Section 7131 of title 5, United States Code, defines and authorizes official time for unions representing Federal employees. Broadly defined, official time is paid time off from assigned Government duties to represent a union or its bargaining unit employees.

Labor and management are equally accountable to the taxpayer and have a shared responsibility to ensure that official time is authorized and used appropriately. To achieve greater accountability in this area, agencies report official time usage to OPM as requested.

Taxpayer-Funded Union Time Usage in the Federal Government – Fiscal Year 2019

Official Time Usage in the Federal Government - Fiscal Year 2016

Official Time Usage in the Federal Government – Fiscal Year 2014

Please visit the Labor-Management Relations Reports page for further information on fiscal year 2012 official time statistics.

Introduction

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA) includes the following Congressional finding:

(a) The Congress finds that--

1. experience in both private and public employment indicates that the statutory protection of the right of employees to organize, bargain collectively, and participate through labor organizations of their own choosing in decisions which affect them-
   
   1. safeguards the public interest,
   2. contributes to the effective conduct of public business, and
   3. facilitates and encourages the amicable settlements of disputes between employees and their employers involving conditions of employment; and 
2. the public interest demands the highest standards of employee performance and the continued development and implementation of modern and progressive work practices to facilitate and improve employee performance and the efficient accomplishment of the operations of the Government. 

Therefore, labor organizations and collective bargaining in the civil service are in the public interest.  5 U.S.C. 7101(a)(emphasis supplied).

President Obama reinforced this Congressional finding through issuance of Executive Order 13522, “Creating Labor-Management Forums to Improve Delivery of Government Services.”  The order recognizes that “Federal employees and their union representatives are an essential source of front-line ideas and information about the realities of delivering Government services to the American people.”  Moreover, in addition to promoting effective labor relations, the President noted that “[a] non-adversarial forum for managers, employees, and employees’ union representatives to discuss Government operations will … improve the productivity and effectiveness of the Federal Government.”

The role of unions in the Federal sector is significantly different than it is in the private sector. Indeed, the CSRA establishes a collective bargaining system that is tailored to the unique concerns of the Federal Government, carefully balancing the interests of the public, agency management, and employees. Thus, Federal employees are prohibited by law from striking as a means to redress grievances with their employers. See 5 U.S.C. 7116(b)(7). Many of the terms and conditions of employment of a Federal employee (including pay and benefits for most employees) are set by law and not subject to bargaining. Others are taken off the bargaining table by a broad management rights provision. See 5 U.S.C. 7106(a). Finally, Federal sector unions must represent all employees in a bargaining unit, regardless of whether the employees are dues-paying members of the union. See 5 U.S.C. 7114(a)(1). Membership in labor unions is therefore entirely voluntary for Federal employees and, as a result, there are fewer incentives for Federal employees to join and pay union dues than there are for private sector and many state and local government employees. This voluntary membership in Federal sector unions results in considerable reliance by unions on the volunteer work of bargaining unit employees, rather than paid union business agents, to represent the union in representational matters such as collective bargaining and grievances.

“Official time,” authorized by 5 U.S.C. 7131, is a core component of the Federal Government’s carefully crafted collective bargaining system. Official time is time spent by Federal employees performing representational work for a bargaining unit in lieu of their regularly assigned work. It allows unions to satisfy their duty of fair representation to members and non-members alike.

Official time is available for representational tasks only. It is therefore not available:

• for conducting internal union business (such as union elections or conventions); or,
• for any other purpose not tied directly to representation of bargaining unit employees in matters concerning conditions of employment.

Rather, union representatives use official time in the service of bargaining unit members, including:

• to participate in labor-management workgroups;
• to represent bargaining unit employees in meetings;
• to facilitate implementation of new workplace initiatives that enhance employees’ ability to effectively serve the public;
• to assist the agency in communicating important information about workplace matters to employees;
• to negotiate contracts and other collective bargaining agreements; and,
• to represent employees in grievances and disciplinary actions.

