Making some of the FLRA’s document delivery also would reduce the “significant costs” associated with printing, preparing and mailing paper copies of filings, the agency said. Rawf8/Getty Images
FLRA will test out paperless document delivery
The agency that oversees labor-management relations in the federal government says sending documents by mail sometimes hamstrings parties’ ability to respond to filings.
The Federal Labor Relations Authority on Monday will implement new regulations that will give unions and agencies the option to receive case documents electronically, potentially making it easier to meet filing deadlines and saving money.
Although the FLRA, which adjudicates disputes between federal employee unions and agency management, allows parties to file documents electronically, it does not have the same flexibility for the documents that it sends out, including decisions, orders and notices. Instead, the agency is required to send those documents to parties via first-class mail.
In an interim final rule scheduled to be published in the Federal Register Monday, union and agency officials with proceedings before the FLRA can request that the agency send documents via email rather than by mail. Although the FLRA is seeking public comments on the measure until August 9, the rule takes immediate effect on Monday.
The FLRA said it is taking this step after “numerous” requests to be able to receive authority documents electronically in recent years, particularly since the rapid expansion of telework and remote work that coincided with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. And parties have reported difficulties meeting filing deadlines due to mail delivery delays.
“Under the FLRA’s regulations, when authority documents are served by first-class mail, the responding party receives five additional days for filing any responsive filings,” the rule states. “However, the authority has found that there have been many instances where mail has taken longer than five days to reach the intended recipient, thereby shortening the recipient’s response time. Allowing parties to opt for e-mail service of authority documents would avoid that problem and thereby improve customer service.”
Making some of the FLRA’s document delivery also would reduce the “significant costs” associated with printing, preparing and mailing paper copies of filings, the agency said.
So far, the rule only applies to documents issued by the FLRA’s Office of Case Intake and Publication and only to cases that are pending before the FLRA’s three-member board. Documents issued in cases still moving through the FLRA’s adjudication process, such as documents issued by its Office of Administrative Law Judges or the Office of the General Counsel, will continue to be delivered exclusively by mail.