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Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
Once the reply has finished and the Employer has distributed decisions to all who applied, it may freeze the organization in anticipation of the issuance of Specific Notices.
The AGENCY had no counterproposal.
The ARBITRATOR declined to adopt the UNION's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
In unusual situations the Employer may make exceptions to the normal order of release provided for in Subsection A in accordance with 5 C.F.R. 351.606, 5 C.F.R. 351.607, and 5 C.F.R. 351.608. Management has determined that all exceptions will be made in a fair and objective manner. When the Employer decides to use an exception, it will notify the Union and all employees impacted by the exception. Exceptions will be implemented on a systematic and uniform basis throughout the country. The notice will include all reasons for the exception as well as a complete rational why the employee chosen was so chosen.
The AGENCY proposed the following:
In unusual situations the Employer may make exceptions to the normal order of release provided for in Subsection A in accordance with 5 C.F.R. 351.606, 5 C.F.R. 351.607, and 5 C.F.R. 351.608 and section 634 of the 1997 Appropriations Act. The Employer has determined that only the Regional Commissioners and the Chief Officers, or their equivalents, will be permitted to grant exceptions.
The ARBITRATOR adopted the AGENCY's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
All employees passed over will have an opportunity to assert and demonstrate their readiness to perform the same work. Moreover, they will be given a notice and opportunity to respond orally and in writing prior to being passed over. This response will be replied to before the employee is passed over and all procedural issues will be identical to those provided for oral and written replies to disciplinary action under the parties' term agreements.
The AGENCY proposed the following:
When the Employer decides to use an exception of 30 days or more, it will notify the Union and all employees impacted by the exception in accordance with 5 C.F.R. 351.608(e). The notice will include all reasons for the exception as well as a complete rationale why the employee chosen was so chosen.
The ARBITRATOR adopted the AGENCY's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
The Employer will accept any request for a voluntary downgrade made in the 5 days prior to a RIF and for the purposes of improving an employee's chances of retention.
The AGENCY had no counterproposal.
The ARBITRATOR declined to consider the UNION's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
The Employer shall offer the employee with the highest retention standing the opportunity to reassign to all positions for which he or she has bump or retreat rights. The employee is free to select the assignment he or she wishes from among these opportunities to which he has rights under law, regulation, and this contract. In selecting employees for assignment, the employee with the highest retention standing among those who have received a RIF notice will be offered the position held before those with lower retention standing. An employee is entitled to no further offers when:
- They accept an offer;
- They reject a requested offer; or
- They fail to reply to an offer within a reasonable time.
Should the Employer insist that it has a management right to assign employees to a specific position, it will do so using highest retention standing among those who volunteer for the vacancy or it will run a merit competition to identify the best candidate prior to making its selection.
The AGENCY proposed the following:
An employee is entitled to only one (1) offer of assignment. Employees released from their competitive level in Round 1 will be provided assignment rights in retention order and shall be offered the position occupied by the employee with the lowest retention standing. An employee is entitled to no further offers when:
- They accept an offer;
- They reject an offer; or
- They fail to reply to an offer within a reasonable time.
The ARBITRATOR adopted the AGENCY's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
Once the final RIF decisions are implemented (and if the competitive area is less than nationwide), unit employees not offered an assignment within their commuting area will be considered for any vacant unit positions anywhere in the country by retention standing. All they need do is give the Employer a notice of their desire to be considered for a vacant position in another office and they will be so considered using the CTAP and redeployment rights. This will continue with the employee for a period of 2 years after the RIF. Where there are more employees than positions, employees will be selected in order of retention standing, unless the Employer runs a merit competition under the terms of the parties' contract. Selected employees will receive reasonable moving expenses.
The AGENCY had no counterproposal.
The ARBITRATOR declined to adopt the UNION's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
If an employee must leave his or her position due to the movement of another employee the Employer will solicit from among the potentially impacted employees in the competitive level for volunteers to move to the targeted vacant position. The Employer will notify all potentially impacted employees of the targeted vacant position in writing and give them 3 days to apply. If any volunteer, they will be moved or the Employer will explain in writing to the volunteer why he or she was not selected. It will also notify the Union of the situation and delay further selection action for 3 working days to permit the Union to have discussions with the Employer. If the Employer selects from among the volunteers, ties will be broken by highest retention standing.
The AGENCY had no counterproposal.
The ARBITRATOR declined to adopt the UNION's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
Employees will be given the maximum amount of saved grade and pay as well as the maximum benefit under the highest previous rate rule as well as similar compensation rules. No salary benefit that is within the IRS discretion to grant them will be denied if it will lessen the adverse impact of the forced reassignment pursuant to the RIF.
The AGENCY proposed the following:
Retained pay and grade will be provided to the maximum extent allowed by law.
