Official time long has been challenged by some Republicans on Capitol Hill, most recently in a bill to effectively negate it by requiring unions to repay agencies for the salary cost. Image: Arturo Grados Luyando/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe FLRA has issued a training video on official time—on the clock time that federal employees with union roles can use on certain union-related work—that stresses several times that the authority is found in a law that imposes certain obligations on management.
“Official time is an entitlement” under the Civil Service Reform Act it says, underscoring the word “entitlement,” and is “substantively negotiable. That means that labor organizations may require bargaining on a contract provision governing official time.”
The video covers sections of that law related to official time, stressing at one point that the law requires that it “shall be authorized” for specified purposes. Highlighted purposes include negotiating on behalf of a bargaining unit where they are employed, including when traveling to participate in negotiations and during proceedings before the FLRA.
It also covers situations in which official time is not to be provided, including solicitation of membership, election of union officials and collection of dues. Those activities may be performed while off duty or on breaks, it adds.
Official time long has been challenged by some Republicans on Capitol Hill, most recently in a bill to effectively negate it by requiring unions to repay agencies for the salary cost. The Trump administration had issued several executive orders setting limits on the amounts agencies may agree to in bargaining, among other restrictions, and called it “taxpayer-funded union time.”
The Biden administration promptly revoked those orders and issued several pro-union directives, including requiring more notice to job applicants and newly hired employees regarding whether they may be in a bargaining unit and requiring agencies to review their workforces to identify areas for potential new units.
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