e-Mail monitoring at work, whether public or private sector, is a sensitive issue. The key to remember is that it is not yours.
Crime Provisions Affecting Federal Employees
Background Question “My agency proposed I be indefinitely suspended under the ‘crime provisions.’ What is that?” Response Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulations (5 CFR 752.402(e)) permit agencies to place employees on indefinite suspension pending completion of investigation or criminal proceedings when…
SF 50 Codes (Nature of Action & Legal Authority)
While it is true we could not have come up with a more boring title for this article, we frequently field questions concerning the SF-50 Notification of Personnel Action, and more specifically, the enigmatic Nature of Action and Legal Authority…
Agency ELR Specialists (Agency Role)
Background Question “What is the role of the agency ELR Specialists? What is their education level? What is their grade level ?” Response Agency ELR Specialists are specialized human resources personnel with a primary, if not only, specialization in the…
Reasonable Accommodation & Unexpected Consequences
This article is not intended to provide detailed instructions in applying for Reasonable Accommodation. Each circumstance and set of facts is unique and instructions are specific in that regard as well as internal agency regulations. Instead, this article is intended to…
Change of Supervisor is Beyond Your Control
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.
Union Representation During Counseling
The first thing any bargaining unit employee should do when determining whether they have a right to union representation is refer to their Master Agreement (union contract) or contact a Union Representative
Administrative Leave & Authorized Absence
The terms Administrative Leave and Authorized Absence are essentially synonymous (we will use the term Administrative Leave for the purposes of this post). Further, we distinguish that for the purpose of this article, we are not addressing such leave used by union representatives for official time related to union activities.
Failure to State a Claim in an EEO Complaint
Failure to State A Claim in EEOC under Title 29 can lead to dismissal of EEO claims for federal employees.
Are You Required to Invoke FMLA?
If a federal employee has sufficient leave balances there is no requirement the affected employee first be approved under the FMLA prior to a supervisor approving the use of accrued sick leave (SL) or accrued annual leave (AL) in lieu of sick leave
Making Initial EEO Contact to File a Complaint
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 accomplished within forty-five days of the agency’s alleged…
Last Chance Agreement in Federal Service
Last chance agreements (LCA’s) and settlements contain terms agreed to by an (federal) employee, or former employee, and the agency, in which the employee is provided an opportunity to retain (or return to) employment, usually when the agency would otherwise remove, or did in fact already remove, the employee from federal employment.
Union Membership Solicitation in Workplace
Question: “Can a [federal] union official solicit union membership during duty hours or official time?” Response: Rarely is the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) as clear on other questions as they are with this question. Unless your Master Agreement or other negotiated…
Resigning from Federal Service Process
During and following the massive debacle of the “Trump Shutdown”, we received a large number of inquiries. Among the most prevalent inquiries we received concerned resigning from Federal Service (going to private sector), particularly when Human Resources personnel were not…