Article 45

Official Time

Section 1. General

Local 12 and DOL Management commit themselves to the development of a

workplace culture and climate where Union representatives and Management

Officials, in all appropriate units of the Department, have a good working

relationship and mutual respect. The Department and Local 12 recognize that

reasonable time spent by Union Officials in the conduct of Union-Management

business under the Statute contributes to the development of orderly and

constructive labor-management relations.

Section 2. List of Officers, Stewards, and Other Representatives

Within thirty (30) days after each general election, Local 12 shall give the

Department a complete list of all Officers, Stewards, and other representatives.

Within the first five (5) days of each month, Local 12 shall notify the Department

of any change to the list during the preceding month.

Section 3. Performance of Union Functions and Stewards’ Area of

Jurisdiction

a. Officers, Agency Vice-Presidents (AVPs), Stewards, and other

representatives of Local 12 are authorized to perform duties properly

assigned to them by the Local subject to the restrictions on use of Official

Time provided in Section 4 of this Article. The number of Stewards and

Officials eligible for Official Time under this Article will not exceed the ratio

of one (1) to each fifty (50) employees in the bargaining unit. A list of these

eligible individuals, by name and organization, shall be supplied to and

maintained for the Department by Local 12 in accordance with the

provisions of Section 2 above.

b. A Steward’s principal area of jurisdiction, including representation under the

grievance procedure, shall be within the Agency in which he/she is

employed. The President of Local 12, or his/her designee, however, may

assign a Steward from another jurisdiction on a case-by-case basis. It is

understood that such an assignment will not be made routinely or in such a

way as to be at cross-purposes with the concept of Steward’s jurisdiction as

stated in this Article. The President of Local 12 will notify the Director of the

Office of Employee and Labor-Management Relations (OELMR) in advance

of such exceptions to a Steward’s area of jurisdiction. It is understood that

Officers and Agency Vice-Presidents may represent employees in any

Agency or area of jurisdiction.

Section 4. Official Time

c. Union-Management Business. Reasonable official duty-hour time for unionmanagement

business, but in no case to include internal Union business, is

authorized for designated Union representatives as follows:

(1) A designated Union representative or employee seeking Union

assistance may leave his/her normal work area to perform authorized

union-management business only with permission of his/her

immediate supervisor.

(2) A Union representative or employee who wishes to engage in

authorized union-management business in an organizational unit not

under the direction of his/her own supervisor must obtain the

permission of the supervisor of the organizational unit involved

before engaging in such activity.

(3) Requests for official time should be made as soon as possible once it

is realized that the need exists.

(4) Permission as described in (1) and (2) above shall be granted unless

compelling reasons require the presence of the Union representative

or employee at Agency tasks which he/she is then performing. If

such permission is denied, the manager or supervisor refusing such

permission shall give the reasons for refusal in writing, upon request,

to the representative or employee who was so denied.

(5) If a dispute arises between a designated Union representative or

employee(s) and his/her supervisor concerning the use of Official

Time, the matter will be referred to the Agency Labor Relations

Officer and the Union’s Agency Vice-President for resolution. If they

are unable to resolve the dispute, it will then be referred to the

Department’s Director of OELMR and the Local 12 President.

(6) When informing a manager/supervisor of the need for Official Time,

the designated Union representative or employee(s) shall provide the

minimum amount of information necessary to the supervisor to allow

the supervisor to make an informed determination concerning the

request. In requesting Official Time, the name of the grievant or

employee(s), if any, need not be mentioned. Union representatives,

employee(s), and supervisors will deal with each other in an open

and candid manner in regard to Official Time and their confidentiality

will be respected.

(7) A reasonable amount of Official Time is the amount of time that is

necessary to accomplish the specific task for which Official Time is

requested, including a reasonable amount of time to travel to and

from the task location.

(8) The Union representative or employee will report his/her return to

work to his/her immediate supervisor upon the conclusion of the

authorized union-management business.

