Washington, DC

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Leave Claim Decision
Under section 3702 of title 31, United States Code

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Robert D. Hendler
Classification and Pay Claims
Program Manager
Agency Compliance and Evaluation
Merit System Accountability and Compliance


03/23/2015

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Date

The claimant, who is employed in an Airplane Pilot (Simulator Instructor), GS-2181-12, position with the Department of the Air Force at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, disputes his annual leave accrual rate.  He seeks to have 15 years of service credited for work performed as a contract instructor from October 1, 1995, until September 30, 2010.  We received the claim request on December 18, 2013, and the agency administrative report (AAR) on May 14, 2014.  For the reasons discussed herein, the claim is denied for lack of jurisdiction.

OPM settles Federal civilian employee compensation and leave claims under the provisions of section 3702(a)(2) of title 31, United States Code (U.S.C.), and part 178 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).  However, section 7121(a)(1) of title 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 or leave 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).

The record shows the claimant occupied a bargaining unit position during the period of the claim.[1]  The CBA between the 47^th Flying Training Wing and the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1749, covering the claimant during the period of the claim does not specifically exclude leave issues from the NGP (Article 25).  Therefore, this claim must be construed as covered by the NGP the claimant was subject to during the claim period, and OPM has no jurisdiction to adjudicate this claim or intervene in this matter.

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.

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