On October 8, 2019, the Agency issued Order 3115, the “Merit Promotion Plan.” This Order addressed the new requirements for applying for a job at EPA through the USAJOBS application process. According to the new regulations, effective January 1, EPA employees are required to submit a copy of their most recent PARS performance rating and the appropriate SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, when applying to EPA positions posted on USAJOBS. Additionally, internal merit promotion applicants would have been required to be at least “Fully Successful” to be eligible for selection.
Read MoreUnion Files Grievance Challenging Wasteful Timekeeping System
The EPA Inspector General investigates fraud, waste, and abuse, and defines "waste" as "extravagant, careless or needless expenditure of government funds, or the consumption of government property that results from deficient practices, systems, controls or decisions." The Office of Chief Financial Officer's roll-out of the latest PeoplePlus "upgrade" certainly qualifies. This new system caused thousands of wasted employee hours to accomplish what was previously being done in only a few minutes.
Our informal surveys of employees revealed dozens of hours of wasted time per employee just trying to accurately input time. We learned that many employees on flexible schedules were taking up to two hours to get time certified every two weeks. Assuming 20% of employees are on flexible schedules, that is approximately 5,800 wasted hours each pay period.....
Read MoreWhat to Do When You've Been Wronged at EPA
The agency and its employees, through its unions, agreed on procedures to challenge actions that we don't think are fair, appropriate, or accurate. We call that process a "grievance," and it's detailed in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), Article 34.
EPA guarantees that a grievance filed by an employee "does not affect the employee's standing with the Agency." Employees are assured by EPA that they will be free from "restraint, interference, coercion, discrimination, intimidation or reprisal" for filing a grievance or participating in the grievance process. See CBA, Article 3, Section 3.
Prior to filing a grievance, we typically try to reach out to your manager to discuss the matter, with your permission, of course. We find that we can sometimes resolve the issue informally prior to resorting to the formal grievance process. But where our informal contact bears no fruit, where you're uncomfortable with us reaching out informally to your manager, or where it is strategically disadvantageous to do so, we then move to a formal grievance.
Process
The grievance process is established to resolve issues at the lowest level possible. To accomplish this, the agency and NTEU agreed on a three-step process....
New Smart Card Readers Make You Late?
Today the agency notified employees by email that new smart card readers (EPASS readers) will be installed soon, starting with the William Jefferson Clinton West building. The email notes that "some employees may experience a problem in gaining access to work space after the transition occurs."
Obviously, not being able to get into your secure office space can make you late, and that can upset your manager. If your manager comes down on you for being late when your badge fails to work, please immediately contact one of the union officers, below...
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