With the issuance of E.O. 13522 in 2009, which established labor-management forums across the Federal Government, both labor and management representatives have dedicated time to building better labor-management relationships and collaborating on workplace issues within their organizations. One of the central goals of the forums is to help agencies better accomplish their mission in delivering high quality products, services, and protection to the American public. In many agencies, the forums’ efforts are focusing on time and cost-saving initiatives. The forums also mirror private-sector initiatives in recent years to encourage strong labor-management relationships to drive better productivity and industry competitiveness.

Official Time Statistics for Fiscal Year 2011

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) emphasizes that labor and management have a shared responsibility to ensure that official time is authorized and used appropriately. OPM expects labor and management to develop sensible arrangements for official time that meet the needs and expectations of agencies, employees, and the ultimate customers – the American people.

OPM used figures gathered from automated time and attendance systems via the Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) system to collect official time data. Agencies were asked to verify the official time hours used by employee representatives within their organizations, and to validate how those hours were used within four pre-defined categories (See Appendix A). Executive departments and agencies with employees represented by labor organizations, as well as the Government Printing Office and U.S. Capitol Police, are covered in this report.

Each agency that reported official time electronically received a consolidated report, encompassing all agency subcomponents, of their official time usage within each of the four categories. Since the EHRI system tracks individual records, it may not have accounted for changes to an employee’s bargaining unit status during the course of the fiscal year. Recognizing this system’s limitation, agencies were requested to authenticate this data against their internal records to ensure that the data reported for each agency was accurate and complete. Agencies that have not transitioned to an e-Payroll system were asked to submit their official time usage manually for FY 2011. All sixty-one agencies covered in this report confirmed or updated their official time data.

FY 2011 Survey Findings. During FY 2011, unions represented 1,202,733 non-Postal Federal civil service bargaining unit employees, an increase of 17,048 bargaining unit employees compared to FY 2010. Agencies reported that bargaining unit employees spent a total of 3,395,187 hours performing representational duties on official time, an increase of 9.66 percent compared to FY 2010. Government-wide, the number of official time hours used per bargaining unit employee on representational matters increased from 2.61 hours in FY 2010 to 2.82 hours during FY 2011. Factors contributing to the increase in official time used include:

• The increased number of bargaining unit employees;
• An increase in mid-term and term collective bargaining in several large agencies in FY 2011;
• The increased use of labor-management forums to help find more effective and lower cost ways to deliver government services; and,
• Increased emphasis in some agencies on accurately documenting official time compared to previous years.

Official time costs represented one tenth of one percent of the total cost of salary and benefits for Federal employees in FY 2011, yet can contribute in meaningful ways to the ability of Federal employees to carry out their duties on behalf of the American people.

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Comparison of Hours Reported to Previous Fiscal Year

The following table shows the hours reported by agency in FY 2010 and FY 2011, and the change in percentage between the two years. The data show wide variations in official time hours reported among agencies compared to the previous year. Many of the agencies showing the widest variation from the previous year, however, have a small number of bargaining unit employees. Thus, modest numerical changes in reported hours translate into significant percentage changes for these agencies. Eighteen of the 61 agencies reported reductions in the number of official time hours used.

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Official Time Rates

The official time rate, also referred to as the Hours Per Employee (HPE) rate, which indicates the number of official time hours expended per bargaining unit employee, allows for meaningful comparisons of official time usage among agencies. The HPE rate may not show a change in total figures due to rounding. Although figures are rounded, slight variations in the HPE rate are reflected in the percentage of change. The average FY 2011 Government-wide HPE rate was 2.82 which is an increase to the FY 2010 HPE rate of 2.61.

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Categories

Agencies report official time by categories: Term Negotiations, Mid-Term Negotiations, Dispute Resolution, and General Labor-Management Relations. Official time usage for General Labor-Management Relations accounted for the greatest share of Government-wide official time hours. Agencies reported 2,576,303.86 hours in the General Labor-Management Relations category, representing 75.88 percent of all reported official time hours.

