This is a podcast that was recorded by Chapter President Shannon Ellis and 1st Vice President Daniel Scharpenburg.
Daniel:
Hello everyone welcome to the chapter 66 podcast my name is Daniel Scharpenburg I’m the first vice president of nteu chapter 66 and I’m joined by Shannon Ellis who is the chapter president of nteu chapter 66
Shannon:
Hi everybody thanks for joining us
Daniel:
So we’ve got a few things to talk about today and first we want to talk about an email that came to all IRS employees very suddenly a few days ago and it was an email from the treasury secretary that directed all IRS employees would soon be in the office 50% of the time and of course for many people they think, “I don’t telework anyway” right? But for the teleworkers, for some of these people that come in once a week, that’s quite a change and a little bit later the agency did walk that back and say it’s just for DC non-bargaining unit workers
Shannon:
We would hope that they would do a little more research to put it out to just the parties that were involved also they were rolling things out that employees hadn’t even beenā¦ it hadn’t been discussed with the employees at that time so it would have been nice if the commissioner’s information would have come out before it was rolled out by a secretary so hopefully they’ll think twice about how they send things out in the future but just to let everybody know you know we are still working to expand telework at most IRS campuses so at this time none of this applies to anybody other than the DC area employees
Daniel:
And I think article 50 in our contract really in a way sort of ties the agency’s hands in this, that is, if we didn’t have article 50 Protections in the contract they could just immediately pull telework if they just felt like it without a reason so and I want to say the way this news came out makes me think they’re looking for ways to get around article 50. They would like this 50% thing if they felt they could do it so the union is fighting to preserve and expand telework and I want to let all of you know our biggest strength is membership. More members equals more bargaining power so if you’re not a member please join to help us in this fight the more members we have the more the agency is going to feel like they can’t do whatever they want and roll over us.
Shannon:
And if you paid attention to the Facebook page when we put the information out about this article there were responses from some management officials that were stating “too bad that it didn’t apply to us” and these management officials are from our local campus so it kind of gives you an idea of what we’re up against and this is why membership is so important because you know we if we stand together and we we push for more telework as a collective bargaining unit you know they have no choice but to listen to us. We have to prove that we can do this we got to be working when we’re out and teleworking but to see managers making statements as if they are completely against Telework is scary so again that memo did not apply to us but don’t think that we’re safe from any changes. So pay attention do what you’re supposed to be doing when you’re Teleworking. Prove to them that Telework works. It works for our employees we are successful doing that so if we can prove that then it’s harder for them to justify that we’re not being as productive when we’re working from another location. So do what we’re supposed to when we’re supposed to and let’s keep fighting for more and more Telework opportunities.
Daniel:
Yeah from what I can tell it seems like a whole lot of employers in the Kansas City area are going more in the telework direction. So for people like us that have a lot of time with the agency…. well we’re probably not going to leave. But when people are starting out their careers if they can Telework at other places and they really want to Telework they may not go to the IRS. The agency has got to see that as a problem. We cannot get enough employees in here
Shannon:
Right, it is one of the hiring issues that we run against. There’s a lot more corporations out there that are allowing their employees to telework and even remote work, which means 100% telework, and so if that’s what we’re up against and our pay isn’t as enticing as it is in the private sector, we already know that, then to hire and retain the best of the best is what the IRS is trying to do and yet we can’t compete because we’re we’re trying to pull back the opportunities that have been given to employees. So again we have to show that we’re productive we have to show that we’re successful
Daniel:
So next we’ll move to talking about EPF and drop files and some people listening definitely don’t know what either of those things are. So I want to share with you that article 7 says that your manager has to show you what’s in your file if you ask. If you ask and they deny showing you what’s in your file you can contact nteu because they should absolutely not be doing that. Some people get confused about the difference between EPF and drop file and I’ve had the experience where I asked for the wrong one sometimes so Shannon, can you speak on the difference between these two and why each one is important?
Shannon:
It is so important to understand that Management’s required to keep documentation for everything that impacts or affects your employment here. An EPF, that’s an employee performance file, anything in that file should relate to the CJEs, your performance, your work specifically. So, for example, managers are supposed to share with you within 30 days of employment your CJEs, the things you’re going to be rated on. So under the EPF you will have everything that applies to you being shared: the CJESs, you being given performance ratings, you being given an annual appraisal, or a mid-year departures…. that type of stuff. So it’s very important that the employees understand that the only thing that should be in that employee performance file is pertaining to your CJEs and your performance….your work that you do for the IRS.
A drop file is actually a conduct file that has things to do with your season seasonal agreements, any type of conduct memos you have received, memos and expectations things that your manager has provided to you. So it’s more of things out of your code and ethics book and that relate to how you behave or how you interact with your your manager and your co-workers. So that’s the difference.
