The Federal Services Labor Management Relations Statute, although somewhat “watered down” by years of case law, reserves a supervisory assignment, and most matters involving assignment of work in any regard, to the sole discretion of the agency.
Category: Consultant’s Opinion
No Unfettered Right to Remain Silent
Federal employees do not have a right to remain silent concerning non-criminal workplace matters and doing so may result in removal from employment.
‘Chaos’ as VA Implements Executive Order Limiting Union Official Time
Our organization has already noticed a significant increase in the number of calls from employees across all federal agencies seeking assistance.
Republicans Plan Largest Hit to Federal Employee Pay & Benefits with no “Grandfathering”
Under the Republican plan outlined here, all current and future federal employees would be hit with astonishingly higher retirement contributions while at the same time reducing benefits.
Massive Federal Pay & Benefit Cuts Not Far Off
Federal employee pay and benefits have been a target of Republicans for a long time and to be fair, to a much lesser degree, even Democrats (remember the Obama federal pay freeze)
Federal Retirement Servicing
In some agencies, you now apply for retirement by clicking a link on your agency intranet page. In other agencies, you must submit an e-mail to a nondescript e-mail
Why Trump Should Matter to Federal Employees
A Trump spokesperson who offers “alternative facts” if the real facts do not fit the president’s cartoonish view of the world.
Consultant or Attorney? It’s your choice.
federal employees at all grade levels must decided whether they will engage some form of representation or consultation in responding to, or appealing, the action or issue
Does It Hurt To Have A Union Representative?
The underlying premise of the benefits of representation is that the representative, whether union, friend, legal, or relative, is qualified to provide such representation and more knowledgeable than the person needing the representation.
When Unions Go Bad
Somewhat regularly, we field calls from union members in the federal sector (and even union officials) regarding issues with union representation or leadership. The issues may involve claims of failure to provide union representation (including adequate representation are most common), the…
Can It Hurt To Have A Union Representative?
There is a prevailing theory that it is usually better to have union representation, than not have union representation, given such need. While we are certainly proponents of labor organizations and their representational roles, particularly since we have been on…
Question of Nondisclosure Agreements
What most people agree with, including many of his own supporters, is that Trump is a “shapeshifter” constantly changing positions and never discussing any position in substance or depth or with accuracy.
Duty of Fair Representation
“I Hate My Union. They Are Corrupt and Incompetent” That is an actual quote we received from a dues paying union member of a large federal employee bargaining unit. Such sentiments are not unusual. Many union members feel disenfranchised for a variety of…
$900,000 Federal Agency EEO Settlement
Believe it or not—-It’s True On January 29, 2016, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, in federal district court, settled an EEO case with a federal employee for $900,000.00 (this is not a typo). In Lenkiewicz v. Housing and…
No Right to Authorized Absence Unless…
The issue of authorized absence (also referred by some and many as excused absence, administrative leave, “no charge to leave”) comes up en masse every year about this time. During the latter half of January 2016, the top search term…
Quick Word On Performance Appraisals & Bonuses
And we do mean, just a quick word………. This time of year we receive an incredible number of inquiries from federal employees concerning annual performance appraisals and associated (linked or unlinked) bonuses. Issues related to performance bonuses and appraisals can be…
Due Process in Federal Service
MSPB Issues Comprehensive Report and Explanation As senior level Employee and Labor Relations Specialists, we can directly attest to the fact federal employees are routinely fired (removed from federal service). This Merit Systems Protection Board report supports our view. The MSPB…
Time is Critical
Recently, our consultants were contacted by clients notified by their respective agencies that the agency was proposing removal from employment. In all cases, the affected employees (clients) waited to contact a consultant until well after they received the notice of proposed…
Disability Retirement Insanity?
Maybe, Maybe Not- You Decide Federal employee disability retirement applications are often confusing to employees. However, outcomes are generally not. It has been our collective experience, applications for disability retirement from Federal service are generally approved by the Office of…
GOP Proposing Wide-Scale Pension Cuts
This legislation is being proposed on top of all previous legislation adversely affecting federal employees. By some estimations, employees could lose over 12-15% of their annual pay if all Republican legislation is enacted as written.
It’s That Time of Year: Performance Appraisals
That’s right. You know the holidays are approaching when it’s performance appraisal time. We receive many inquiries. Some inquiries are ambiguous (i.e., “can they rate me an Excellent?”) and some are very specific (i.e., “what are the minimum number of…
Can You “Trust” an EEO Counselor ?
Watch Those EEO Counselors When reading this post, please remember our position that an EEO Complaint can be an incredibly powerful and effective tool, eclipsing other appeal routes such as negotiated grievance procedures and administrative grievances. The issue is whether…
Making Initial Contact: EEO
Making Initial Contact in Pursuing an EEO Claim Initial contact with an EEO Counselor is a seemingly simple, but incredibly critical task to preserve appeal rights. This is the very first step in filing an EEO complaint and must be…
Cannibalistic Downgrading
A new and dangerous trend is emerging in the Veterans Administration. In what can only be described as a cannibalistic orgy of position downgrading.
Social Media in Fed Workspace
Social Media and the Federal Workplace are on a Collision Course Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and a host of other social media tools are increasingly becoming a topic of conversation and disciplinary assessment in many Employee and Labor Relations sections. Many…