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ASSIGNMENT OF WORK vs. Change to Conditions of Employment By Len Scott Does management have the right to assume that anytime there is something to do, it is an assignment of Work? NO!Then what are the bounds of assignment of Work? We hear supervisors and managers announcing that assignments of work are a management right and are non-negotiable. That statement is a partial truth. It is true that assignment of Work is a management right, given to management under the provisions of Title 5 Chapter 7106(a)(2)(B). However, the first sentence of 7106(a) states subject to subsection (b) of this section [Which means; that subsection (b) applies to everything in subsection (a)] Subsection 7106(b)(2) states that management must negotiate the procedures (implementation) by which the assignments of work are made. 7106(b)(3) states that management must negotiate the appropriate arrangements (Impact) for the employees adversely affected by exercise of any authority under this section by such management officials. It is 7106(b)(2) &(3) that make the opening statement a partial truth. Even though it is a management Right to assign work, management is still obligated to negotiate the procedures and appropriate arrangements of the assignment. Does that mean that every time management wants to assign work they must negotiate the procedures (implementation) and arrangement (impact) of the assignment? Again NO. By the way, the implementation and impact is where the I & I you hear about comes from. Let us first discuss the 7106 (b)(2), Procedures by which assignments of work are made. Let us suppose that your office was going to assign people to work over the New Years weekend. Is that something that has been done in the past? If not, management is obligated to negotiate a procedure for determining how people are chosen. After the Procedure is negotiated, then every New Year thereafter, that falls on a weekend, management has the right to use that procedure or negotiate a different procedure to determine how people will be chosen to work the New Years weekend. 7106(b)(3) states appropriate arrangements for employees adversely affected by the exercise of any authority under this section by such management Officials. Translated into words that we understand it means to compensate The employees for any adverse effects the assignment might have. [NOTE: The Employees chosen for the assignment might not be the ones adversely affected.] For an example let us suppose that a person has been chosen, using the procedure you negotiated, to spend New Years eve and New Years morning in an operators communications center several hundred miles from home. When the name is announced for the assignment you learn that the person selected has tickets that cost $1000 for New Years Eve and the tickets are not refundable. Guess what the impact of this assignment is? Now 7106(b)(3) kicks in and it’s time to negotiate the impact on the employee. It might be that you negotiate an arrangement for another person to take the assignment or it could be that you negotiate an arrangement where the FAA pays for the non-refundable tickets. The impact settlement is what ever can be agreed to. In the event there is no agreement, the FLRA gets involved in the form of an Unfair Labor Practice if the FAA refuses to bargain or it could be mediation if there is no agreement from the bargaining. So, when it is not an assignment of work, what is it? Normally, it is a Change to conditions of employment. Let me direct you back to Title 5 Chapter 7102 Employees rights subchapter 7102(2) to engage in collective Bargaining with respect to conditions of employment through representatives chosen by employees under this chapter. The definition of conditions of employment can be found in Title 5 Chapter 7103 Definitions; applications Subchapter 7103(a)(14) conditions of employment means personnel policies, Practices, and matters, whether established by rule, regulation, or Otherwise, affecting working conditions, except that such term does not Include policies, practices, and matters (A) relating to political activities prohibited under subchapter III of chapter 73 of this title; (B) relating to the classification of any position; or © to the extent such Matters are specifically provided for by Federal statute that creates a real gray area that managers and supervisors have (mis) used to their advantage. What is the difference? Since I started my quest to understand the distinction I have, on three occasions, asked the FLRA to explain the difference to me. The first time I asked an FLRA attorney in the Denver office, the second time I asked an FLRA attorney in the Dallas office and the third time I asked an attorney in the FLRA headquarters in Washington DC. The three answers were almost identical. The answer I receive from all three sources was: Suppose I hire you to type. I can assign you as much or as little typing as I (management) deem appropriate. That is management’s right to assign work. Now let us suppose that after a while I find the typing (work) stacked up Around your typewriter. I determine that your work (typing) needs to be Filed. Asking, or telling, you to file the typing is a change to conditions of your employment. You were hired to do typing, not filing. Before management can assign filing to this typist, management must negotiate the changes to the conditions of employment that will occur by adding this new assignment to the typist. What are the possible changes to conditions of employment that might have occurred? First, the typist was not hired to file, therefore, additional pay could be a consideration, the person might be restricted to a wheel chair and therefore filing would be hard to perform properly, or there might be so much typing that the typist would not have time to do both jobs. So, what is the difference? If it is a job you have been doing in the past, then, it is probably a management right to tell you to do it again. If you have not done it before, it is probably a change to conditions of employment. What if it is something that is on your PD? A PD does not specify what Management can assign. As far as the FLRA is concerned, management makes an assignment of work and then updates the PD. The PD does not control what work management can assign; rather a PD only describes the work that has been assigned. Do not stop there, read the FAA’s order 3510.8A position Classification. There you will find that the FAA had directed its managers and supervisors to insure that employees work within the specifications of their PD [3510.8A paragraph 14b. Supervisors and managers shall: Accurately describe positions, ensure that employees have copies of their PD’s and ensure that employees work in accordance with them. Therefore, according to FAA Order 3510.8A the PD does describe what your work assignments are. To wrap up this discussion let me ask again, what is the difference between an assignment of work and a change to conditions of employment. If you are asked to perform some function that you have been doing in the past, it is probably an assignment of work. On the other hand if it is something new it is probably a change to conditions of employment. Remember that the work assignment is going to get done it just a matter of who does the work and how the adverse impacts are handled. If it is a change to conditions of employment there is a question whether or not the issue is ever accomplished.
Appendix 1 TITLE 5 CHAPTER 71 SUBCHAPTER 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS 7106 Management Rights (a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, nothing in this chapter shall affect the authority of any management official of any agency
and
with respect to filling positions, to make selections for appointments from? (I) Among Properly ranked and certified candidates for promotion; or (ii) any other appropriate source;
(b) Nothing in this section shall preclude any agency and any labor organization from negotiating
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