every time someone is promoted other applicants get passed over. Often, the passed over applicants feel they were just as qualified or even better qualified than the selectee. Sometimes they even feel that the selecting official did not give them fair consideration. Well, if you are one of those people, then your union might be able to help. Continue reading