A federal appeals court has told the FLRA to reconsider a ruling restricting bargaining on telework, an issue that likely will remain prominent in labor-management relations as agencies determine their long-term balance of on-site vs. off-site work.
Case No. 20-1148 before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit involved proposals by the NTEU union seeking to make some employees of the Food and Nutrition Service eligible to telework on up to a full-time basis; the previous contract allowed a maximum of six days out of every 10. The agency refused to bargain, saying the proposals would interfere with management’s right to assign work.
When NTEU appealed to the FLRA, that agency held—in a 2-1 decision—that management’s right to assign work includes determining when an employee is required to report to the duty station to fulfill his or her duties. It also held that a proposal concerning the frequency of telework affects management’s right to direct employees.
The FLRA held that the proposal would dictate to the agency how often it can require an employee to perform work at the duty station and would precludes management from using certain methods of employee supervision.
The court, though, agreed with the NTEU that the FLRA decision did not address provisions in its proposal limiting telework eligibility and maintaining management’s discretion to deny a telework request.
“The FLRA decision failed to acknowledge the proposed numerous eligibility provisions applicable to both expanded telework and regular telework. And it muddled the proposal’s distinction between expanded telework and regular telework through its general reference to the frequency of telework. Because it is based on a misunderstanding of the union’s proposal, the FLRA decision is not a product of reasoned decisionmaking,” the court said in returning the case to the FLRA.
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