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Cost

Costs were estimated based on September 2011 wage data provided through the Enterprise Human Resources Integration Statistical Data Mart (EHRI-SDM). The estimated total payroll costs, salary and benefits, for FY 2011 official time hours was $155,573,739.25. We estimate each agency’s official time wage costs by multiplying the reported official time hours by each agency’s average bargaining unit employee hourly wage plus fringe benefits. In comparing FY 2010 and FY 2011 data, the cost of official time hours increased by 11.86 percent. This increase reflects, in part, the increased number of bargaining unit employees and the corresponding increase in official time usage Government-wide.

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Conclusion

Total official time hours across the Government have increased 9.66 percent from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2011. The hours expended per bargaining unit employee increased from 2.61 to 2.82 from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2011.

For further information regarding this report, please contact Accountability and Workforce Relations at AWR@OPM.gov.

Appendix A: Definitions and Terminology

Official Time means all time, regardless of agency nomenclature, granted to an employee by the agency to perform representational functions under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71 and by collective bargaining agreement when the employee would otherwise be in a duty status.

Official Time Reporting Categories— agencies are being asked to report four categories of official time use.

• Term Negotiations— this category for reporting official time hours refers to time used by union representatives to prepare for and negotiate a basic collective bargaining agreement or its successor.
• Mid-Term Negotiations— this category for reporting official time hours refers to time used to bargain over issues raised during the life of a term agreement.
• Dispute Resolution— this category for reporting official time hours refers to time used to process grievances up to and including arbitrations and to process appeals of bargaining unit employees to the various administrative agencies such as the MSPB, FLRA and EEOC and, as necessary, to the courts.
• General Labor-Management Relations— this category for reporting official time hours refers to time used for activities not included in the above three categories. Examples of such activities include: meetings between labor and management officials to discuss general conditions of employment, labor-management committee meetings, labor relations training for union representatives, and union participation in formal meetings and investigative interviews.

Representational Functions refers to activities undertaken by employees acting on behalf of the labor organization or fulfilling the organization’s responsibility to represent bargaining unit employees in accordance with 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71 and a collective bargaining agreement.

Appendix B

¹ Numbers may not total due to rounding.

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Introduction

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 includes the following Congressional finding:

The Congress finds that

• experience in both private and public employment indicates that the statutory protection of the right of employees to organize, bargain collectively, and participate through labor organizations of their own choosing in decisions which affect them
• safeguards the public interest,
• contributes to the effective conduct of public business, and
• facilitates and encourages the amicable settlements of disputes between employees and their employers involving conditions of employment; and
• the public interest demands the highest standards of employee performance and the continued development and implementation of modern and progressive work practices to facilitate and improve employee performance and the efficient accomplishment of the operations of the Government.

Therefore, labor organizations and collective bargaining in the civil service are in the public interest.

5 U.S.C. 7101(a) (emphasis supplied).

President Obama reinforced this Congressional finding through issuance of Executive Order 13522, "Creating Labor-Management Forums to Improve Delivery of Government Services." The order recognizes that "Federal employees and their union representatives are an essential source of front-line ideas and information about the realities of delivering Government services to the American people." Moreover, in addition to promoting satisfactory labor relations, the President noted that "[a] non-adversarial forum for managers, employees, and employees' union representatives to discuss Government operations will ... improve the productivity and effectiveness of the Federal Government."

The role of unions in the Federal sector is significantly different than it is in the private sector. Indeed, the CSRA establishes a collective bargaining system that is tailored to the unique concerns of the Federal Government, carefully balancing the interests of the public, agency management, and employees. Thus, Federal employees are prohibited by law from striking. See 5 U.S.C. 7116(b)(7). Many of the terms and conditions of employment of a Federal employee (including pay and benefits for most employees) are set by law and not subject to bargaining. Others are taken off the bargaining table by a broad management rights provision. See 5 U.S.C. 7106(a). Finally, Federal sector unions must represent all employees in a bargaining unit, regardless of whether the employee is a dues-paying member of the union or not. See 5 U.S.C. 7114(a)(1). Membership in labor unions is therefore totally voluntary for Federal employees and, as a result, there are fewer incentives for Federal employees to join and pay union dues than there are for private sector and many state and local government employees. This voluntary membership in Federal sector unions results in considerable reliance by unions on the volunteer work of bargaining unit employees, rather than paid union business agents, to represent the union in representational matters such as collective bargaining and grievances.

