CBP continues streamlined process for awarding bonuses

Officials at the Customs and Border Protection agency are continuing to award cash bonuses without employee input, despite a January arbitration ruling against this method.

In January, arbitrator Roger Kaplan found that CBP's decision to disband local awards committees composed of union and agency representatives in favor of a more streamlined, unilateral process violated the agency's contract with the National Treasury Employees Union.

CBP appealed the ruling to the Federal Labor Relations Authority and is awaiting a decision. In the meantime, CBP notified the union in July that it would continue to dole out superior achievement cash awards without the committees.

"Despite a very clear and strongly worded decision from an arbitrator that CBP violated its contract with NTEU, the agency is reverting to its previously discredited unilateral awards policy for 2006 awards," said Colleen Kelley, president of the union.

In a letter to NTEU, Sheila Brown, CBP's labor relations director, denied a grievance on the matter. She said it was duplicative of the union's earlier grievance, which led to Kaplan's decision. Brown said CBP was not changing its policy until it got word from the FLRA.

A CBP press officer said the agency would not be able to comment on the bonus policy in time for this story. In January, Kristi Clemens, who was the agency's assistant commissioner for public affairs but has since left, told Government Executive the awards process was unmanageable and needed to be streamlined. Three agencies, with three different unions, came together to form CBP, she said.

"This new streamlined awards policy, implemented in [fiscal] 2005, is a unified system providing employees with the right to nominate themselves, or other employees, for an award," Clemens said.

NTEU won an election in late June as the sole union to represent a large chunk of CBP employees, and continues to push for the committees.

"The previous system … helped ensure that employee performance was rewarded based upon merit, not personal favoritism," Kelley said. "CBP decisions to remove front-line managers and employees from the award decision-making process and then to remove the transparency from the process is a huge mistake and another contributor to morale problems at the agency."

If Kaplan's ruling stands, Kelley said employees could receive "millions" in additional awards. No employees would lose money as a result of the ruling.