The FLRA has said that it “specifically distinguished between contractual back pay recovery periods and contractual time periods for filing grievances.” Consequently, we practitioners had better know the difference, particularly when we sit down to write a labor agreement. Here are a few comments that we think will help them the most. Continue reading
About two weeks ago we posted about how the Governor of Florida is threatening to “slit the throat” of federal employees if he is elected president. Yet, as I write this, thousands of federal employees are scrambling to help the citizens of Florida deal with a storm the likes of which has not been seen there in over 100 years. Their work also will likely save the governor from the potential political backlash this storm’s damage will do. Will the governor praise them, thank them, or even recognize them for doing what he and his state employee cannot do. ABSOLUTELY NOT! Will he claim credit for their good work? ABSOLUTELY! Here is a short list of which feds are at the heart of the rescue effort in Florida:
All they will all do it for a guy who promises to gut their agencies’ budgets, unemploy them, and damage their families’ futures. WHAT A CLASSY GUY THAT GOVERNOR IS!
I like to think that knuckle-dragging managers are fewer and fewer these days, but then a case like this comes along. A Navy employee, Cory, was upset about being passed over for promotion and went on his social media page to claim that he thought it was due to discrimination. That ignited the worst instincts of his Branch Chief who promptly proceeded to: Continue reading
While bargaining unit Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers must meet a very high standard for firearm accuracy, my more than 40 years of experience with CBP demonstrated that CBP managers often shoot from the hip—and possibly blindfolded. It happened again where an applicant for a CBP Officer position who had myasthenia gravis was rejected. Management sprayed claims all around without ever zeroing in on the actual target or legal issue in the case. Here is the story behind how the applicant just got the job, four years of back pay, and extra money to cover compensatory damages and the income tax hit of receiving such a large check in one year. Continue reading
Amanda was reassigned to a position that she was not able to do as a result of her disability. When she asked for a reasonable accommodation, the agency merely pointed to her own doctor’s explanation that she could not do the job with or without an accommodation. So, out the door the agency tossed her. Her response was that the agency was obligated to consider her not just the position she held at the time, but positions she was willing to take. EEOC agreed with her noting that the agency was obligated to consider a qualified disabled person for openings in her present job as well as “desired” jobs or jobs she is otherwise capable of performing with or without an accommodation. The Commission went on to write: Continue reading
Wouldn’t you love to make a grievance twice as worrisome for management and give the grievant the chance to get a much bigger payoff than a simple allegation of a contract violation? Well, the way to do that is to allege illegal discrimination whenever you can. You can allege it anytime you want, but there are two good rules of thumb for when to absolutely do it. Below is a very brief explanation of why a discrimination allegation supercharges a grievance. Continue reading