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.
Pay & Benefits
With Go Ahead from OPM, Agencies Press Forward With Efforts to Cripple Federal Unions
Unions likely to face evictions, severe restrictions on official time.
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.
Pay & Benefits
Lawmakers Look to Ban 'Bribes' Federal Unions Use to Recruit New Members
Union says payments are merely rebates used to incentivize participation.
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.
Management
Labor Groups and Lawmakers Vow to Fight 'All-out Assault' on Unions and Federal Employee Rights
Hundreds of federal workers rallied on Capitol Hill to protest the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back employee benefits and protections.
Management
Shorts Scare Could Mark New Front in Federal Labor-Management Conflict
Union leaders cancelled a passive protest scheduled for Monday but voted to take legal action after the Social Security Administration threatened to discipline employees.
Oversight
Former VA Union Local Official Sentenced for Embezzlement
A former treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 331 pleaded guilty in May to stealing more than $80,000 from the union.
Management