Social Security Administration and American Federation of Government Employees (Authority decision, April 4, 1985)

Final FLRA decision. This is a final order of the Federal Labor Relations Authority on exceptions to an arbitral award under 5 U.S.C. § 7122. Orders involving arbitral awards generally are excluded from judicial review by 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a)(1), unless the order involves an unfair labor practice under § 7116. This decision does not state that it involves an unfair labor practice.

Plain-English summary

The Social Security Administration filed exceptions to an arbitrator's award one day after the applicable deadline. The agency relied on the date it received the mailed award. The Authority held that the filing period began when the award was placed in the mail, not when the agency received it. It dismissed the exceptions as untimely without reaching their merits.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Arbitration exception filing period under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(b).
• Outcome: Agency exceptions dismissed as untimely.
• Key point: The deadline ran from service by mailing, rather than receipt of the award.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v17 p415 ]

17:0415(65)AR

The decision of the Authority follows:

17 FLRA No. 65

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Activity

and

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES
Union

Case No. 0-AR-932

ORDER DISMISSING EXCEPTIONS

This case is before the Authority on exceptions to the award of Arbitrator Edwin R. Render filed by the Activity pursuant to section 7122(a) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute and section 2425.1 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations. For the reasons stated below, it has been determined that the exceptions must be dismissed as untimely filed.

The Arbitrator's award is dated January 22, 1985, and appears to have been served on the parties by mail on the same day.

Under section 7122(b) of the Statute, as amended, /1/ and section 2425.1 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, as amended, /2/ which amendments are applicable to exceptions pending or filed with the Authority on or after March 2, 1984, and under sections 2429.21 and 2429.22 of the Rules and Regulations, which are also applicable to computation of the time limit here involved, any exceptions to the Arbitrator's award in this case had to be filed with the Authority no later than the close of business on February 25, 1985. However the exceptions were not filed until February 26, 1985. Therefore, the exceptions were untimely filed.

In its exception, the Activity states that " . . . a copy of this award was served on the Social Security Administration on January 28, 1985." Inasmuch as the period for filing exceptions to the Arbitrator's award began on the date the award was served on the filing party, that is, deposited in the mail (see section 2429.27(d) of the Authority's Rules and Regulations), and not on the date the award was received by that party, the Activity's exceptions were untimely filed.

Accordingly, and apart from other considerations, the Activity's exceptions are hereby dismissed. For the Authority. Issued, Washington, D.C., April 4, 1985 Harold D. Kessler Managing Director for Case Processing

--------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------

/1/ Section 7122(b) of the Statute was amended by the Civil Service Miscellaneous Amendments Act of 1983 (Pub. L. No. 98-224, Sec. 4, 98 Stat. 47, 48 (1984)) to provide that the 30-day period for filing exceptions to an arbitrator's award begins on the date the award is served on the filing party.

/2/ 49 Fed.Reg. 22623 (1984).