The ARBITRATOR adopted the AGENCY's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
Notice to Employees. Employees selected for release from a competitive level in Round I will be given a specific written notice at least 120 full calendar days before the effective date of release.
The AGENCY proposed the following:
Notice to Employees. Employees selected for release from a competitive level will be given a specific written notice at least 60 full calendar days before the effective date of release consistent with Article 28 of the NORD/NC agreements. (The notice period begins the day after the employee receives the notice.)
The ARBITRATOR adopted the AGENCY's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
Notice to Employees. Employees selected for release from a competitive level in Round I will be given a specific written notice at least 120 full calendar days before the effective date of release. The notice to the employee shall state specifically:
- The action to be taken, reason for the action, a complete statement of all the evidence supporting the reason so the employee can make and informed decision about whether to challenge the reason, and its effective date, e.g., the specific plan for the reorganization showing to whom the employee's work will be reassigned (or no longer done) and the alleged efficiency stemming from that decision);
- The employee's competitive area, competitive level, subgroup, service date, and annual performance ratings of record received during the last 4 years;
- The place where the employee may inspect the regulations and records pertinent to the case;
- The reasons for retaining a lower-standing employee in the same competitive level under 5 C.F.R. 351.607 or 351.608, should it be necessary for the agency to make an exception to the normal order of release;
- Information on reemployment rights, including rights under the agency Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority Lists, and the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP);
- Benefits (i.e., severance pay, unemployment compensation, health and life insur ance, lumps sum payments); and
- Grievance and/or appeals rights. Within 10 workdays after the implementation of this agreement, NTEU will select the RIF appeal forum, either MSPB or the grievance/arbitration procedure of the national term contracts. Once one of those methods is selected, all Chapters will be bound by the choice and NTEU will notify IRS of its decision within that same 10 workdays. If NTEU fails to make a selection, RIF appeals will be processed in accordance with the grievance/arbitration provisions of the term agreements. If the Union chooses, it will have no adverse impact on the rights of employees and the Union to grieve and arbitrate those matters not appealable to MSPB. Moreover, if NTEU chooses MSPB, the IRS will attach to each RIF notice a copy of a letter prepared by NTEU, if not jointly, advising employees about what is specifically appealable to MSPB and what still must be grieved.
- A statement of the severance pay the employee will receive.
- The notice will also include a list of all RIF scores, with points attributable to each dimension of scoring, for employees against whom that employee competed, e.g., who were within the competitive level. (To the extent the Employer is compelled by law or regulation to avoid releasing any of this information lest employee privacy be violated, the Employer will transmit this information in sanitized form, e.g., using employee identifying codes such as Employee A.)
- A statement informing the employee that he or she is entitled to a reasonable amount of official time, at minimum 8 hours, to confer with a representative prior to filing an appeal if the RIF decisions must be appealed to MSPB.
- A statement outlining NTEU's representation rights should if decide to appeal these matters to the MSPB versus the grievance-arbitration process.
The AGENCY proposed the following:
Notice to Employees. Employees selected for release from a competitive level will be given a specific written notice at least 60 full calendar days before the effective date of release consistent with Article 28 of the NORD/NC agreements. (The notice period begins the day after the employee receives the notice.) The notice to the employee shall state specifically.
- The action to be taken, reason for the action, and its effective date;
- The employee's competitive area, competitive level, subgroup, service date, and annual performance ratings of record received during the last 4 years;
- The place where the employee may inspect the regulations and records pertinent to the case;
- The reasons for retaining a lower-standing employee in the same competitive level under 5 C.F.R. 351.607 or 351.608, should it be necessary for the agency to make an exception to the normal order of release;
- Information on reemployment rights, including rights under the agency Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority Lists, and the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP);
- Benefits (i.e., severance pay, unemployment compensation, health and life insur ance, lump sum payments); and
- Appeal or grievance rights.
- Employees will receive a separate statement of their estimated severance pay. Severance pay will be paid in the maximum amount allowed under law.
The ARBITRATOR adopted the AGENCY's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
An employee is entitled to a new notice and notice period of a least 120 calendar days if the Agency decides to take a more severe RIF action than specified in the original notice with respect to that employee. A new notice is not required when the Agency takes a lesser action than specified in the original notice.
The AGENCY proposed the following:
An employee is entitled to a new notice period of at least 60 calendar days if the Agency decides to take a more severe RIF action than specified in the original notice with respect to that employee. A new notice is not required when the Agency takes a lesser action than specified in the original notice.
The ARBITRATOR adopted the AGENCY's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
Any employee who would qualify for retirement with a reasonably longer notice period will be given that period to enable him or her to retire. Similarly, employees will be allowed to use all appropriate leave, e.g., annual, LWOP, to reach a date on which they qualify for retirement.
The AGENCY proposed the following:
The use of exceptions to the order of release regarding sick and annual leave will be in accordance with the provisions of 5 C.F.R. 351.608 and section 634 of the 1997 Omnibus Spending Act.
