Washington, DC
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Compensation Claim Decision
Under section 3702 of title 31, United States Code
U.S. Department of Transportation
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Damon B. Ford
Compensation and Leave Claims
Program Manager
Agency Compliance and Evaluation
Merit System Accountability and Compliance
04/14/2022
Date
The claimant is employed as an Aviation Safety Inspector (OPS), FG-1825-14, step 5 with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with duty station in Des Plaines, Illinois. He previously occupied a position under the agency’s core compensation pay plan of Aviation Safety Inspector, FV-1825-J with the FAA in Washington, DC, also with duty station is Des Plaines, Illinois. On October 28, 2018, he was reassigned to a position under the agency’s equivalent of the General Schedule (GS) Pay System (FG) of Safety Aviation Inspector, FG-1825-14, step 3. However, the claimant believes that upon conversion of his position from the agency’s core compensation pay plan to the FG pay system, his pay should have been set at the rate of FG-14, step 5, instead of FG-14, step 3 based on his 2018 Valuing Performance rating and pursuant to the amounts negotiated and agreed upon in a September 17, 2019, Settlement Agreement between the FAA and the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, AFL-CIO ( i.e., “PASS” or the “Union”). He also requests “retroactive pay from GS-14, Step 5 and credit for Time in Grade at GS-14, Step 5, effective January 6, 2019.” We received the claim request on August 3, 2021. For the reasons discussed herein, the claim is denied for lack of jurisdiction.
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 obtained by OPM (i.e., Certification of Representative issued by the Federal Labor Relations Authority, (FLRA) dated October 2, 2018) states that on July 18, 2018, the FLRA made a decision that PASS, AFL-CIO is the exclusive representative for all employees within the FAA’s Flight Standards Service. Furthermore, other documentation obtained by OPM (i.e., Standard Forms 50, dated October 28, 2018, and January 3, 2021, block 37 showing bargaining unit status) shows the claimant occupied bargaining unit positions during the period covered by the claim, specifically at the time of and subsequent to the claimant’s position reassignment. The CBA between the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (AFL-CIO) and the FAA, U.S. DOT, dated December 15, 2013, and in effect during the claim period, does not specifically exclude compensation issues from the NGP (Article 5, Section 4) covering the claimant. 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.
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.