This IRM discusses labor-management relations in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that are governed by the statutory framework of Title Vll of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (chapter 71 of Title 5, United States Code). The Act established a legal right for Federal employees to organize and bargain collectively with Agency management — through labor organizations of their own choosing — over the conditions of their employment. Like several Executive Orders that governed labor-management relations prior to its enactment, the legislation is premised on a recognition that establishment of this employee right safeguards the public interest, contributes to the effective conduct of public business, and facilitates amicable settlement of disputes over conditions of employment.

The IRS can better accomplish its mission if management collectively plans and carries out its labor relations activities with the same sense of direction, conviction, and purpose that is observed in tax administration. This will enable managers to realize the maximum benefits afforded to the public interest through a constructive and productive relationship with the IRS workforce and with its bargaining representatives.

IRM 6.711.1 advises managers and the Labor Relations staff by delineating responsibilities, establishing procedures for daily labor relations business, and providing channels of communication among managers and staff at all levels of the organization.

Document 6608, Arbitration Handbook

Document 6675, Contract Administration Handbook

IRM 6.251

5 CFR 550.322

5 U.S.C. 7114

5 U.S.C. 7115

5 U.S.C. 7116

The Federal Labor Relations Authority ( "Authority" or FLRA) was created by statute and Executive Order in 1978 as an independent institution of Government to consolidate the central policy-making functions for Federal sector labor-management relations. Composed of three members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, who may be removed only upon notice and hearing for cause, the FLRA carries out several key functions, such as:

The General Counsel (GC) of the Federal Labor Relations Authority is responsible for investigating allegations that an agency or a labor organization has committed an unfair labor practice (ULP), as defined at 5 U.S.C. 7116(a) or (b). After its investigation, the GC may serve a written complaint on the agency or labor organization and prosecute the complaint before the Authority.

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) and the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP or "Panel" ) both facilitate the resolution of negotiations impasses between agency management and an exclusive representative. The FMCS, an independent establishment created in 1947 to help prevent the disruptive effects of labor-management disputes in the private sector, relies wholly on methods of mediation and persuasion to perform this same role with Federal parties. The Panel may also use persuasive techniques to assist the parties to resolve the impasse, but if these methods are ineffective, it may take whatever steps are necessary to force a resolution, including ordering the parties to adopt particular language into their collective bargaining agreement.

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) is constituted as an independent, national labor organization whose membership comprises thousands of present and former employees of the Federal Government, including IRS, other bureaus of the Department of the Treasury, and other agencies of Government. The national organization is structured by NTEU districts that are, in turn, structured by local chapters. It is governed by a constitution and a biennial national convention of local chapter representatives which elect a National President and one National Executive Vice President. Between conventions, NTEU is governed by an Executive Board composed of the two nationally elected officers and other National Vice Presidents elected by the NTEU districts. The Union employs its own salaried staff at sites across the country, including a headquarters office in Washington, D.C.

NTEU has petitioned for and obtained from FLRA the exclusive right of representation for a consolidated nationwide bargaining unit within IRS. As the exclusive representative for all eligible IRS bargaining unit employees, NTEU is entitled to act on their behalf in negotiations with management on the conditions of their employment. NTEU is also entitled as the exclusive representative to be represented in formal discussions conducted by management with employees concerning grievances, personnel policies or practices, or other general conditions of employment; as well as at certain interviews of unit employees by management representatives in connection with an investigation. NTEU represents all employees who occupy positions within the bargaining unit, including those who are not dues paying members of the Union. Accordingly, the best use of human resources in the IRS requires not only a full understanding of internal management policies, systems, and processes, but also acceptance of the Union’s institutional role and the determination to manage skillfully in bilateral affairs.

Management Information Exchange. Managers at every level of the organization have a responsibility for communicating and consulting with their colleagues in management whose job interests or responsibilities may be affected by change. Sharing proposals for change with other members of management is a fundamental aspect of effective intramanagement communications. A prompt and effective intramanagement communication has occurred when managers have learned about management proposed change through management channels rather than from Union or other sources.

Arbitration Handbook. Document 6608, Arbitration Handbook, contains verbatim text of each arbitration award made in connection with collective bargaining agreements between IRS and NTEU, dating from the first award made in 1973 and excluding only some cases not involving matters of interpretation or significant questions of application. It is published as a resource for Labor Relations staff and others who need to know how the agreements have been interpreted and applied by arbitrators.

Contract Administration Handbook. Document 6675, Contract Administration Handbook, is a detailed analysis of the NORD/NC Agreements. It discusses each substantive provision of those agreements and is published as a resource for Labor Relations staff and managers who need to know how the agreement should be interpreted for practical application purposes.

The effective management of change, which affects conditions of employment within the bargaining unit, needs careful analysis of the change, including such matters as how it affects employees and their exclusive representative, whether there are pertinent requirements in existing collective bargaining agreements, what rights management has in the labor-management relationship, what management’s interests and responsibilities are, and what duties are owed to the exclusive representative.

