Article 7
Official Time

Section 7.01

Consistent with the provisions of Article 6, NTEU Representation:

A. NTEU stewards or representatives and employees, as appropriate, will receive reasonable official/administrative time to:

1. confer with respect to any matter for which remedial relief may be sought pursuant to the terms and conditions of this agreement;
2. prepare and present grievances;
3. prepare a reply to a notice of proposed disciplinary or adverse action or any other matter for which a statutory appeals procedure exists;
4. testify as witnesses in arbitration proceedings; and
5. travel locally to and from the above-listed activities.

B. NTEU stewards or representatives, as appropriate, will receive as much official time as is necessary to travel and:

1. be present at formal discussions between the Employer and one or more employees concerning grievances, personnel policies or practices, or other general conditions of employment;
2. attend meetings with Employer regarding labor-management relations business;
3. attend grievance meetings; arbitrations; and statutory appeal procedures;
4. attend disciplinary or adverse action replies;
5. prepare for and attend Labor-Management Relations Committee meetings;
6. represent an employee in connection with an investigation if the employee reasonably believes that the examination may result in disciplinary action and the employee requests representation;
7. review management actions and prepare for possible impact and implementation negotiations; and
8. prepare for and participate in local, HQ-wide, or Department-wide partnership activities.

C. Each representative designated pursuant to Article 6, NTEU Representation, will receive up to thirty-six (36) hours of official time each year of their stewardship to attend NTEU-sponsored training, required to perform their NTEU duties, and designated to further the interest of the Government by bettering the labor-management relationship within the Department of Energy Headquarters bargaining unit. The chapter presidents, officers, and chief stewards from each chapter will receive up to sixty (60) hours of official time for such training.

D. Four members may be granted not more than three (3) work days of official time each year to meet with congressional representatives to present views of employees they represent concerning their terms and conditions of employment.

Section 7.02

With the exception of paragraph F below, NTEU representatives and affected employees will request and be granted official time as follows:

A. As far in advance as possible of the proposed time use, the representative or employee will inform the immediate supervisor (normally the employee's leave approving official) of the amount of time requested and the purpose for which it is requested.

1. NTEU representatives will use the request/report form at Appendix B either electronically or on paper. In completing the request, NTEU representatives should provide their leave approving official with as much advance notice of the need for official time as possible. Management will make every effort to provide NTEU with sufficient advance notice of meetings or other activities in which NTEU representatives are expected or have a right to participate. The parties recognize that there will be some circumstances in which advance notice will be virtually non-existent. In those instances, and where rescheduling the need for official time is not possible, requests are to be submitted with the understanding that they are approved. In accordance with OPM definitions, "Negotiations" includes time spent for or in preparation for negotiations over basic or supplemental agreements, renegotiation of agreements, mid-term negotiations, whether interest-based or position-based, and the use of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service or the Federal Service Impasses Panel; "Dispute Resolution" includes representations in connection with grievances, arbitrations, adverse actions, ADR, and other labor relations complaints and appellate processes, as well as counseling, phone calls, e:mail and meetings with management on complaints and problems that are pre-grievance or pre-complaint, but not part of any formal process; and "General labor relations" includes all other activities not covered above, such as management committee meetings, partnerships, consultations and pre-decisional meetings, OSHA walk around inspections, labor relations training, and formal and Weingarten-type meetings.

2. Employees (other than NTEU representatives) are required to request administrative time in accordance with other provisions of this Article, but are not required to use the form at Appendix B. When requesting grants of official time, an affected employee must provide the following information to the supervisor:

a. The purpose of the official time usage (i.e., one of the purposes stated in Section 7.01 of the Article). However, the affected employee need not tell the supervisor the nature of the substantive issue to be discussed with the steward.

b. The location where the time would be used; namely, address, room, office name and telephone number.

c. The proposed duration of the time usage.

d. The date proposed for using the time.

B. Unless the supervisor disagrees that the amount of time requested is appropriate, the representative or employee may use the time for the stated purpose.

C. If the supervisor does not agree that the amount of time requested is appropriate, he or she will discuss the matter with the employee or representative and attempt to reach agreement. In considering requests by NTEU representatives and affected employees for use of official or administrative time, supervisors will first review the work situation of the office to ascertain if the representative/employee can be excused for all or part of the requested period. If the work situation is such that the time usage cannot be allowed at the time specified in the request, the representative/employee will be informed of the reason and of the next available time when the work situation will permit usage of the requested time. This information shall be in writing, if a written response is requested by the representative/employee.

