Appeal, Union Rights Also at Stake

The new rules also as expected restrict the scope of bargaining allowable at DHS, for example by barring negotiations over the numbers, types and grades of employees or positions, the introduction of new technology, DHS-wide personnel policies or procedures the agency will follow in exercising operational rights. The rules also move authority to review management’s compliance with union rights from the Federal Labor Relations Authority to an internal labor relations board. Employees meanwhile will retain the right to appeal most personnel actions to the Merit Systems Protection Board, although the process would be speeded up and MSPB could lessen an agency’s decision only if the punishment was “wholly unjustified.” Federal unions have announced they plan to sue over the union and appeals rights provisions, arguing that DHS exceeded its legal authority in those areas, although the suit will not affect the classification, performance evaluation and pay portions of the rules.