Bonney, Allenberg, O’Reilly, & Eddy, P.C.
Legal Assistance for Federal Employees
It has been a rough four years for the rights of federal employees. From a gutted Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), to a Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) that has seemingly gone rogue, to a series of Executive Orders signed by President Trump weakening employee and Union rights, some of us who practice in federalRead More
I recently read a Press Release from the Office of Communications, Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The release was entitled “FY2016 Official Time Report Highlighting Taxpayer Funded Union Time Released by the U. S. Office of Personnel Management.” I was immediately struck by the inherent bias of the release which referred to “official union time”Read More
The phrase “reasonable accommodation” tends to be something many employees have heard before, but its meaning is not always clear. Reasonable accommodation requests can arise in two different types of situations: (1) When an employee or job applicant suffers from a physical or mental disability and requires certain adjustments to the work environment to accommodateRead More
The question is when is an investigation purely administrative and when is it a criminal investigation. Most federal employees are aware that they must participate in agency investigations whether they want to or not. Most federal employees also know they have a constitutional right not to self-incriminate. The problem is knowing when is an administrativeRead More
The heart and soul of labor unions is the collective bargaining agreement. What makes the collective bargaining agreement so valuable is binding arbitration. So why is it that unions are sending their cases over to the EEOC for processing? Two reasons: (1) it is easier to drop a case on the EEOC for them toRead More
Sometimes, a federal government employee will find himself or herself in the unfortunate situation of receiving a proposed disciplinary action. For most tenured civil service employees, no discipline affecting the employee’s pay may be issued without first providing the employee with notice of a proposed disciplinary action and an opportunity to respond to the proposal.Read More
An agency must use the reduction-in-force regulations, 5 CFR Part 351, before separating or demoting an employee because of an organizational reason such as reorganization, including lack of work, shortage of funds, insufficient personnel ceiling, or the exercise of certain Read More
As a law firm, much of what we do and what we recommend is reactive in nature: Discriminated against on the job? — Then file an EEO complaint! Received a proposed disciplinary action? — Then reply to it! It’s difficult to speculate about what might happen in the future, Read More