How do you reach agreement with a union without involving a third party? Here are some practical steps an agency can take based on the experience of an experienced negotiator in the federal sector.
Want to fulfill your fantasy of getting great seats to the NCAA basketball tournament–for free? Here’s how you can do it legally.
A federal court found a problem with an agency’s deciding official talking with other managers about their views of an employee who had received a removal notice. And, while the employee being fired apparently liked to watch “Oprah” on her computer, the court suggested the MSPB review the record showing that other federal employees also watched television in the office during the workday.
What happens when employees lock a door to keep out agency managers and other agency personnel in order to keep anyone from “tattling to management about what is [or] is not being done[.]” In this case, a negotiability appeal was filed with the FLRA.
If you are contemplating retirement, surely you have a very clear idea of why you are doing so. Or do you? Based on my own experience and in talking to some of my friends and colleagues, I think there are a fair number of people who retire without having carefully thought through their reasons for doing so.
The 2008 election is already underway. Political passion is stirring in some citizens and the e-mail send button is sitting right in front of you. Think before explaining the rationale for your political passion in a personal message to your friends and colleagues by using that convenient government e-mail system. Here’s why.
A federal employee who had been arrested and convicted of assault for biting off a portion of her neighbor’s thumb found herself in a confrontation with her supervisor. The employee argued in court that her past work record should not be used in determining the penalty.
A fired federal employee who appealed to the Merit Systems Protection Board about 19 months after the deadline has managed to persuade the federal appeals court to overturn the Board’s dismissal of her appeal as untimely and therefore has won the right to have her case heard on the merits. A court found that the agency’s notice of appeal rights was incorrect at one point in the 4-year history of the case.
It is early in the campaign but FedSmith readers have strong views about the candidates. The results will no doubt surprise some readers who may see federal employees as a solid voting bloc. At this stage, our readers are about as divided in their political views as the rest of the electorate.
Agency negotiators who lead management into an unending and apparently unendable morass are not likely to prosper. How do you open a negotiation between a union and an agency and how do you close it?
