Posted on June 14, 2021 by AdminUN

WHEN IS CO-WORKER HARASSMENT ILLEGAL AND THE AGENCY’S FAULT?

Although the lawyers break it down into a much longer list of criteria, EEOC recently put it in a nutshell as follows: “In the case of co-worker harassment, an agency is responsible for acts of harassment in the workplace where the agency (or its agents) knew or should have known of the conduct, unless it can show that it took immediate and appropriate corrective action.” Here are some facts from the case that will give you a more tangible idea of what that looks like. Continue reading →

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Posted on May 27, 2021 by AdminUN

DON’T LET EMPLOYEES PICK THEIR “WORK FROM HOME (WFH)” DAYS

The “Harvard Business Review” just posted a very thoughtful research piece on adjusting telework schedules now that the epidemic is winding down. It is short, very understandable and something union negotiators should be aware of because any management negotiator with half a cup of intelligence is going to bring up the data to argue for changes. Check it out here.

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Posted on May 17, 2021 by AdminUN

TWO PROBATIONERS WIN REINSTATEMENT & GOBS OF BACK PAY

We love to pass on stories of probationers winning reinstatement and back pay because too many feds believe that there is nothing unions can do for probationary employees.  Here are the two latest examples. The first employee is going to be reinstated retroactive to December 2007 along with back pay for all that time and compensatory damages. That would include any career ladder promotions, step increases and time towards retirement among other benefits. And here is why she won. Continue reading →

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Posted on May 17, 2021 by AdminUN

FLRA POSTS 9 TRAINING FILMS ON THE ULP INVESTIGATION PROCESS

The Authority has done a great job of explaining every step of the ULP investigation process for anyone who might be involve in one on behalf of a union member or the union itself. Check them out at https://www.flra.gov/resources-training/training/video-training

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Posted on April 20, 2021 by AdminUN

EVEN DISCLOSURE BY MISTAKE OF MED INFO IS ILLEGAL AND COMPENSABLE

Instead of sending an email notifying his supervisor that an employee had been taken to the hospital, a CBP manager sent all 118 co-workers at an Arizona station naming an employee and disclosing that he “had been transported to a medical center after experiencing rapid heartbeat and tightness in his chest and left hand.”  The employee filed an EEOC complaint alleging that his private medical information had been illegally disclosed and asking for money damages. Continue reading →

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Posted on April 20, 2021 by AdminUN

MSPB EXPANDS ACCUSED EMPLOYEE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION

A Homeland Security Agent was fired for falsifying an official form.  When he tried to defend himself by pointing out how supervisory employees who committed the same offense were not fired, DHS management and the MSPB Judge would not let him see that evidence.  The terminated employee appealed, and got not only the information but another chance to prove his defense. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 24, 2021 by AdminUN

COVID AND WORKERS’ COMP CLAIMS

Thanks to one of our readers who pointed out that Federal employees can potentially qualify for Workers Compensation based on acquiring COVID.  Check out this web site for details.

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Posted on March 22, 2021 by AdminUN

INSIDE THE MIND OF JAMES ABBOTT: MUDDLED OR MALICIOUS

As time goes on it becomes clearer and clearer that it is only on a rare day that James Abbott can be called something as flattering as merely malicious.  Most of the time his contempt for unions and a government run by laws rather than grudge-lugging political appointees are his most prominent feature. We were reminded of that in NLRB and NLRBU, 72 FLRA 80 (2021), a February decision where he issued a dissenting opinion criticizing even his ultra conservative FLRA colleague, Colleen Kiko Duffy. So absurd was Abbott’s view of how the law should operate that it got us wondering whether he is vying for election as Grand Dragon of some local QAnon lodge and that we can soon expect an opinion from him blaming Bill Gates for the Bill of Rights and Hillary for democracy.  In any event, this NLRBU case was about when the filing of a ULP bars a union from also filing a grievance in the future on similar facts and vice versa. Here are the facts in Jimmy’s Abbs own dissenting words. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 22, 2021 by AdminUN

NEGOTIATING 7106(b)(1) GRADES

We are going to open with the bad news.  FLRA has used the statutory provision of 7103(a)(14)(B) that excludes from the concept of conditions of employment anything “relating to the classification of any position” to pretty much gut the right to negotiate over grades. When AFGE proposed, “There will be six GS-12 Longshore Workers Compensation Claims Examiner Positions (GS-991-12) in the Boston District Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs” FLRA wrote that … Continue reading →

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Posted on March 14, 2021 by AdminUN

UNION REP TEST #12 (Illegal Bypass and Direct Dealing)

One of the harder things for managers to understand is a union’s “exclusive recognition” rights.  They just do not mean that the union is the only or exclusive organization the agency can deal with to negotiate formal agreements. They also prohibit a lot of other kinds of communications where the manager bypasses the union to deal directly with the employees, which would be a violation of 5 USC 7116(a)((1) and (5). Test your own understanding with these True-False questions.  The answers are at the end of the post. Continue reading →

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