"Official time," authorized by 5 U.S.C. 7131, is a core component of the Federal government's carefully crafted collective bargaining system. Official time is time spent by Federal employees performing representational work for a bargaining unit in lieu of their regularly assigned work. It allows unions to satisfy their duty of fair representation to members and non-members alike.

Official time is available for representational tasks only. It is therefore not available:

• for conducting internal union business (such as union elections or conventions); or
• for any other purpose not tied directly to representation of bargaining unit employees in matters concerning conditions of employment.

Rather, union representatives use official time in the service of bargaining unit members, including

• to participate in labor-management workgroups;
• to represent bargaining unit employees in meetings;
• to facilitate implementation of new workplace initiatives;
• to assist the agency in communicating important information about workplace matters to employees;
• to negotiate contracts and other collective bargaining agreements; and
• to represent employees in grievances and disciplinary actions.

Official Time Statistics for Fiscal Year 2010

Annual reporting on official time was initiated by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in 2002 to reinforce accountability on the part of both labor and management and to emphasize their shared responsibility that official time is authorized and used appropriately. OPM expects management and labor to develop sensible arrangements for official time that meet the needs and expectations of agencies, employees, and the ultimate customers - the American people.

OPM transmitted the call to report FY 2010 official time data in a June 28, 2011, memorandum to agencies. OPM used figures gathered from automated time and attendance systems via the Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) system to collect official time data. Agencies were asked to verify the official time hours used by employee representatives within their organizations, and to validate how those hours were used within four pre-defined categories (See Appendix A). FY 2010 was the second consecutive year that OPM relied upon agency official time usage data extracted from the EHRI system. Executive departments and agencies with employees represented by labor organizations, as well as the Government Printing Office and U.S. Capitol Police, are covered in this report.

Each agency that reported official time electronically received a consolidated report, encompassing all agency subcomponents, of their official time usage within each of the four categories. Since the EHRI system tracks individual records, it may not have accounted for changes to an employee's bargaining unit status during the course of the fiscal year. Recognizing this system's limitation, agencies were requested to authenticate this data against their internal records to ensure that the data reported for each agency was accurate and complete. Agencies that have not transitioned to an e-Payroll system were asked to submit their official time usage manually for FY 2010. All sixty-one total agencies covered in this report confirmed or updated their official time data.

FY 2010 Survey Findings. Overall, FY 2010 brought an increase in the number of bargaining unit employees and official time used. During FY 2010, unions represented 1,185,685 non-Postal Federal civil service bargaining unit employees, an increase of 26,289 bargaining unit employees compared to 1,159,396 employees reported in FY 2009. Agencies reported that bargaining unit employees spent a total of 3,096,018¹ hours performing representational duties on official time. This is a 3.50* percent increase in official time hours used in FY 2009. Finally, the number of official time hours used per bargaining unit employee on representational matters during FY 2010, on average across the government, increased from 2.58 hours in FY 2009 to 2.61* hours during FY 2010.

1 The Broadcasting Board of Governors and the Department of Labor have updated their agency official time figures previously published in our report. As a result, many figures have been modified throughout the report to reflect these updates. Total hours, the hours per bargaining unit employee rate, costs, and percentage changes for each respective category, have been changed to reflect updated data from the Broadcasting Board of Governors and Department of Labor and its impact government-wide. Please note each figure that has been corrected from the previously published figure will be annotated by an asterisk throughout the report.

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Comparison of Hours Reported to Previous Fiscal Year

The following table shows the hours reported by agency in FY 2009 and FY 2010, and the change in percentage between the two years. The data show wide variations in official time hours reported among agencies compared to the previous year. Many of the agencies showing the widest variation from the previous year, however, have a small number of bargaining unit employees. Thus, modest numerical changes in reported hours translate into significant percentage changes for these agencies. Seventeen* of the 61 agencies reported reductions in the number of official time hours used.

