Bonney, Allenberg, O’Reilly, & Eddy, P.C.
Legal Assistance for Federal Employees
Shortly before the 2020 presidential election, the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) issued a series of decisions overturning their own longstanding precedent and practice. The major swings in what was thought to be well-established precedent posed a challenge for practitioners who need to stay constantly informed about the current state of the law. But, theRead More
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
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently voted in favor of proposing new regulations that would completely change the process available to federal employees pursuing discrimination complaints against employing agencies (referred to as “EEO complaints”). The Read More
Government employees can’t be fired, Right?? Wrong!! Time and time again, we hear this untrue adage that federal employees cannot be fired. This erroneous generalization has been used in recent years as an excuse to “crack down” on the rights of federal employees. But, Read More