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57 FLRA No. 82
Hawaii Federal Employees Metal Trades Council and U.S. Dept. of Defense, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Intermediate Maintenance Facility Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 0-NG-2573 (Decided September 7, 2001)
This case concerned the negotiability of one proposal. The Authority found that the proposal was contrary to law and dismissed the petition for review.
The Authority concluded that the modification to the proposal at the post-petition conference was not contrary to the Authority's regulations. The Authority noted that the post-petition conference in a negotiability proceeding is designed to allow the parties to discuss, clarify and resolve the meaning of the proposal. 5 C.F.R. § 2424.23(b). Additionally, the Authority found that the Agency's statement of position was timely filed.
As to the merits, the Authority found that a proposal that restricts an agency's authority to change its employees' work schedules is nonnegotiable if it does not contain an exception for situations when the agency determines, pursuant to 5 C.F.R. § 610.121(a), that it would be seriously handicapped in carrying out its functions or that costs would be substantially increased. Here, the proposal did not allow the Agency to change its employees' work schedules when it determines that it would be seriously handicapped in carrying out agency functions or that its costs would be substantially increased. As a result, the proposal was found to be nonnegotiable as contrary to 5 C.F.R. § 610.121.