² The 100% increase in official time hours for the Armed Forces Retirement Home reflects the percentage of the change in hours from zero hours in FY 2009 to 208 hours in FY 2010.

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Official Time Rates

The official time rate, also referred to as the Hours Per Employee (HPE) rate, which indicates the average number of official time hours expended per bargaining unit employee, allows for meaningful comparisons of official time usage among agencies. The average FY 2010 government-wide HPE rate was 2.61* which is an increase to the FY 2009 HPE rate of 2.58.

³This corrects the previous erroneous Department of Health and Human Services official time rate of 1.17 as listed in the FY 2009 Official Time Usage Report.

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Categories

Agencies report official time by categories: Term Negotiations, Mid-Term Negotiations, Dispute Resolution, and General Labor-Management Relations. Official time usage for General Labor-Management Relations accounted for the greatest share of government-wide official time hours. Agencies reported 2,389,825.10* hours in the General Labor-Management Relations category, representing 77.19* percent of all reported official time hours.

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Cost

Costs were estimated based on September 2010 wage data provided through the Central Personnel Data File (CPDF). The total payroll costs, salary and benefits, for FY 2010 official time hours was $139,081,908*. We estimate each agency's official time wage costs by multiplying the reported official time hours by each agency's average bargaining unit employee hourly wage plus fringe benefits. In comparing FY 2009 and FY 2010 data, the cost of official time hours increased by 7.73* percent. This increase reflects, in part, the increased number of bargaining unit employees and the corresponding increase in official time usage government-wide. Official time costs represented less than two tenths of one percent of the total civilian personnel budget (salary and benefits) for Federal civil service bargaining unit employees.

⁴This corrects the previous erroneous calculation of official time cost for the Department of Health and Human Services of $1,626,668 as listed in the FY 2009 Official Time Usage Report.

⁵ While U.S. Capitol Police provided time and attendance data on official time hours used for FY 2010, OPM did not receive the FY 2010 bargaining unit employee average salary figures. The FY 2009 bargaining unit employee average salary figures were used for FY 2010 for U.S. Capitol Police.

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Conclusion

Total official time hours across the government have increased 3.50* percent from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 2010. The hours expended per bargaining unit employee increased from 2.58 to 2.61* from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 2010.

For further information regarding this report, please contact Accountability and Workforce Relations at AWR@OPM.gov.

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Appendix A: Definitions and Terminology

Official Time means all time, regardless of agency nomenclature, granted to an employee by the agency to perform representational functions under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71 and by collective bargaining agreement when the employee would otherwise be in a duty status.

Official Time Reporting Categories - agencies are being asked to report four categories of official time use.

• Term Negotiations - this category for reporting official time hours refers to time used by union representatives to prepare for and negotiate a basic collective bargaining agreement or its successor.
• Mid-Term Negotiations - this category for reporting official time hours refers to time used to bargain over issues raised during the life of a term agreement.
• Dispute Resolution - this category for reporting official time hours refers to time used to process grievances up to and including arbitrations and to process appeals of bargaining unit employees to the various administrative agencies such as the MSPB, FLRA and EEOC and, as necessary, to the courts.
• General Labor-Management Relations - this category for reporting official time hours refers to time used for activities not included in the above three categories. Examples of such activities include: meetings between labor and management officials to discuss general conditions of employment, labor-management committee meetings, labor relations training for union representatives, and union participation in formal meetings and investigative interviews.

Representational Functions refers to activities undertaken by employees acting on behalf of the labor organization or fulfilling the organization's responsibility to represent bargaining unit employees in accordance with 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71 and a collective bargaining agreement.

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Appendix B

⁶ Numbers may not total due to rounding.

⁷ While U.S. Capitol Police provided time and attendance data on official time hours used for FY 2010, OPM did not receive the FY 2010 bargaining unit employee average salary figures. The FY 2009 bargaining unit employee average salary figures were used for FY 2010 for U.S. Capitol Police.