(9) As used herein, the term "union-management business" is defined as

follows:

(a) Preparing and presenting a grievance and/or investigating

possible grievances;

(b) Consultation by designated Union representatives with

Management, including exchanges of information and views

relative to formulating, changing, or implementing personnel

policies and practices, working conditions, and considering any

views, objections, or suggestions before final action is taken;

(c) Union representation on joint union-management committees;

(d) Preparing for, traveling to, participating in, and returning from

meetings called or authorized by Management, in conjunction

with matters described within this subsection;

(e) Investigating, preparing, and presenting a reply (whether oral,

written or both) to a notice of proposed adverse action,

performance-based action, within-grade denial, or Reduction

in Force (RIF) appeal, representation in connection with an

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) discrimination

complaint, a request for reconsideration or an appeal of an

acceptable level of competence determination, or a

classification appeal. In addition, it includes time to prepare

and, if required, participate in a Federal Labor Relations

Authority (unfair labor practice charge or unit clarification),

Federal Service Impasses Panel, Merit Systems Protection

Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or Office

of Workers’ Compensation Program proceeding; or

(f) Negotiations, Mediations, and/or Arbitrations.

d. It is understood that Official Duty Time shall not be allowed for any internal

Union business, including, but not limited to, meetings to conduct internal

organizational affairs, solicitation of membership, collection of dues,

campaigning for Union Office, or any other internal Union business.

e. In negotiations by designated union representatives with management,

management may not compel attendance at joint meetings of the parties

designed to produce written agreements and such other written contracts

as may be entered into to supplement or amend existing contractual

arrangements between the parties outside the duty hours of the Union

Representative(s) involved in such negotiations.

Section 5. Training of Local 12 Representatives

Official Time for periods up to fifty (50) hours per contract year shall be granted to

Local 12 representatives on request to attend training sessions sponsored by the

Local when the purpose of such training is to provide information, briefing, or

orientation relating to matters within the scope of the Statute and rules and

regulations issued thereunder, including matters relating to pay, personnel policies,

working conditions, work schedules, grievance procedure, performance rating, or

Agency policy, and negotiated Agreements pertaining thereto. Official Time may

not be granted for training if the primary purpose is to train or inform employees

as to solicitation of memberships and dues, other internal Union business, or

representing the Union in collective bargaining.

Section 6. Preparing LM2 and Tax Forms

One (1) Local 12 Union Official may utilize up to seven (7) hours of Official Time

annually to prepare the annual tax forms and financial report which must be filed

with the Department of Labor pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 7100, Standards of Conduct for

Labor Organizations.

Section 7. Local 12 Union Officials

a. The following Local 12 Officials will be on 100% Official Time: President,

Executive Vice President, and Head Steward. These Union Officials shall not

be discriminated against in connection with their statutory entitlement to a

within-grade increase. In addition, the Union shall be entitled to a total of

three years of 100% official time for an additional representative(s). The

Union may elect to have three representatives on 100% official time for one

year, two representatives on 100% official time for 18 months or one

representative on official time for three years. The Union will notify the

Agency of its election at the time the Collective Bargaining Agreement is

executed.

b. In addition, these full-time Officers are entitled to receive service credit

pursuant to the regulations set forth at 5 CFR 351.504(c)(1) which states

that “An employee who has not received any rating of record during the 4-

year period shall receive credit for performance based on the modal rating

for the summary level pattern that applies to the employee’s official position

of record at the time of the reduction in force.” In addition 5 CFR

351.504(c)(2) provides that “an employee who has received at least one but

fewer than three previous ratings of record during the 4-year period shall

receive credit for performance on the basis of the value of the actual

rating(s) of record divided by the number of actual ratings received. If an

employee has received only two actual ratings of record during the period,

the value of the ratings is added together and divided by two (and rounded

in the case of a fraction to the next higher whole number) to determine the

amount of additional retention service credit. If an employee has received

only one actual rating of record during the period, its value is the amount of

additional retention service credit provided.”

c. In addition, the parties agree that all of the Full-Time Officers may

participate in flexitime, Telework, and all Union Representatives will have

the ability to earn Credit Hours for time spent on representational business,

in accordance with Article 6 of this Agreement, as any other employee. It is

understood that should case law change or modify these provisions, the

case law will have the effect of superseding the applicable part(s) of this

subsection.

d. The Union will be allowed to utilize a bank of up to 300 Official Time hours

for bargaining unit employees Graded at the GS-7 level or below for

purposes of providing additional Administrative support. It is agreed that the

Union will provide at least twenty-four (24) hours notice to the Agency

when the Local intends to utilize more than eight (8) consecutive Official

time hours in any work week. Otherwise, reasonable advanced notice will be

provided.