Click here to view the decision.
58 FLRA No. 76
U. S. Dept. of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, U. S. Penitentiary, Terre Haute, Indiana and AFGE, Local 720, Council of Prison Locals, Council 33, (D'Eletto, Arbitrator), 0-AR-3487 (Decided January 28, 2003)
The Arbitrator found that the Agency violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by failing to compensate employees for certain pre-shift and post-shift activities and travel, and he provided backpay retroactive to the date that the grievance was filed. The Authority found that the award of compensation for activities and travel between the penitentiary's security perimeter and its control center was deficient.
The Authority was unable to determine whether the Arbitrator also awarded compensation for activities that the parties conceded to be compensable, specifically, picking up equipment at the control center and traveling from the control center to the place of performance of principal activities. Accordingly, this matter was remanded to the parties for resubmission to the Arbitrator, absent settlement, to clarify whether the award includes compensation for picking up equipment at the control center and walking to the place of performance of principal activities, and if it did, for a determination of the amount of such compensable work and whether the employees are entitled to liquidated damages for such work.