American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Social Security District Office Locals and Social Security Administration (Authority decision, January 7, 1983)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority dismissed this negotiability petition without reaching a merits ruling. 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).

Plain-English summary

AFGE appealed a dispute over a proposal requiring bargaining about flexible and compressed work schedules at the Social Security Administration. While the appeal was pending, Congress enacted a new law governing those schedules. The Authority found that neither party had addressed how the new law affected the proposal. It dismissed the petition as moot without a merits ruling and allowed a new appeal after the parties considered the statute.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Negotiability review under 5 U.S.C. § 7105(a)(2)(E).
• Outcome: Petition dismissed as moot without prejudice to a later appeal.
• Key point: A new scheduling statute required the parties to reconsider the proposal before the Authority could decide it.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v11 p15 ]

11:0015(8)NG

The decision of the Authority follows:

11 FLRA No. 8

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES,
COUNCIL OF SOCIAL
SECURITY DISTRICT
OFFICE LOCALS
Union

and

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
AND HUMAN SERVICES,
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Agency

Case No. O-NG-516

ORDER DISMISSING PETITION FOR REVIEW

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 the issue of the negotiability of a Union proposal which, among other things, would mandate bargaining over the establishment and implementation of flexitime plans and/or compressed work schedules.

On July 23, 1982, and during the pendency of this appeal, the Federal Employees Flexible and Compressed Work Schedules Act of 1982, Pub. L. No. 97-221, 96 Stat. 227, became effective. Under this Act, a new section 6131 was added to title 5, U.S. Code, which prescribes the criteria and review procedures governing the establishment or termination of a flexible or compressed schedule where the head of an agency determines that such schedule would have an adverse agency impact. Neither party has had the opportunity to address the applicability to the matters involved in the instant proposal of Pub. L. No. 97-221 which substantially differs in some respects from its predecessor (Federal Employees Flexible and Compressed Work Schedules Act of 1978, Pub. L. No. 95-390, 92 Stat. 755 (1978), as amended by Pub. L. No. 97-160, 96 Stat. 21 (1982)).

Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the Union's petition for review be, and it hereby is, dismissed as moot without passing on the merits of the appeal and without prejudice to the filing of another appeal, pursuant to the Rules and Regulations of the Authority, on the same issue after the parties have considered the applicability of Pub. L. No. 97-221 to the matters involved in the proposal. /1/ See National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 217 and Department of Health and Human Services, Region VII, 10 FLRA No. 18 (1982). Issued, Washington, D.C., January 7, 1983 Ronald W. Haughton, Chairman Henry B. Frazier III, Member Leon B. Applewhaite, Member FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY

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

/1/ The Union's request to consolidate this case with Case No. O-NG-522, which involves a different issue, is denied.