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Our union’s battles in the courts, on Capitol Hill and at the bargaining table are well known, but sometimes the battleground is the rule book for federal employees. When the Office of Personnel Management in July proposed changes in how federal agencies handle administrative leave, NTEU responded with detailed objections about how the proposed changes would negatively affect employees and agency missions.
National President Tony Reardon, in two written submissions to OPM, outlined several concerns. First, NTEU objects to a proposal that an employee needs to first exhaust all 10 days of administrative leave before being placed on investigative leave. Not only should leave be earmarked for the actual reason it was granted but an employee could also be found innocent of any charge and would then have no administrative leave days left to use for the remainder of the year.
Second, NTEU asked to clarify that if OPM declares government offices are closed because of weather, then individual agency heads should not be allowed to individually keep their own offices open in contradiction to the greater area decision.
Third, NTEU also opposes OPM removing clear language in the regulations about the 59-minute rule.
“To imply that a manager should not be authorized to provide a brief period of excused time for employees who experience unavoidable public transportation delays or unknown traffic problems only creates a sense of unnecessary anxiety amongst employees when commute issues arise beyond their control,” Reardon wrote.
Fourth, NTEU believes the new rules would complicate the approval process for the granting of administrative leave, unnecessarily add to the burden of managers and supervisors while also inevitably increasing the number of employee disputes when leave is denied.
Finally, NTEU believes that if employees have a right to modify their time off or schedule under their current collective bargaining agreement, then agencies should not be granted a new right to deny time off or schedule changes on the basis that the agency believes an employee is cancelling their time off or modifying their schedule in order to receive the safety and weather leave.
“NTEU does not believe management is in a position to determine the ‘primary purpose’ behind the change,” Reardon wrote.
OPM is expected to review all of the submitted comments before announcing a final decision sometime later this year. NTEU will keep you posted.