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Customs and Border Protection employees proficient in foreign languages could receive back pay thanks to a recent agreement between the National Treasury Employees Union and the agency.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement finalized Nov. 28, certain CBP officers can take a foreign language competence test. If shown to be adequate, they will receive retroactive bonuses ranging from 3 to 5 percent of their base salaries the year they should have received the bonus.

The Foreign Language Award Program, established by the 1993 Customs Officer Pay Reform Act, allows employees who speak and use foreign language skills on the job to receive a one-time cash award if they use the language for at least 10 percent of their duties and have passed a competence test.

But according to NTEU, which represents about 14,000 CBP employees from the former Customs Service, the agency stopped testing employees for language proficiencies in 2003. This prevented employees from being part of the program and prompted the union to file a national grievance on Oct. 7, 2004.

The settlement comes as the grievance was headed to arbitration.

Under the agreement, the 444 CBP officers hired before July 25, 2004, and previously classified as customs inspectors (GS-1890) and customs canine enforcement officers (GS-1801) who applied for foreign language testing in fiscal 2004 but were not tested, and the 391 officers who applied for testing in fiscal 2005, will be scheduled for priority testing in fiscal 2006.

Employees found to have been denied testing opportunities could be given retroactive payments if they attain a score indicating adequate proficiency, according to the settlement agreement.

"It seems counterproductive for the Department of Homeland Security to not acknowledge and reward their diligence," said NTEU President Colleen Kelley. "For an administration that is pushing the idea of pay for performance, it amazed me that the leadership of DHS made a conscious decision not to reward these employees who possess a much needed skill and are performing above and beyond their job descriptions."

According to NTEU, this marks CBP's only agreement to re-implement the foreign language award program.

Charles Showalter, president of the American Federation of Government Employees' National Homeland Security Council 117, said CBP has not dealt in good faith with his union, which represents 6,500 CBP legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service employees, including border patrol guards, inspectors and lawyers.

"They don't have enough testers," Showalter said. "That's their excuse. We expect the agency to continue to resist paying officers who use foreign languages on a daily basis."

Showalter said that the agency is requiring officers to use foreign languages regularly whether or not they are being paid for it. Employees are subject to disciplinary actions if they fail to comply.

"Now that we're under one system, you'd think that DHS would do things in an appropriate manner," Showalter said. "We are pursuing this, and we do expect to get back pay for all CBP officers."

A CBP spokeswoman said the agency recognizes the value of foreign language proficiency, and it remains dedicated to furthering participation in the program.

"CBP recognizes that there was a lapse in the testing process for eligible officers under the foreign language awards program," the spokeswoman said. "That lapse was not the result of a CBP decision to discontinue testing, but was due to delays in extending the Interagency Agreement to provide testing services."

The agency paid awards under the provisions in the program to 1,570 eligible officers in fiscal 2004 and recently concluded the payment processing for eligible officers in fiscal 2005, the spokeswoman added. Testing to determine proficiency levels resumed in July and has proceeded at an accelerated pace, she said.

CBP is looking to secure additional testing services to expedite officer testing.

COMMENTS

• I am a Legacy Immigration CBP Officer working at the San Ysidro POE. I am white, non-Hispanic, and I communicate with the traveling public in Spanish all of the time! I don't know how it works at other POEs, but at SYS we all speak at least some Spanish, otherwise it would be impossible to do the job. The talk of racism disturbs me. Do people honestly feel that they are being discriminated against because someone asks them to talk to somebody? I can hold my own in Spanish, but sometimes when things get complicated I ask for help from a native speaker. Am I a racist?! My co-workers never seem to have a problem -- they are always willing to help. Same story for Koreans, Chinese, Arabic speakers, etc. We all try to help each other. In any case, I agree that it is fundamentally unfair that L-Customs and new CBP Officers are offered the opportunity to earn language pay, but Aggies and Immigration Officers are not. One team, one fight? I'm sorry to say it, but I'm afraid not. Do your best with what you have, and try to be happy. CBP Officer- (L INS) San Ysidro POE Posted December 31, 2005 9:40 AM
• Agriculture Specialists and CBP Officers?? One face at the border?? One team, one fight?? It sounds nice but it doesn't work that way. Agriculture Specialists are not being treated equally. But why, if we are one agency with one mission in one nation? Newark Posted December 13, 2005 9:10 AM
• "Forced to translate without compensation"? Are you kidding or what? The fact that CBP offers compensation for officers who speak other languages is a nice benefit, but one that is not found in most law enforcement agencies, who accept it as a necessary component of the job. Try working for the NYPD, and asking for more money because of your language skills, they'd laugh you out of the stationhouse. As for Hispanic officers being "singled out," who else would you have translate the Spanish language, maybe someone from Sweden? Grow up, stop whining, get over yourself, and do your job! GovExec.com reader Posted December 9, 2005 3:07 PM