Article 9
Dues Withholding

Section 9.01 - Purpose and Coverage

A. This article is for the purpose of permitting eligible employees, who are members of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), to authorize voluntary allotments from their compensation.

B. This article covers all eligible employees:

1. Who are members in good standing of NTEU;
2. Who have voluntarily completed and submitted Standard Form 1187, Request for Payroll Deduction for Labor Organization Dues (SF-1187); and
3. Who receive net compensation sufficient to cover all or a part of the allotment.

C. The Employer shall automatically withhold, on a bi-weekly basis, the appropriate amount of dues from any bargaining unit employee who has submitted an SF-1187.

D. NTEU will pay no fee for these services.

Section 9.02 - Certification and Remittance Procedures

Certification and remittance procedures shall be as follows:

A. Dues will be remitted to NTEU;

B. Dues tapes will be mailed to the Administrative Controller, National Treasury Employees Union, Suite 600, 901 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004; and

C. The NTEU National president or any chapter officer who has submitted proper written notification to the labor relations office is authorized to make the necessary certification of SF-1187.

Section 9.03 - NTEU Responsibilities

NTEU will:

A. Inform and educate its members on the voluntary nature of the system for allotment of NTEU dues, including the conditions under which the allotment may be revoked;

B. Purchase and distribute SF-1187s to its employees. For new employees, NTEU will provide SF-1187s to DOE for inclusion in the orientation package.

C. Inform the Employer in writing of changes in the certification and remittance procedures;

D. Forward properly executed and certified SF-1187s to the employee's servicing payroll office on a timely basis;

E. Forward an employee's revocation (SF-1188, Revocation of Voluntary Authorization for Allotment of Compensation for Payment of Employee Organization Dues) to the labor relations office when such revocation is submitted to NTEU;

F. Inform in writing, by the NTEU National president, the labor relations office of the name of any participating employee who has been expelled or ceases to be a member in good standing in NTEU within ten (10) days of the date of such final determination;

G. Inform in writing, by the NTEU National president, the labor relations office of any change in the formula, rates, methods, and percentages for its membership dues; and

H. Return magnetic reel tapes and protectors to the Department of Energy as soon as possible.

Section 9.04 - Employer Responsibilities

The Employer is responsible for processing voluntary allotment of dues in accordance with this article. The Employer will:

A. Upon receipt of the properly certified SF-1187, have its servicing payroll office stamp the date received legibly on the back of all copies;

B. Withhold dues on a bi-weekly basis;

C. Provide bi-weekly, by the Department's pay date, the magnetic Dues Withholding Tape in the format and detail provided for in Section 9.14 A.

D. Discontinue allotments when required by 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71;

E. Through the labor relations office, notify the employee and the NTEU Chapter president when the employee is not eligible for an allotment, along with the reasons for the decision;

F. Withhold new amounts of dues upon certification in writing from the NTEU National president provided the formula, methods, rates, or percentages for withholding has not been changed during the past twelve (12) months;

G. Transmit remittance checks to the allottee designated by NTEU;

H. Transmit magnetic reels to NTEU or its designee;

I. Via the labor relations office, stamp on a properly executed SF-1188 the date received so that the revocation will be effective consistent with provisions outlined in Section 9.10 of this article; and

J. Provide local NTEU chapters with a copy of SF-1188s within 3 working days of receipt.

Section 9.05 - Submission of SF-1187

A properly executed SF-1187 consists of a signed original SF-1187 or a signed facsimile submitted to the servicing payroll office.

Section 9.06 - Overpayment to NTEU

A. Upon determination by the Employer that dues withholding for an employee was not timely terminated and resulted in an overpayment to NTEU the Employer will affect an adjustment to reimburse the employee, consistent with the provisions of Section 9.11.