Labor Relations staff who advise and assist line or functional officials responsible for implementing such change should be involved timely in the planning process to ensure that Union implications are taken into full account. Apart from any legal and formal contractual requirements (see 6.711.1.6(4)), the management interest is usually better served if the Union can be formally or informally brought into the process at the earliest feasible and appropriate date. In this way, management may be able to avoid the conflicts that arise from mistrust, suspicion, and rumor, or from Union uncertainty about the impact on unit employees. It is also possible that Union concerns may surface that management can cure more quickly and easily in open conversation at the drawing table rather than later in more guarded discussion at the bargaining table. There are as many informal means for this purpose as there are managers, Labor Relations specialists, and Union officials; most such means can be useful but the managers and the Labor Relations staff should have clear expectations of how and if this is done. The local Labor-Management Relations Committee is another effective means for managing the process of change in a bilateral environment.

Before implementing any change to personnel policies, practices, or other matters affecting the working conditions of bargaining unit employees, management has the duty to give prior notice to the employees’ exclusive representative, NTEU. Procedures and time frame for the notice are contained in the NORD/NC Agreements.

If the exclusive representative initiates bargaining with management over the change, both parties must negotiate in good faith to reach agreement with respect to the conditions of employment in the bargaining unit and, if agreement is reached and either party requests, to execute a written document incorporating the agreement. If no agreement is reached and the matter stands at impasse, management may not change the conditions of employment without first notifying the Union it intends to do so, allowing a reasonable time for the Union to seek assistance in resolving the impasse from the FMCS and, if necessary, from the FSIP. Unless it can be justified with a showing of extraordinary and exigent need (which the FLRA rarely sees), it is an unfair labor practice for management to change the conditions of employment until this process has run its course and there is an "agreement" between the parties, whether reached voluntarily or imposed by the Panel.

An important consideration for line or functional managers planning the implementation of change is scope:

Both the NORD and NC Agreements provide for Labor-Management Relations Committees. Management and Union officials can use this forum to resolve midterm problems in a relatively informal setting. The Committee is designed to afford the parties a means to share information with each other, to discuss problems of mutual concern throughout the term of an existing collective bargaining agreement, and to promote a constructive, open, cooperative, and problem solving environment. Success of the Committee depends upon how able and willing both parties are to use it.

Each Committee usually meets at regular intervals or on special call of either party, as agreed. Management can use the Committee for any or all of the following purposes:

Collective bargaining should not take place in meetings of the Labor-Management Relations Committee, and the success of the labor relationship is further assured if the Committee is not used for that purpose.

Labor Relations staffs are responsible for ensuring that any collective bargaining agreement between IRS and NTEU is timely forwarded for agency head review and approval in accord with requirements of 5 U.S.C. 7114(c) and this text.

It is required by 5 U.S.C. 7114(c) that the head of the agency, or his/her designee, shall approve any agreement within thirty (30) days from the date it is executed or signed on behalf of both parties if it conforms with applicable law, rule, and regulation. If an agreement is not approved or disapproved within the thirty-day period, then it becomes effective and binding on both parties subject only to the provisions of applicable law, rule, or regulation; however, any portions of such an agreement which are inconsistent with applicable law, rule, or regulation are legally null and unenforceable.

National multi-division agreements between IRS and NTEU will be sent to the Director of the Office of Personnel Policy, Department of the Treasury for review. The SHR Workforce Relations Division will ensure that any such agreement is made available for review by the Director immediately upon its execution.

Any national single division agreement, or any local agreement between IRS and NTEU must be reviewed by the Director, Workforce Relations Division. Agreements will be approved if they conform with applicable law, rule, and regulation, and also with the terms and conditions of NORD or NC and any other applicable agreement between IRS and NTEU at the national level. The following actions will take place before the Director, Workforce Relations Division, approves or disapproves the agreement:

Cases decided by FLRA make it clear the parties may not set an effective date in an agreement which limits the period available under law for the agreement’s review. Thus, the parties cannot set an effective date which precedes the day following approval of the agreement or, if not approved or disapproved, the thirty-first (31^st) day following its execution by the local parties, whichever day occurs first.

An Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) is a practice by agency management or by a labor organization which violates, respectively, subsections (a) or (b) of section 7116, title 5, United States Code. An unfair labor practice charge is an alleged violation of 5 U.S.C. 7116 that has been filed by any person with the FLRA General Counsel’s Office. An unfair labor practice complaint is an alleged violation that the General Counsel’s Office, following an FLRA staff investigation of a ULP charge, has filed with the FLRA. The FLRA is responsible for hearing and adjudicating ULP complaints filed and "prosecuted" by the GC. It relies on a staff of Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) who conduct evidentiary hearings; rule on questions of law, procedure, and fact; and issue recommended decisions and remedial orders which become binding unless appealed to and modified or set aside by the appointed FLRA members or other lawfully competent authority. The FLRA and its ALJs have considerable authority to remedy ULP findings. Available remedies include orders to cease and desist from the unfair labor practice, which almost invariably include orders to post a notice in conspicuous places as directed by the Authority. The Authority can also order more stringently onerous remedies, and it has done so in many cases.

