Washington, DC
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Compensation Claim Decision
Under section 3702 of title 31, United States Code
Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Department of Veterans Affairs
Philadelphia, PA
Damon B. Ford
Compensation and Leave Claims
Program Manager
Agency Compliance and Evaluation
Merit System Accountability and Compliance
07/31/2018
Date
The claimant was employed as a Nurse, GS-0610-12, at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) during the claim period. In her June 20, 2017, letter received by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on April 3, 2018, the claimant requests back pay “for the work week of July 4, 2016, to July 8, 2016.” For the reasons discussed herein, the claim is denied.
Section 7121(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code (U.S.C.) directs that except as provided elsewhere in the statute, the grievance procedures in a negotiated collective bargaining agreement (CBA) shall be the exclusive administrative remedy for resolving matters that fall within the coverage of the CBA. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has found the plain language of 5 U.S.C. section 7121(a)(1) to be clear, and as such, limits the administrative resolution of a Federal employee’s grievance to the negotiated procedures set forth in the CBA. Mudge v. United States, 308 F.3d 1220, 1228 (Fed.Cir. 2002). Further, the Federal Circuit also found that all matters not specifically excluded from the grievance process by the CBA fall within the coverage of the CBA. Id. at 1231. As such, OPM cannot assert jurisdiction over the compensation or leave claims of Federal employees who are or were subject to a negotiated grievance procedure (NGP) under a CBA between the employee’s agency and labor union for any time during the claim period, unless the matter is or was specifically excluded from the CBA’s NGP. See 5 CFR 178.101(b).
Personnel documents contained in the record (i.e., Standard Form 50 showing the bargaining unit status in block 37) show the claimant occupied a bargaining unit position during the period covered by the claim. The Master Agreement between the VA and the American Federation of Government Employees covering the claimant during her employment with the VA, and in effect during the period of the claim, does not specifically exclude compensation issues from the NGP (Article 43 in the CBA effective March 2011). Therefore, this claim must be construed as covered by the NGP the claimant was subject to during the claim period and OPM has no jurisdiction to adjudicate this claim.
This settlement is final. No further administrative review is available within OPM. Nothing in this settlement limits the claimant’s right to bring an action in an appropriate United States court.