There’s also a third file that’s not mentioned and that’s your medical file and your medical file. It’s just what it says. It is all your medical stuff. It’s important that employees go, and we recommend twice a year, go look in your employee files you know find out what’s in your drop file what’s in your EPF, your employee performance file, but also have a look at your medical file. Make sure that the manager is maintaining FMLA paperwork medical documentation (if you have any)
They could be charging an awol when you were able to provide medical documentation and that AWOL should be removed. Sometimes it isn’t but should be removed based on medical. They’re not allowed to put that medical documentation in with your drop file, your conduct file, they can’t do that. Medical has to be kept into a separate thing. Same thing… your employee performance file should not have anything that relates to conduct. So if there’s a memo in there that tells you that you failed to adhere to the Cell Phone MOU, that’s a conduct issue and not a performance issue, so that should be in your drop file not your EPF.
So we recommend you go find out because we’re finding we’ve been doing audits throughout this campus and what we’re finding is information that belongs to other employees being in these files. The fact that managers are not sharing the required information that they’re required to maintain or retain four years of documentation when it comes to the CJEs, my job, my position description, all of that stuff… it’s supposed to be retained for four years. We’re finding that’s not happening also employees are discovering they were charged awol and they never knew they were charged awol. They don’t know it until they can realize that they’re missing pay and so we have a lot of issues with these employee drop files and managers not keeping the data they’re supposed to, not keeping it for as long as they’re supposed to. So it’s very important that you, as an employee, know what’s supposed to be in the files, what shouldn’t be there and make sure that it’s cleaned out. You know they can only retain this information, conduct issues a year, two years at the most, and they should be cleaned out. If you request to review those files you can also ask for NTEU to send a steward to go through this file with you we’ll be happy to do that
Daniel:
One quick question about that medical file. That’s different because it’s more limited in who can access it is that right?
Shannon:
Correct. Most managers still keep it in their office but it’s under lock and key. We know that some operations keep it at the operational level, so how they store them may be a little different, where they store them may be a little different, but the the fact still remains the same. You have access. It’s your files and you have the right to review any of these files any time you want. Now don’t get confused. If a manager says, “Hey I don’t have time right now to do that next week I can give it to you.” That’s okay as long as they give you a time frame of when they when they can let you review it because they have to be in the presence of you reviewing it. The manager has to be there with you. You can ask for copies of anything in that file. You have a right to that and then if you want NTEU with you then you know we just ask that you sign a designation of representation or we refer to it as a power of attorney (POA). You sign something like that that gives into you the right to go and and review these files with you and or without you so that we can see what’s in your files
Daniel:
I know whenever I have a grievance I’m working where I have an annual that we’re filing a grievance on the first thing I do is I go try to get that EPF. I want to see where they told their CJEs, where they were given feedback if they were lowering, those sorts of things. That file is where that should be and I like to make the argument if it’s not documented it didn’t happen, if feedback is not documented it didn’t happen, if counseling’s not documented it didn’t happen. Sometimes management doesn’t like that argument but they need to document these things.
Shannon:
Right that that’s why your your EPF is important and especially if you think your annual looks weird your EPF is a good thing to go look at and again we’ll look at it with you
Daniel:
So I want to talk next about our upcoming event March 16th at noon. Se’re having a membership meeting here at work in the multi-purpose room. People don’t like to come to work on a Saturday for a union meeting but I want to encourage people to show up. We’re going to be giving things away, there’s going to be snacks and information, and a chance for Community. This is a chance to come together. We would like to have more chances to come together. We’re trying to build more of that. You know sometimes people are like “what’s the union doing? I don’t know.” You can come to these meetings and ask questions to find out. We will take all the questions that are asked no matter how long it takes
Shannon:
I think so. I hope that people will show up and get some snacks and just listen. We’ll talk about what we’re working on and how we can help each other. Come meet your executive board, who these people are, elected by our members to protect the chapter, where our expenditures are, what we need to do, what type of cases we’re taking to arbitration, what type of issues we’re dealing with on campus. This is what your executive board is elected to do, tso come meet your board and let’s have this discussion on what issues that we’re seeing on campus. We can’t get out there and it’s unfortunate we can’t get enough information timely to our employees. Or they don’t know where to go and find this information so a great way to come meet us to actually get involved in what’s going on on campus. Sometimes we don’tt even know that’s happening and we rely on you bringing things to us. So come join us it’s usually a very informative meeting and we look forward to seeing you guys there.
Daniel:
I hope a lot of you show up it’s a good time and we enjoy these meetings. We enjoy connecting with our members a great deal.
So I want to talk about a section of the contract now, but this is a little bit bigger than a section of the contract though because article 36 section two is where this is located but it’s been expanded beyond that. So we’re going to talk about administrative time for voting. It’s one of my favorite topics and this could be relevant to some people in the near future because Kansas City, Missouri is having a city election on April 2nd. I don’t know if you’ve heard about it. I’ve heard a lot about it and I don’t live in Kansas City, Missouri so I don’t get to vote on it but certainly some of our members do.
