Washington, DC
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Fair Labor Standards Act Decision
Under section 204(f) of title 29, United States Code
Metropolitan Detention Center
Western Region
Bureau of Prisons
U.S. Department of Justice
Los Angeles, California
Robert D. Hendler
Classification and Pay Claims
Program Manager
Agency Compliance and Evaluation
Merit System Accountability and Compliance
09/09/2013
Date
As provided in section 551.708 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (
Introduction
On April 3, 2013, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) Merit System Audit and Compliance (now Merit System Accountability and Compliance) received this Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claim, which the claimant’s representative presents as follows:
The Management at Metropolitan Detention Center, Los Angeles, CA, Federal Bureau of Prisons refused to compensate the Claimant for working overtime of an additional 15 to 20 minutes, before and after 6:00am to 2:00pm, eight hours work shift beginning from 12, January ending in September 25, of 2012, which total for 56 extra hours the Claimant worked and the total amount of $2420.88, which is owed to the Claimant.
We have accepted and decided this claim under Section 4(f) of the FLSA of 1938, as amended (29 United States Code (U.S.C.) § 204(f)).
In reaching our FLSA decision, we have carefully considered all information of record, including that furnished by the claimant.
Jurisdiction
As stated in 5
provides minimum wage standards for both wages and overtime entitlements, and administrative procedures by which covered worktime must be compensated.
OPM’s adjudication authority for FLSA claims under the provisions of 29 U.S.C. § 204(f) is an administrative remedy, not a judicial remedy. See 5
Information provided by the agency shows the claimant occupied a bargaining unit position. The CBA between the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and the American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals, in effect during the period of the claim does not specifically exclude FLSA overtime pay issues from the NGP (Article 31) covering the claimant. Therefore, the claimant’s FLSA 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. As is clear in Muniz v. United States, 972 F.2d 1304 (Fed. Cir. 1992), the fact the claimant is no longer employed by BOP does not remove the Civil Service Reform Act’s jurisdictional bar for claims covered by CBA arbitration and grievance procedures which arose during and from her employment with the BOP.
Decision
The claim is denied based on lack of jurisdiction.