A related bill has been introduced by Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., that would require OPM to report to Congress each year on the use of official time by federal employees.
The Official Time Reporting Act, HR-568, would help to "address time reporting by federal employees, specifically as it pertained to union activities," says Ross, saying the bill is needed "to ensure that we are cutting all wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, no matter for which political side the union employees are advocating."
Official time remains a divisive partisan issue, and is of concern to managers who might lose workers to collective bargaining activity during the day. It is not to be available for use on conducting internal union business such as elections or conventions, or any other purpose not directly tied to representation of bargaining unit employees in matters concerning conditions of employment – although critics contend it has been used that way.
