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59 FLRA No. 7
AFGE, AFL-CIO, Local 2206 and Social Security Administration Southeastern Program Service Center Birmingham, Alabama, (Howell, Arbitrator) 0-AR-3631 (Decided August 14, 2003)
The Arbitrator denied a grievance alleging that the Agency violated the parties' agreement by failing to promote the grievants to the GS-9 level under a career-ladder. The Authority rejected the Union's allegations that the award was contrary to 5 C.F.R. § 335.104, which involves eligibility for career- ladder promotion, 5 C.F.R. § 300.604, which involves time-in-grade restrictions for promotion and 5 C.F.R. § 430.203, which defines certain terms related to performance management.
The Authority noted that here was nothing in the cited regulations that required a career-ladder promotion when, as in this case, employees received a successful performance evaluation and worked 52 weeks at a lower grade. Here, the Arbitrator found that the grievants did not satisfy the promotion criteria in the agreement because they were not progressing satisfactorily in their position. The Authority noted that nothing in the regulations precluded an arbitrator from finding that, under a collective bargaining agreement, progressing satisfactorily in a position is a criterion an employee must satisfy to be entitled to promotion under a career-ladder. Accordingly, the exception provides no basis for finding the award contrary to the cited regulations. The Authority also rejected the allegations that the award failed to draw its essence from the agreement, that it was contrary to law, or that it was based on a nonfact