AFGE Local 32 and Office of Personnel Management (Authority decision, May 24, 1985)

Final FLRA decision. This is a final order of the Federal Labor Relations Authority on a negotiability petition. An aggrieved person may seek judicial review by filing a petition in an appropriate United States court of appeals within 60 days after issuance under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a). Filing a petition does not stay the Authority's order unless the court orders a stay under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(c).

Plain-English summary

AFGE proposed additional nonproduction time for employees carrying out assigned work. The Authority found that the proposal would require management either to grant extra time or disregard some time when measuring work quantity and timeliness. It held the proposal outside the duty to bargain because it interfered with directing employees and assigning work.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Management rights under 5 U.S.C. § 7106(a)(2)(A) and (B).
• Outcome: Extra time proposal outside the duty to bargain.
• Key point: The proposed time allowance constrained management's performance measures.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v18 p305 ]

18:0305(37)NG

The decision of the Authority follows:

18 FLRA No. 37

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO, LOCAL 32
Union

and

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
Agency

Case No. 0-NG-1009

DECISION AND ORDER ON NEGOTIABILITY ISSUE

The petition for review in this case comes before the Authority pursuant to section 7105(a)(2)(E) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute), and raises an issue concerning the negotiability of one Union proposal. Upon careful consideration of the entire record, including the parties' contentions,
/1/ the Authority makes the following determinations.

Union Proposal #2-- If circumstances warrant it, additional non-production time will be allowed for completion of the new forms under the new system.

This proposal, by its terms, would require the Agency to provide a certain amount of time, i.e., "additional non-production time," within which certain new forms can be completed by bargaining unit employees. Consequently, the effect of this proposal would be to require the Agency to either grant extra time or not to count certain new time when making determinations of the quantity and timeliness of employee's work product. In this regard, the instant proposal is to the same effect as Union Proposal 2 in American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 1923 and Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, 12 FLRA 17 (1983), also requiring the Agency to either grant extra time or not to count certain time when making determinations of the quality and quantity of employee's work product. In that case, the Authority found the proposal, which would have given trainees "time allowances" within which to learn and implement certain procedures, outside the duty to bargain as it would interfere with management's section 7106(a)(2)(A) and (B) rights to "direct" employees and "to assign work." Hence, as the instant proposal would also require the Agency to provide time allowances, i.e., "additional non-production time," it is, for the reasons and case cited in Department of Health and Human Services, likewise, outside the duty to bargain.

Accordingly, pursuant to section 2424.10 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, IT IS ORDERED that the Union's petition for review be, and it hereby is, dismissed.

Issued, Washington, D.C., May 24, 1985

Henry B. Frazier III, Acting
Chairman
William J. McGinnis, Jr., Member
FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY

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

/1/ The Union did not file a Reply Brief in this case.