D. If agreement cannot be reached, the representative or employee may use the amount of time the supervisor is willing to grant for the stated purpose. This amount may be supplemented by the representative or employee through the use of annual leave or approved leave without pay, assuming the test in Section 7.02.C has been met. All unresolved denials of official time are to be reported immediately by the official denying the time to the DOE HQ Labor Relations Office, which will seek resolution with the respective Chapter President.

E. When disputes arise as outlined above, the DOE Headquarters Labor Relations and NTEU will meet to attempt resolution. If a mutually satisfactory resolution is not reached, the dispute may be referred to mediation, med-arb, or, Arbitration, as outlined in Article 12, for resolution.

F. The parties recognize that pursuant to the statute and other portions of this contract, labor-management activities for which official time is allowed may result in one or more NTEU official(s) spending full time or virtually full time on these activities on a continuing basis. Before any effort is made to reduce a full time person's time devoted to these activities, the parties will meet to negotiate over the change. These representatives will not be subject to the process described in paragraphs A through E above. Instead, where disputes arise regarding the virtual full time needs of the NTEU official, the representative and his/her leave approving official or supervisor should discuss work assignments or projects, and representational responsibilities in advance as much as possible in order to minimize or avoid conflicts. Consideration should be given to such things as time sensitivity, availability of others to perform the needed tasks, overall workload, etc. Based on these discussions, official time requests may be approved for extended periods (e.g., months or quarters), depending on the mutual needs identified. At the end of the agreed period, the representative and the supervisor will meet to assess the official time needs compared to the Employer's work load assignments during the period just passed, and project work load needs in the immediate future. Any impediments or exigencies should be mutually discussed and resolved at the earliest possible time. The representative will then report his or her use of official time at the end of each pay period. The Employer will not harass, intimidate, or in any way inappropriately interfere with a representative's right to take official time pursuant to this Article. All unresolved denials of official time are to be reported immediately by the official denying the time to the DOE HQ Labor Relations Office, which will seek resolution with the respective Chapter President.

Section 7.03

A representative or employee who has been granted official time under the terms of this article, when the time is to be used, is encouraged to remind the immediate supervisor that he or she is leaving the work area to use the approved time. Upon completion of the approved time usage, the representative or employee will inform the supervisor of the total amount of official time used.

Section 7.04

A. In the case of a formal meeting concerning only one representational area, the Employer will notify the chapter president, and the chapter's executive board. Any designated representative may request official time to attend the meeting pursuant to this section.

B. In the case of a formal meeting concerning more than one representational area, the Employer will notify both chapter presidents and respective executive boards. Any designated representatives may request official time to attend the meeting pursuant to this section.

Section 7.05

A. An NTEU representative may address new bargaining unit employees attending orientation sessions for twenty (20) minutes on official time.

B. New Employee Orientation will be presented at both the Forrestal and Germantown buildings. Wherever feasible, employees shall attend the orientation presentation nearest their duty site.

C. The Employer will provide to each chapter president, at the beginning of each new quarter, a listing of all new bargaining unit employees who entered into service during the past three months. The list will include name, organization, telephone number, position title, series and grade.

D. If no orientation session is held at Forrestal for three (3) consecutive months, an NTEU representative will be given the opportunity to meet with each new Forrestal employee, for not more than twenty minutes. If no orientation session is held at Germantown for three (3) consecutive months, an NTEU representative will be given the opportunity to meet with each new Germantown employee for not more than twenty minutes.

Section 7.06

The Employer will provide official time, not more than 120 hours per chapter, per year, if the NTEU National Office offers special training apart from its annual steward's training.

Section 7.07

The Employer will provide travel and per diem and official time for each chapter's black activities coordinator in activities training; each chapter's Federal women's coordinator in women's activities; each chapter's EEO coordinator in EEO activities and each chapter's Hispanic coordinator for Hispanic activities and other minority organizations for which the NTEU has a representative.

Section 7.08

The Employer will pay the reasonable travel and per diem expenses for all NTEU officials who legitimately attend joint labor-management meetings outside the Washington, DC commuting area, e.g., The DOE Quality Council, and Health and Safety committees.