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Introduction

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 includes the following Congressional finding:

1. The Congress finds that--
   1. experience in both private and public employment indicates that the statutory protection of the right of employees to organize, bargain collectively, and participate through labor organizations of their own choosing in decisions which affect them-
      1. safeguards the public interest,
      2. contributes to the effective conduct of public business, and
      3. facilitates and encourages the amicable settlements of disputes between employees and their employers involving conditions of employment; and
   2. the public interest demands the highest standards of employee performance and the continued development and implementation of modern and progressive work practices to facilitate and improve employee performance and the efficient accomplishment of the operations of the Government.

Therefore, labor organizations and collective bargaining in the civil service are in the public interest.

5 U.S.C. 7101(a) (emphasis supplied).

President Obama reinforced this Congressional finding through issuance of Executive Order 13522, "Creating Labor-Management Forums to Improve Delivery of Government Services." The order recognizes that "Federal employees and their union representatives are an essential source of front-line ideas and information about the realities of delivering Government services to the American people." Moreover, in addition to promoting satisfactory labor relations, the President noted that "[a] non-adversarial forum for managers, employees, and employees' union representatives to discuss Government operations will ... improve the productivity and effectiveness of the Federal Government."

The role of unions in the Federal sector is significantly different than it is in the private sector. Indeed, the CSRA establishes a collective bargaining system that is tailored to the unique concerns of the Federal Government, carefully balancing the interests of the public, agency management, and employees. Thus, Federal employees are prohibited by law from striking. See 5 U.S.C. 7116(b)(7). Many of the terms and conditions of employment of a Federal employee (including pay and benefits for most employees) are set by law and not subject to bargaining. Others are taken off the bargaining table by a broad management rights provision. See 5 U.S.C. 7106(a). Finally, Federal sector unions must represent all employees in a bargaining unit, regardless of whether the employee is a dues-paying member of the union or not. See 5 U.S.C. 7114(a)(1). Membership in labor unions is therefore totally voluntary for Federal employees and, as a result, there are fewer incentives for Federal employees to join and pay union dues than there are for private sector and many state and local government employees. This voluntary membership in Federal sector unions results in considerable reliance by unions on the volunteer work of bargaining unit employees, rather than paid union business agents, to represent the union in representational matters such as collective bargaining and grievances.

"Official time," authorized by 5 U.S.C. 7131, is a core component of the Federal government's carefully crafted collective bargaining system. Official time is time spent by Federal employees performing representational work for a bargaining unit in lieu of their regularly assigned work. It allows unions to satisfy their duty of fair representation to members and non-members alike.

Official time is available for representational tasks only. It is therefore not available:

• for conducting internal union business (such as union elections or conventions);
• to pursue lawsuits against the Federal government; or
• for any other purpose not tied directly to representation of bargaining unit employees in matters concerning conditions of employment.

Rather, union representatives use official time in the service of bargaining unit members, including

• to participate in labor-management workgroups;
• to represent bargaining unit employees in meetings;
• to facilitate implementation of new workplace initiatives;
• to assist the agency in communicating important information about workplace matters to employees;
• to negotiate contracts and other collective bargaining agreements; and
• to represent employees in grievances and disciplinary actions.

Official Time Statistics for 2009

OPM has produced reports on official time usage since 2002. Though there are no legal or regulatory requirements to publish any official time data, OPM chose to issue the call and guidance for reporting Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 official time data in an October 26, 2010 memorandum to Federal departments and agencies. Annual reporting on official time was initiated by OPM to reinforce accountability on the part of both labor and management, emphasizing their shared responsibility that official time is authorized and used appropriately. OPM expects management and labor to develop sensible arrangements for official time that meet the needs and expectations of agencies, employees, and the ultimate customers - the American people. There are no legal or regulatory requirements to publish this report

OPM continues to refine official time data collection, using figures gathered from automated time and attendance systems. FY 2009 was the first time that OPM relied upon agency official time usage data extracted from the Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) system. Agencies were asked to verify the official time hours used by employee representatives within their organizations, and to validate how those hours were used within four pre-defined categories (See Appendix A).

