Employees of the Internal Revenue Service’s Ogden Campus in
Utah have been awarded retroactive leave after winning
arbitration upholding a local agreement that was terminated
without warning, the National Treasury Employees Union has
announced.
Rejected was the IRS’s argument that local agreements
automatically terminate once a national term agreement
expires unless otherwise specified as continuing.
According to the union, a new compliance division director
attempted to end the provision of the “excel-a-gram” program
granting admin leave to employees that have been awarded
points by co-workers for performance or other positive
behavior. The affected employees will be awarded retroactive
leave.
The arbitrator found that the agency violated the agreement
because it “did not provide advance notice and a chance to
bargain any proposal that terminates or modifies the
agreement,” adding, “the agreement remains effective unless
a party specifically proposes to terminate or modify it.”