So Article 36 section 2 outlines getting admin time for voting but in addition to that and I’m not even going to read article 36 section 2 because what we’re going to talk about expands on it and is like that but bigger. There’s this executive order that expands on what’s in the contract and as far as I can tell it sometimes seems like managers haven’t really had training on it. Every election these last couple years years it seems like they’ve never heard of it. In the past we’ve advised employees to request the time the day of or a few days before and I’m thinking that people need to be requesting this a couple weeks out. So we’re going to try to send out reminders or even as soon as you listen to (or read) this if you want to request admin time to vote on April 2nd I think it’s within your rights to do that. What happened before, what happens in these elections, is people request it and Management’s like, “I’ve never heard of that” and then people… maybe they don’t take the time, maybe they use their own leave or whatever, and we have to go back and try to fix that. But if people can request it now then their manager will have time to educate themselves because if they’re not educated on it, and we’ll have time to sort it out, so nobody has to take leave or get AWOL to go vote. That would be really bad. It should give management plenty of time if we give them a couple weeks and give NTEU plenty of time to fight these if they’re denied.
So every election I’m going to send out reminders so that it’s almost time to vote. We get this for every single election: for primaries, we get it for City elections, we get it for local elections, ballot initiatives, everything. It’s an important benefit to this job and we want people to take advantage of it. So I’m just going to read to you verbatim from the executive order. I’m reading the actual text just to make sure we don’t use any of it and we’ll be posting this material in our Facebook page and in our emails as well.
This is from an OPM memo that was put out to put federal agencies in line with Executive Order 14019:
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Policy
Subject to the āadditional considerationsā listed below, agencies should adhere to the following policy on administrative leave for voting-related activities:
ā¢ Agencies should allow employees to use up to 4 hours of administrative leave for voting in connection with each Federal general election day. The administrative leave may be used for voting on the Federal general election day or for early voting (i.e., voting prior to Federal general election day, as authorized by their jurisdiction).
ā¢ Agencies should allow employees to use up to 4 hours of administrative leave for voting in connection with each election event (including primaries and caucuses) at the Federal, State, local (i.e., county and municipal), Tribal, and territorial level that does not coincide with a Federal general election day. (If an election simultaneously involves more than one level, it is considered to be a single election event.) This administrative leave may be used for voting on the established election day or for early voting, whichever option is used by the employee with respect to an election event.
ā¢ For Federal special Congressional elections not held on the date of a Federal general election, agencies should allow employees to use up to 4 hours of administrative leave for voting. This administrative leave may be granted for voting on the established date of a special election or for authorized early voting in connection with that election.
ā¢ Agencies should also allow employees to use up to 4 hours of administrative leave per leave year to serve as a non-partisan poll worker or to participate in non-partisan observer activities at the Federal, State, local (i.e., county and municipal), Tribal, and territorial level. (A āleave yearā begins on the first day of the first pay period commencing on or after January 1 of the given year and ends on the day before the first day of the next leave year.) This leave is in addition to any administrative leave an employee uses to vote.
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So I want to warn people: don’t take this time and then not vote please. That’s that’s what makes management suspicious is if people are messing around. So don’t do that and if you’re polling places like next door to your house maybe don’t request four hours to go vote
Shannon:
Right right you some of the things we were running into in the past, for years and years and years, it was the least amount of time you needed before or after your shift. That no longer applies. This executive order has expanded it because they understand that I have to be there at my house to put my child on the bus before I come to work or I have to be back, I have to come back and pick up my kids from school… so there are tons of reasons why I can’t go before or after my shift. So I can take time off during the during the day to do this and then either report back to work or you know that type of stuff. Again, like Daniel says, don’t abuse it. You know we could lose these rights because people are requesting 4 hours and their voting poll is two blocks down the street. So that’s the importance of this. It’s a right that they’ve expanded on to allow us to vote in all types of Elections. I personally am a Cherokee Nation and I now get to take time to vote in my tribal elections so that is huge for me. So this expansion is allowing us not only to to vote in other types of Elections that are not the federal, but it also allows us to use the time not just limited to before and after our shift. Management is still coming back and saying that as of late this last election it has to be in writing. So get that in writing, don’t wait till the last day. NTEU is going to do our best effort to remind you a couple of times before the elections. We’re going to try to stay on top of that to help us remember that the elections are here but as soon as you realize that you are part of this election you need to request it in writing to your manager. You can email from your home personal device or at work send it and request it and then move forward. Let NTEU know if it’s denied so that we can address it as quickly as possible as to not delay you getting paid and/or being charged awol charges and things like that so this is a huge thing your you know it’s your rights to vote,
Daniel:
I think I was going to take a moment to talk about the difference between a caucus and a primary because a caucus takes a substantially longer amount of time but we’re going to save that because that is not something we need to discuss in a few months. That’s not till August but so look out for that in a future episode we’ll talk about caucuses and primaries. A caucus takes longer and your manager may not know that so we’ll address that later on. So everybody get in your request if you live in Kansas City, Missouri. Get in your request for that April 2nd election day so you can vote if you want to vote. Don’t vote if you don’t want to, but we do encourage voting. SoI think that’s it for today I hope I see a lot of you March 16 and have a great day everybody
Shannon:
Yeah thank you for joining us and have a good day
NTEU Chapter 66 