Each agency that reported official time electronically received a consolidated report, encompassing all subcomponents, of their official time usage within each of the four categories. Since the EHRI system tracks individual records, it may not have accounted for changes to an employee's bargaining unit status during the course of the fiscal year. Recognizing this system's limitation, agencies were requested to authenticate this data against their internal records to ensure that the data reported for each agency was accurate and complete. Agencies that have not transitioned to an e-Payroll system were asked to submit their official time usage manually for FY 2009. Because FY 2009 was the first year for use of electronically collected data, additional time was required to compile and verify all the required information, causing a delay in developing the final report.

All 59 Executive departments and agencies that have employees represented by labor organizations, as well as the Government Printing Office and U.S. Capitol Police, confirmed or updated their official time data. Responding agencies and departments reported 2,991,378 official time hours used in FY 2009. The average number of official time hours used per bargaining unit employee (HPE) rate was 2.58 percent, a slight decrease from FY 2008. Compared to FY 2008, the total number of hours reported increased by 3.37 percent and the total number of employees in a bargaining unit increased by 3.91 percent in FY 2009 from 1,115,667 employees to 1,159,396 employees.

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Comparison of Hours Reported to Previous Fiscal Year

The following table shows the hours reported by agency in FY 2008 and FY 2009, and the change in percentage between the two years. The data show wide variations in official time hours reported among agencies compared to the previous year. Many of the agencies showing the widest variation from the previous year, however, have a small number of bargaining unit employees. Thus, modest numerical changes in reported hours translate into significant percentage changes for these agencies. Thirty-four of the 61 agencies reported reductions in the number of official time hours used.

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Official Time Rates

The official time rate, also referred to as the Hours Per Employee (HPE) rate, which indicates the average number of official time hours expended per bargaining unit employee, allows for meaningful comparisons of official time usage among agencies. The average FY 2009 government-wide HPE rate was 2.58 which represents a less than one percent decrease from the FY 2008 HPE rate. Changes in an agency's official time rate must be viewed together with the number of total official time hours used.

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Categories

Agencies report official time by categories: Term Bargaining, Mid-Term Bargaining, Dispute Resolution, and General Labor-Management issues. Official time usage for General Labor-Management issues accounted for the greatest share of government-wide official time hours. Agencies reported 2,309,371 hours in the General Labor-Management category, representing 77.20 percent of all reported official time hours.

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Cost

Costs were estimated based on September 2008 wage data provided through the Central Personnel Data File (CPDF). We estimate each agency's official time wage costs by multiplying the reported official time hours by each agency's average bargaining unit employee hourly wage plus fringe benefits. In comparing those agencies that reported in both FY 2007 and FY 2008, we find the cost of official time hours increased by 5.97 percent. This increase follows general governmentwide wage increases.

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Conclusion

Total official time hours across the government have increased 3.37 percent from fiscal year 2008 to fiscal year 2009. The hours expended per bargaining unit employee fell at a marginal rate of less than one percent from 2.60 to 2.58 percent from fiscal year 2008 to fiscal year 2009.

For further information regarding this report, please contact Accountability and Workforce Relations at AWR@OPM.gov.

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Appendix A: Definitions and Terminology

Official Time means all time, regardless of agency nomenclature, granted to an employee by the agency to perform representational functions under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71 and by collective bargaining agreement when the employee would otherwise be in a duty status.

Official Time Reporting Categories— agencies are being asked to report four categories of official time use.

• Term Negotiations— this category for reporting official time hours refers to time used by union representatives to prepare for and negotiate a basic collective bargaining agreement or its successor.
• Mid-Term Negotiations— this category for reporting official time hours refers to time used to bargain over issues raised during the life of a term agreement.
• Dispute Resolution— this category for reporting official time hours refers to time used to process grievances up to and including arbitrations and to process appeals of bargaining unit employees to the various administrative agencies such as the MSPB, FLRA and EEOC and, as necessary, to the courts.
• General Labor-Management Relations— this category for reporting official time hours refers to time used for activities not included in the above three categories. Examples of such activities include: meetings between labor and management officials to discuss general conditions of employment, labor-management committee meetings, labor relations training for union representatives, and union participation in formal meetings and investigative interviews.