The ARBITRATOR adopted the AGENCY's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
Moreover, if NTEU chooses MSPB, the IRS will attach to each RIF notice a copy of a letter prepared by NTEU, if not jointly, advising employees about what is specifically appealable to MSPB and what still must be grieved.
The AGENCY proposed the following:
Appeal Rights. Within 10 workdays after the implementation of the agreement, NTEU may select the RIF appeal forum, either the MSPB or under the grievance/arbitration provisions of the national term agreements. Once one of the two is selected, all chapters will be bound by that choice. If NTEU fails to make a selection, RIF appeals will be processed in accordance with the grievance/arbitration provisions of the national term agreements.
The ARBITRATOR adopted the AGENCY's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
Employees selected for release from their Competitive Level after Round 1, e.g. someone displaced by a bumping or retreating employee, will be entitled to 60 days notice and that notice will contain all the information noted above.
The AGENCY proposed the following:
Notice to Employees. Employees selected for release from a competitive level will be given a specific written notice at least 60 full calendar days before the effective date of release consistent with Article 28 of the NORD/NC agreements. (The notice period begins the day after the employee receives the notice.)
The ARBITRATOR adopted the AGENCY's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
The Employer shall provide employees with the proper application to establish eligibility under the Department of Treasury's Reemployment Priority List (RPL) in accordance with 5 C.F.R. Part 330 -- Recruitment, Selection, and Placement. In order to be included on the reemployment priority list, employees must register by completing any necessary form(s). The Employer will prepare all the necessary forms for tile employee using its records and present a completed package to the employee for modification or signing. At that time it will also give the employee a copy of all appropriate Federal, Treasury and IRS regulations outlining reemployment rights.
The AGENCY proposed the following:
The Employer shall provide employees with the proper application to establish eligibility under the Department of Treasury's Reemployment Priority List (RPL) in accordance with 5 C.F.R. Part 330 -- Recruitment, Selection, and Placement. In order to be included on the reemployment priority list, employees must register by completing any necessary form(s).
The ARBITRATOR adopted the AGENCY's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
Each employee with redeployment eligibility in a commuting area will be sent a monthly announcement by mail listing all the jobs in the commuting area that have been filled within the IRS during that time and the name, previous position, and retention standing of the employee selected. Positions within the IRS will be filled by granting priority consideration to those former IRS employees in order of retention standing.
The AGENCY had no counterproposal.
The ARBITRATOR declined to adopt the UNION's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
Employees with reemployment standing who apply for a position with the IRS will be selected in order of retention standing for those positions for which they qualify. However, if the Agency wishes to use a rating and ranking alternative, it will follow the term contracts. In the meantime, no vacancy for which a reemployment eligible might apply may be filled. Reemployment eligible employees will be considered in order of their retention standing and any ties will be broken by IRS seniority.
The AGENCY had no counterproposal.
The ARBITRATOR declined to adopt the UNION's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
In addition to the specific provisions of this agreement addressing dispute resolution by an outside neutral, the parties have agreed to appoint Mr. David Vaughn as an arbitrator to resolve any disputes under this agreement in which the Union alleges an unfair labor practice is involved or an employee was improperly passed over for release. He is also authorized to handle CTAP disputes that Mr. Hockenberry is not available to handle on a timely basis. The Union may make a direct appeal to him in writing and with simultaneous service on the IRS Labor Relations Officer, and he will thereafter set the procedures for the disposition of the dispute. He is instructed to follow the procedures of the parties' term agreement pertaining to the expedited arbitration where practical. He will have all the powers of law to remedy the dispute, e.g., ordering a return to the status quo, issuing an order to stay an action pending complete resolution of the charge, etc.
If an NTEU National Counsel and an IRS Regional Counsel agree to use someone other than Mr. Vaughn to service disputes in their areas, they are free to do so. However, absent mutual agreement, Mr. Vaughn will handle all disputes arising from this agreement.
The AGENCY had no counterproposal.
The ARBITRATOR declined to consider the UNION's proposal.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC and National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 97 FSIP 31, August 11, 1997 (Release No. 400).
The UNION proposed the following:
This is not a full and complete agreement and either party is free at any time to supplement this agreement should it become aware of changes in working conditions related to the RIF not known to one of the parties at the time of the RIF notice.
The AGENCY proposed the following:
It will be implemented immediately and will remain in effect until the expiration of NORD/NC IV unless all parties mutually agree to terminate or modify the agreement before that date. This is the full and complete agreement between the parties concerning RIF and all related matters contained herein. This agreement includes all matters raised by the parties and agreed in any form; all matters raised and withdrawn, and all matters either could have raised, but did not. All matters not covered by this agreement shall be retained rights of the Employer.
The ARBITRATOR adopted the UNION's proposal.
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