FY 2000
Budget Justification/Performance Plan
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U.S. Office of Personnel
Management FY 2000 |
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| OPM STRATEGIC PLAN GOAL II: protect and promote the merit-based civil service and the employee earned benefit programs through an effective oversight and evaluation program. |
FY 2000 Resource Summary: |
Obligations (000): $70 |
Full-Time Equivalents: 1 |
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| OWR Goal 11: FY 1999/2000 |
Third party decisions that warrant OPM intervention are identified in order to obtain decisions that are consistent with civil service laws, rules, and policies. |
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Review all decisions of the Merit Systems Protection Board, and appropriate decisions of arbitrators, the courts and the Federal Labor Relations Authority, to identify, analyze and act upon those decisions warranting formal OPM intervention, reconsideration, or judicial review. |
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All decisions of the Merit Systems Protection
Board and appropriate Federal Labor Relations Authority, court, and arbitration decisions
are reviewed and intervention or judicial review is recommended in appropriate cases. In FY 1998, approximately 10,000 decisions were reviewed and OPM exercised its intervention and reconsideration authority in three cases. One case involved seeking reconsideration of an arbitration award in which the arbitrator applied an erroneous standard of proof. In the second case, OPM intervened in an MSPB case in which an administrative judge erroneously applied the law regarding attorney fees. In the third case, OPM sought reconsideration of a final MSPB order in which the Board erroneously interpreted the law regarding violations of the Hatch Act. At the time of this submission, there are three other cases in which OPM intervened in earlier years which are pending at the MSPB. In FY 1998, OPM intervened and/or sought reconsideration in a number of Merit Systems Protection Board decisions involving misinterpretation of OPM law, rule or regulations which, if left unchallenged, would have had substantial Governmentwide impact. FY 1998 was also the year we reached a final decision in the case of Lachance v. MSPB, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that agencies may bring disciplinary charges against an employee for providing false statements about alleged misconduct. OWR will continue its efforts in intervening or seeking reconsideration of appropriate cases in FY 1999. |
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Improvement in the level of satisfaction of HR
Specialists with regard to OPM’s intervention in employee disputes before arbitrators
and MSPB, as measured by a 2% increase over FY 1999 levels in the percentage of favorable
ratings on the OPM customer survey. The level of HR Specialists’ satisfaction with regard to OPM’s intervention was 67% in 1998. We are somewhat concerned by these results, and will explore them in focus groups and through other follow-up, to determine underlying causes and improvement actions. Also, when we design the FY 1999 survey, we will use the pilot test to determine if the the questions in this area are appropriately phrased and addressed to the correct audience. |
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Of those cases in which OPM intervenes or seeks
reconsideration, an increasing number of decisions are reversed or are appealed to higher
levels by Department of Justice. Of the three cases described above, OPM received a response from the arbitrator who agreed with OPM’s analysis and corrected his previous arbitration award to reflect the correct standard of proof. The two other cases are still pending at the MSPB. In FY 1998, OPM also received decisions in four other intervention or reconsideration cases that began in earlier years. One decision issued by the Supreme Court supported OPM’s arguments. Of the two cases which reached the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, one decision concurred in OPM’s argument wholly and the other concurred partially. The fourth case was resolved by the MSPB in support of OPM’s position. |
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Web Page Created 14 May 1999