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.
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