Washington, DC
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Compensation Claim Decision
Under section 3702 of title 31, United States Code
Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts
Damon B. Ford
Compensation and Leave Claims
Program Manager
Agency Compliance and Evaluation
Merit System Accountability and Compliance
09/09/2020
Date
The claimant is a Federal civilian employee of the Massachusetts National Guard at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts.
The claimant challenges the agency’s pay setting determination applied to his May 12, 2019 promotion to a Quality Assurance Specialist, GS-1910-11 position. He requests the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) review the pay setting action. We received the claim request on November 19, 2019. For the reasons discussed herein, the claim is denied.
As we noted in our October 22, 2019 letter to the claimant, section 7121(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code (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).
Documentation provided by the employing agency (i.e., Standard Form 50 showing the claimant’s bargaining unit status in block 37) shows he occupied a bargaining unit position during the period of the claim. Article 7, Section 5 of the CBA between The Massachusetts National Guard & Richard A. Braga #39 Association of Civilian Technicians, dated February 19, 2016, covering the claimant during his employment with the agency and in effect during the period of the claim, does not specifically exclude compensation issues. Therefore, 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.
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.