Military Department of Arkansas, Arkansas National Guard and NFFE Local 1671 (Authority decision, August 14, 1986)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority modifies the arbitration award. The order concerns an arbitration award. Under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a)(1), ordinary judicial review of an Authority arbitration order is generally unavailable unless it involves an unfair labor practice under § 7116.

Plain-English summary

Three Arkansas National Guard employees requested 40 hours of administrative leave to attend a union officer training seminar but received 24 hours. An arbitrator ruled that the full requests should have been granted. The Authority modified that ruling because training about a union's internal business must occur on nonduty time under 5 U.S.C. § 7131(b), and administrative leave is not nonduty time. The grievance can succeed only for training unrelated to internal union affairs. The Authority did not decide which seminar sessions fell in that category.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Internal union business and nonduty time under 5 U.S.C. § 7131(b).
• Outcome: Award modified; leave claim survives only for training outside internal union business.
• Key point: Administrative leave cannot be used for training on a union's internal affairs.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v23 p114 ]

23:0114(12)AR

The decision of the Authority follows:

23 FLRA No. 12

MILITARY DEPARTMENT OF ARKANSAS
OFFICE OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL
ARKANSAS NATIONAL GUARD
Activity

and

LOCAL 1671, NATIONAL FEDERATION OF
FEDERAL EMPLOYEES
Union

Case No. 0-AR-1102

DECISION

I. STATEMENT OF CASE

This matter is before the Authority on exceptions to the award of Arbitrator Ralph C. Barnhard filed by the Agency under section 7122(a) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute) and part 2425 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations.

II. BACKGROUND AND ARBITRATOR's AWARD

The grievance in this case involved the request of three union members for an excused absence without charge to leave (commonly known as administrative leave) to attend a training seminar for union officers. Each individual had requested 40 hours of administrative leave, but was granted only 24 hours. A grievance was filed and submitted to arbitration protesting the Activity's refusal to grant the full amount of the requests. Before the Arbitrator the Activity maintained that certain sessions of the training seminar involved matters of internal union business and that such training was not training for which administrative leave can be granted. Specifically, the Activity argued that under the provisions of section 7131(b) of the Statute, such training must be performed during the time the employee is in a nonduty status. The Arbitrator rejected the Activity's argument. He concluded instead that section 7131(b) does not require that training of union members or officers in the proper conduct of the internal business of the union must be performed when the employees are in a nonduty status. On this basis he sustained the grievance, ruling that the requested leave should have been granted. Since no remedy was requested in the grievance, the Arbitrator stated that the only remedy available was "the bearing" his ruling may have on future requests for similar administrative leave.

III. EXCEPTION

The Agency contends that the award is deficient as contrary to section 7131(b) of the Statute.

IV. ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS

The Authority agrees with the Agency. The Statute requires that "any activities" by an employee relating to internal union business must be on nonduty time. Service Employees International Union, Local 556, AFL-CIO, 17 FLRA 862 (1985). Thus, contrary to the conclusion of the Arbitrator, we find that "any activities" must encompass training in the proper conduct of the internal business of a union. Consequently, under the express terms of the Statute, such training must be performed when an employee is in a nonduty status. Since administrative leave constitutes an excused absence without charge to leave, an employee is not in a "nonduty status" within the meaning of section 7131(b) when the employee is on administrative leave. See generally Long Beach Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, California and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 174, AFL-CIO, 7 FLRA 362 (1981). In sustaining the grievance, the Arbitrator misinterpreted and misapplied section 7131(b) of the Statute, and therefore the award is deficient and must be modified to assure that it is consistent with the Statute.

The Arbitrator did not address the extent to which the training actually related to internal union business within the meaning of section 7131(b). Accordingly, we do not reach that issue and our modification of the award is intended to recognize that the grievance may be sustained only insofar as the training did not relate to internal union business.

V. DECISION

For the reasons stated above, the award is modified to provide as follows:

The grievance is sustained only insofar as the training for which leave was requested and denied did not pertain to the proper conduct of the internal affairs of the Union.

Issued, Washington, D.C., August 14, 1986.
/s/ Jerry L. Calhoun, Chairman
/s/ Henry B. Frazier III, Member
FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY