Management

Trump Effort to Weaken Union Lawsuit Could Be Unlawful

Labor law experts say a memo granting the Federal Labor Relations Authority the ability to fire members of the Federal Service Impasses Panel undermines the law establishing the two boards.

Management

Union Decries VA Response to Lynched Doll Found in Staff Area of Louisiana Facility

Employees at the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center have questioned the finding that the person responsible was not an employee, given where the doll was located.

Management

Social Security’s Justification for Ending Telework Pilot Doesn’t Add Up

The agency has delayed the end until Nov. 23, but management denied the American Federation of Government Employees’ demand to bargain over implementation.

Management

Labor Authority Preliminarily Finds Social Security Illegally Intimidated Union Officials

Earlier this year, management threatened leaders at the Association of Administrative Law Judges with discipline for taking official time to prepare for contract negotiations.

Management

Labor Authority Investigator Finds EPA Violated Law with Unilateral Contract

FLRA board cannot adjudicate the case because its general counsel nominee awaits Senate confirmation.

Pay & Benefits

Social Security Ends Telework Program for 12,000 Employees

Workers in all of the Social Security Administration’s operations components have less than two weeks to find alternate arrangements.

Oversight

AFGE President Takes Leave Amid Harassment Allegations

The largest federal employee union will conduct an internal investigation into J. David Cox’s conduct after 10 current and former union employees told Bloomberg News of unwanted advances and inappropriate comments.

Oversight

Senate Democrats Decry EPA’s Decision to Unilaterally Impose Union Contract

A letter from 41 lawmakers to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the decision to cease negotiations with the nation’s largest employee union and unilaterally implement a new contract showed a “disregard” for the law.

Oversight

Supreme Court to Examine Burden of Proof for Age Discrimination Lawsuits at Federal Agencies

If the high court finds in favor of a Veterans Affairs pharmacist, older federal employees could have an easier time making the case for discrimination.

Management

NTEU Blasts ‘Nonsensical’ Proposed OPM Rule Easing Firing of Feds

The federal employee union accused the Trump administration of forcing managers to focus on firing employees, rather than helping them succeed in their positions.

Management

Trump: Workforce Orders Do Not Apply to Union Contracts Signed During Injunction

The Trump administration will honor collective bargaining agreements implemented during the 10-month period when key provisions of three controversial executive orders were blocked by a federal court decision.

Workforce

Dozens of Lawmakers to Ask DOJ to Reverse Course on Immigration Judge Union Decertification

The judges have filed an unfair labor practice over the Justice Department's efforts to strip them of their collective bargaining rights.

Management

OPM Urges Agencies to Abandon Disciplinary Guidelines for Poor Performers

The Trump administration wants to give managers more discretion to pick an appropriate punishment for a given situation.

Oversight

Employees Report Threatening Anti-LGBT Harassment, Retaliation at National Science Foundation

An outside investigator recently substantiated allegations that a career manager made sexually explicit jokes and bullied LGBT employees.

Management

HHS Engaged in Bad Faith Bargaining With Union, Arbitrator Finds

An independent arbitrator ordered the department and labor officials to return to the bargaining table, effectively invalidating a contract mandated by the Federal Service Impasses Panel.

Management

Agencies May Now Enforce Trump’s Controversial Workforce Orders

An expired court injunction clears the way for the administration to significantly curtail the power of federal employee unions.

Management

OPM Calls on Agencies to Streamline Federal Firing

Agencies have until March 2020 to eliminate “unnecessary barriers to addressing poor performance,” and even stricter rules are likely on the way.

Management

Appeals Court Declines to Rehear Case Against Trump's Workforce Executive Orders

The decision marks a major blow to federal employee unions, which must now wait for agencies to implement three controversial executive orders and then challenge them before the Federal Labor Relations Authority.