Representational Functions refers to activities undertaken by employees acting on behalf of the labor organization or fulfilling the organization's responsibility to represent bargaining unit employees in accordance with 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71 and a collective bargaining agreement.

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Appendix B

¹ Numbers may not total due to rounding.

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Introduction

OPM issued the call and guidance for reporting Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 official time data in a November 3, 2008 memorandum to Federal departments and agencies. All 61 Executive departments and agencies that have employees represented by labor organizations, as well as the Government Printing Office and U.S. Capitol Police, provided their official time data, increasing the response rate by 15 percent over FY 2007. Responding agencies and departments reported 2,893,922 official time hours used in FY 2008. The average number of official time hours used per bargaining unit employee (HPE) rate was 2.60 percent. The total number of hours reported rose by 3.3 percent over FY 2007, however, among those agencies reporting in both FY 2007 and FY 2008, the increase in hours reported was 2.9 percent.

Comparison of Hours Reported to Previous Fiscal Year

The following table shows the hours reported by agency in FY 2007 and FY 2008 and the percentage of change between the two years. The data shows wide variations among agencies, with changes from the previous year ranging from a decrease of 100 percent to increases of more than 200 percent. Many of the agencies showing the widest variation from the previous year, however, have a small number of bargaining unit employees. Thus, modest numerical changes in reported hours translate into significant percentage changes for these agencies.

The agency reporting the most significant change is Department of State. The number of bargaining unit employees increased more than 63 percent. State reported an increase of official time hours of more than 150 percent, however they continue to have one of the lowest hours-per -bargaining unit employee rate at .75. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported a large increase in its dispute resolution hours for an increase of 10,166 total hours which is a 40 percent increase.

Twenty-two of the 61 agencies, reported reductions in both the number of official time hours used which resulted in a reduction in the number of hours used per bargaining unit employee. Among agencies with 1,000 or more bargaining unit employees, the U.S. Capitol Police had the largest decrease (-38.3 percent) in official time hours which also reduced their number of hours per employee by more than 40 percent (see discussion in next section).

¹ Among all agencies that reported in both FY 2007 and FY 2008, the increase is 2.9 percent.

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Official Time Rates

The official time rate also referred to as the Hours Per Employee (HPE) rate, which indicates the average number of official time hours expended per bargaining unit employee, allows for meaningful comparisons of official time usage among agencies. The average FY 2008 governmentwide HPE rate was 2.60 percent, representing a 3.3 percent decrease. Ironically, this returns the HPE rate to that of FY 2006 thus continuing the downward trend in the HPE rate observed since FY 2002 after being interrupted by the FY 2007 increase in this rate.

Changes in an agency's official time rate must be viewed together with the number of total official time hours used. For example, the Export-Import Bank reported a 225.5 percent increase in its HPE rate, but it only increased from .19 to .41, which continues to be one of the lowest rates among all agencies. At just over 219 percent, the Small Business Administration experienced the largest percentage increase in both total hours and HPE. The agency reported most of the increase within the General Labor-Management category.

Among Departments, Treasury reported the greatest HPE rate at 7.21, while Department of Defense, which employs over 411,000 bargaining unit employees, reported only .80 hours per bargaining unit employee

The National Labor Relations Board continues to report the highest rate among all agencies at 12.18. The EEOC which accomplished significant reductions in FY 2007 experienced a significant increase in FY 2008 returning it to the second highest HPE rate at 10.05.

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Categories

Agencies report official time by categories which allow greater analysis of official time use and variations from year to year. The General Labor-Management Relations category again accounted for the greatest share of governmentwide official time hours. Agencies reported 2,151,366 hours in this category, representing 74.3 percent of all reported official time hours, a 2.3 percent decrease from FY 2007. As we have noted in previous years, anecdotal information from agencies indicates this category is often used to report hours for activities not specifically identified by union officials or tracked by supervisors. This is particularly prevalent when the union official is on 100 percent official time. The high percentages reported in this category by many agencies, when viewed within the context of total hours reported, indicates an opportunity for some agencies to strengthen the integrity of their data and, perhaps, the management of official time.