Washington, DC
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Compensation Claim Decision
Under section 3702 of title 31, United States Code
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Bloomington, Illinois
Damon B. Ford
Compensation and Leave Claims
Program Manager
Agency Compliance and Evaluation
Merit System Accountability and Compliance
07/14/2022
Date
The claimant is a Federal civil employee with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in Bloomington, Illinois. The claimant disputes the agency’s decision not to pay him for 5.5 hours of holiday pay for work performed by him on July 2, 2020, which he asserts was his day off “in-lieu-of-holiday”, as per agency policy, for the July 4, 2020 (Independence Day) holiday. OPM received the claim request on May 17. 2022. For the reasons discussed herein, the claim is denied due to lack of jurisdiction.
Section 7121(a)(1) of 5 U.S.C. directs that except as provided elsewhere in the statute, the grievance procedures in a negotiated collective bargaining agreement (CBA) shall be the exclusive administrative remedy for resolving matters that fall within the coverage of the CBA. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has found the plain language of 5 U.S.C. 7121(a)(1) to be clear, and as such, limits the administrative resolution of a Federal employee’s grievance to the negotiated procedures set forth in the CBA. Mudge v. United States, 308 F.3d 1220, 1228 (Fed. Cir. 2002). Further, the Federal Circuit also found that all matters not specifically excluded from the grievance process by the CBA fall within the coverage of the CBA. Id. at 1231. As such, OPM cannot assert jurisdiction over the compensation claims, including holiday pay claims, of Federal employees who are or were subject to a negotiated grievance procedure (NGP) under a CBA between the employee’s agency and labor union for any time during the claim period, unless the matter is or was specifically excluded from the CBA’s NGP. See 5 CFR 178.101(b) and 5 CFR 551.703(a).
Documentation provided by the employing agency (i.e., Standard Form 50, dated January 2, 2022, block 37) shows the claimant occupied a bargaining unit position during the claim period. Furthermore, the CBA between the TSA and the American Federation of Government Employees dated December 9, 2012, covering the claimant and in effect during the period of the claim, does not specifically exclude compensation claim issues from the NGP. Therefore, in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 7121(a)(1) and Mudge v. United States, 308 F.3d 1220, 1228 (Fed. Cir. 2002), this claim must be construed as covered by the NGP the claimant was subject to during the claim period. Accordingly, OPM has no jurisdiction to adjudicate this claim and the claim is denied.
This settlement is final. No further administrative review is available within OPM. Nothing in this settlement limits the claimant’s right to bring an action in an appropriate United States court.