Careful attention must be paid to ULP charges filed against IRS management, not simply because remedial action may be ordered if the charge is substantiated, but because public and managerial interests require it. During the processing of the charge or complaint, opportunities may arise for settling the case acceptably without the unnecessary expenditure of additional resources. Moreover, the potential for these cases to set unexpected precedent should be carefully evaluated. Finally, management has as strong an interest in correcting its inappropriate practices as it does in defending and maintaining practices that are lawful and appropriate.

Reporting the Existence of a Grievance.

Establishment and Control of Case Folder

"Case Folder Contents" . The case folder will include the best obtainable copies of documents related to the case, including the following as a minimum:

Statement of Case. When arbitration is invoked in any grievance, the servicing AWSS Labor Relations staff will prepare a statement of case with the facts (who, what, when, where, and why), the rationale for management’s position (strengths and weaknesses), the issues which would be subject to arbitration, and a recommendation. It is quite important that hidden flaws, potential weaknesses, and latent issues in the case be exposed to open, independent analysis by the Labor Relations staffs (and by the SHR Workforce Relations Division for interpretation questions) so that better decisions can be made whether and how to present the case to an arbitrator. Suggested statement of case formats for cases involving interpretation and application, expedited, disciplinary and adverse action (IRM 6.751/6.752), performance or within-grade denial (IRM 6.432/6.500), and arbitration cases are shown at Exhibits 6.711.1-1 through 6.711.1-4. Any format may be used so long as the essential information is set forth clearly and completely.

Forwarding the Permanent Case Folder.

Authority. The authority for withholding Union membership dues from an employee’s pay derives from 5 U.S.C. 7115, which applies only in the circumstance where a labor organization holds exclusive recognition status (as NTEU does with IRS). Thus, if management has received a written assignment from a bargaining unit employee which authorizes the deduction from the employee’s pay of regular and periodic membership dues, payable to NTEU, then management must honor the assignment at no cost to the employee or the Union. Methods for implementing this statutory requirement were negotiated with NTEU and are contained in the NORD and NC agreements. Detailed procedures are contained at text 236 of IRM 6.290.3, Payroll Processing Handbook.

Review, Acceptance, and Revocation of Employee Dues Assignments. Upon receipt of an employee’s properly executed and certified dues assignment (Standard Form 1187, Request and Authorization for Voluntary Allotment of Compensation for Payment of Employee Organization Dues), the servicing personnel office will promptly ascertain whether authority exists to honor the assignment. For purposes of 5 U.S.C. 7115, this requires two determinations:

Where authority exists under 5 U.S.C. 7115 to honor an employee’s properly executed and certified dues assignment, the assignment should be made effective promptly in accordance with negotiated requirements in order to avoid risking needless financial liability to the Government.

In general, an assignment of dues may not be revoked for a period of one (1) year, and then only upon receipt of the employee’s properly executed written request (Standard Form 1188, Revocation of Voluntary Allotment of Compensation for Payment of Employee Organization Dues). However, when an employee is reassigned to a position outside the bargaining unit, even temporarily, the authority to withhold dues ceases and the servicing personnel office should promptly cancel the allotment to avoid risking needless financial liability to the Government. lf the reassignment is a temporary one, then the allotment must be promptly reinstated upon the employee’s reassignment to a bargaining unit position. The servicing personnel office need not secure Forms 1188 or 1187 for dues cancellations or reinstatements in the case of such reassignments out of or back to the bargaining unit.

In certain circumstances, authority may exist apart from 5 U.S.C. 7115 to honor membership dues assignments from individuals who are not included within a bargaining unit, although such authority would not apply in the case of assignments payable to labor organizations such as NTEU which represent bargaining unit employees. Certain supervisors, for example, may qualify for dues assignments under a savings provision found at 5 CFR 550.322. In cases such as these, any agreements between IRS and NTEU are inapplicable, and the assignment will be handled in accord with any other requirements that may apply.

Where no authority can be found to honor an employee’s request for dues assignment, the servicing personnel office will notify the employee of that fact. Unless an authority can be found, the request should not be processed.

Detailed procedures and instructions can be found at the Strategic Human Resources web site.

Those procedures cover recording and reporting union representatives time.

Under procedures contained in the NORD and NC Agreements, managers are responsible for approving union representatives use of time.

Information concerning potential, threatened, or existing job actions by IRS employees against the Service or the Federal Government must be communicated rapidly to the SHR Workforce Relations Division. Examples of job actions include but are not limited to employee demonstrations; picketing; actual work stoppages or work disruptions; group refusal to work overtime or to perform assigned duties; and "slowdowns" or "sick-outs" .

Information on job actions will be communicated by telephone (through the servicing Labor Relations offices) to the AWSS Workforce Relations Branch, which will immediately notify the SHR Workforce Relations Division.

If requested, a written report will be sent through the AWSS Workforce Relations Branch to the SHR Workforce Relations Division. No particular format is required, however, the report must contain enough factual information to permit substantive analysis of the action.