Posted on April 3, 2019 by AdminUN

TO THE UNBELIEVABLE AFGE. CONGRATS AGAIN! 

If you have been following us for years you know that we believe the single most important indicator of a union’s quality is its membership strength. Show us a union with a long record of membership growth and we will show you one that gives employees they want, that shares power across several levels of leaders, that operates around deep values rather than superficial PR slogans, and that is a model for others. AFGE just filed its latest LM-2 report and it shows that for the 18th year in a row it has a net increase in membership. That is unbelievable given the rapidly decreasing size of the federal workforce. AFGE now has four times more members than any other federal union—and for that it deserves a very respectful tip of the hat for a job well-done.  We are not saying that AFGE is without aspects that could be improved, but as measured the people that count the most, it is a raging success.   

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Posted on March 26, 2019 by AdminUN

PROMOTION ILLEGALLY DENIED DUE TO RISK OF FUTURE INJURY

Promotions can be denied when an employee’s disability creates a risk of injuring himself or co-workers in the future; there does not have to be a record of past injuries. But, the law requires agencies denying promotions to meet a certain criteria, and when the DoD’s Pentagon Force Protection Agency ignored them, it resulted in an EEOC order that it rehire the employee with eight years of retroactive pay. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 26, 2019 by AdminUN

HAS MAX STIER HAD A STROKE?

Max runs the Partnership for Public Service which, in turn, runs the annual “Best Places to Work” survey that is universally acclaimed.   However, it seems Max thinks his own survey is worthless based on his recent endorsement of Dale Cabaniss to run OPM. Max was quoted in Govexec recently as saying, “Dale Cabaniss will bring a strong background and excellent experience to OPM….The Partnership for Public Service is pleased to see this nomination, and we look forward to working alongside Dale to strengthen the federal workforce.” Continue reading →

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Posted on March 21, 2019 by AdminUN

TIME TO RECONSIDER THE “SEVERE & PERVASIVE” SEXUAL HARASSMENT STANDARD

If you have ever represented an employee complaining about sexual harassment you know that case law requires a very high degree of proof, i.e., you must prove the improper behavior was “severe and pervasive.” A good article out of a D.C law firm spells out how absurd that is and highlights the need for union reps to challenge that standard when they get into one of these cases.  It may turn out that the law remains as is, but that does not mean we should stop confronting the courts with the unreasonableness of that high bar.

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Posted on March 20, 2019 by AdminUN

WHEN NOT TO GRIEVE WIGI DENIALS

 In virtually every other situation, the rule of thumb is that the deadline for filing a grievance begins to run when the agency issues its written decision. But not when a WIGI is involved–and not knowing the WIGI rule cost one employee a lot of back pay. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 20, 2019 by AdminUN

DALE CABANISS: RESTOCKING THE SWAMP

Our Commander-in-Chief (aka The Swamp Master) is about to release another invasive, slithering marauder into his swamp.  The mere mention of her name calls to mind such environmentally destructive forces as Dutch Elm disease, feral pigs, and the Northern snakehead. She is Dale Cabaniss, and Trump wants to put her in charge of the federal merit, retirement and insurance systems atop OPM.  Continue reading →

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Posted on March 13, 2019 by AdminUN

FMLA LEGAL UPDATE

The American Bar Association annually publishes a review of all the significant court cases around the country dealing with FMLA.  It is a great source of information for those folks—union and management alike—who do a lot of FMLA work. You will be surprised at some of the rights employees have under this statute.

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Posted on March 13, 2019 by AdminUN

“ENGLISH! ENGLISH!”

That is what a manager shouted at two employees he found speaking Spanish while casually asking about each other’s families. When the employees filed a complaint alleging that was discrimination, the agency responded that surely a one-time incident criticizing employees for not speaking English did not tangibly harm the employee enough to rise to a formal violation of law. Well, EEOC said “Incorrecto!” It followed that up with an order that the agency compensate the employee for damage done them. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 6, 2019 by AdminUN

RIGHTS TO A SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETER

EEOC has just ruled on yet another case where an agency tried to skirt a employee’s right to a sign language interpreter. We thought it would be helpful to highlight the Commission’s simple statement about when an employee is entitled to an interpreter. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 6, 2019 by AdminUN

SHOULD FLRA REWRITE ATTORNEY FEE CASE LAW?

While abuses are not rampant, they are there. One lawyer will charge five times what another does to win the same kind of case. Hourly fees are based on seniority rather than the level of skill needed to do the work. Bills are padded easily by adding several time-consuming arguments to a case that needs only one. Arbitrators order back pay in group-wide grievances for all work—even the work done on behalf of those grievants who did not get back pay. Unions are allowed to keep secret from members and the public how they spend their attorney fee profits, which makes them all potential slush funds. We said it before and we will say it again, a few greedy attorneys are going to kill this goose that lays golden eggs for federal employee. But is it FLRA’s role to correct the situation? Continue reading →

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