B. The Employer will forward a bill for dues overpayment, with an accompanying document prescribed by the Debt Collection Act of 1982, to the Administrative Controller, National Treasury Employees Union, 901 E Street, Suite 600, NW, Washington, DC 20004. This bill will identify amounts which were reimbursed to employees as a result of dues withholding and the pay periods in which the overpayments were made to NTEU. The bill will request repayment of the overpayments which were made to NTEU. The document accompanying the bill will include a statement that debts due to the government for more than thirty (30) days are subject to interest, penalties and administrative charges, to the extent required by regulations and law. The bill sent to NTEU will request payment be made payable to "U.S. Department of Energy" and will specify that the payment, and a copy of the bill, be mailed to an address designated on the bill for the U.S. Department of Energy. The right of NTEU to request a waiver of overpayment in accordance with 4 C.F.R. 91 and 92, or to dispute the amount of overpayment, will also be contained in the accompanying document; a copy of the bill and accompanying document will be forwarded to the labor relations office.

C. Upon receipt of the amount due from NTEU the accounts receivable for the applicable pay period will be closed. If a waiver or partial waiver of overpayment is timely requested by NTEU, the Employer will suspend collection of the amount in question pending adjudication by the Department of Energy in accordance with 4 C.F.R. 91 and 92. The Department will notify the local NTEU chapter of the determination.

Section 9.07 - Waiver of Overpayment

A To be considered timely, a request for waiver of overpayment must be submitted to the Department's Office of Headquarters Accounting Operations by NTEU within ninety (90) calendar days from the date of the bill for dues overpayment.

B. If the bill for dues overpayment is received more than 10 days after the date of the bill, NTEU may request an extension of the waiver deadline date for a period of time equal to the number of days between the time the bill was received and the date of the bill, less 10 days.

Section 9.08 - Denials of Requests for Waiver

Denial by the Department of NTEU requests for waiver of overpayment in Section 9.07 above, will be subject to the institutional grievance procedure in Article 11 of this agreement.

Section 9.09 - Leaving or Changing the Bargaining Unit

A. Request for Transfer Payroll Deductions

1. If an employee moves from a bargaining unit position at one duty station to a bargaining unit position at another duty station, and both bargaining unit positions are represented by NTEU, dues withholding will not be canceled. If the employee desires to transfer dues withholding from one NTEU chapter to another, the employee must submit a "Request for Transfer Payroll Deduction," (Form 1187-T), to the servicing payroll office.

2. The 1187-T shall be processed and effective in accordance with the same procedures as described in Section 9.10, below.

B. Leaving the Bargaining Unit Temporarily.

Employees who leave the bargaining unit temporarily (for a period in excess of 6 months) will have their withholding suspended and will have the withholding reinstated once they return to the unit.

Section 9.10 - Action and Effective Dates

The effective dates for action under this Agreement are as follows:

A. The SF-1187 will be entered into the payroll system as soon as practical, but no later than the pay period following receipt of the SF-1187 in the servicing payroll.

B. Changes in the formula for dues withholding will begin the first pay period designated by the NTEU National Office. Changes in rates or percentages will be provided to the Employer a minimum of thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of the change; changes in formula or method of dues withholding will be provided to the Employer a minimum of ninety (90) days prior to the effective date of the change.

C. Revocation notices for employees who have had dues allotments in effect for more than one (1) year must be submitted to the labor relations office during the month of August each year.

Revocations will become effective during the first full pay period beginning on or after October 1st each year. Revocations may only be effected by submission of a completed SF-1188. For this purpose, "effective date" is defined as the first day of the pay period for which the revised dues applies.

D. Revocation notices for employees who have had dues allotments in effect for less then one (1) year must be submitted to the labor relations office on or before the one (1) year anniversary date of their dues allotment. Revocations may only be effected by submission of a completed SF-1188. The SF-1188 will become effective the first full pay period after the employee's anniversary date. The employee's anniversary date is defined as the first day of the pay period in which dues withholding first takes place.

E. NTEU will receive a copy of all SF-1188s with a legible date stamp.

F. Termination due to loss of membership in good standing will be effective on the beginning of the first pay period after the date of receipt of notification by the labor relations office from the NTEU National president.

G. For termination due to separation or movement out of the bargaining unit, a final deduction will be made for that pay period in which the action is effective.

Section 9.11 - Errors in Withholdings

A. The total error in the amount of dues withheld shall be adjusted as soon as is practical after the error has been detected by the Employer or written notification is received from NTEU or employee of an error.

B. When an underpayment to an employee results in an overpayment to NTEU (for example, and the Employer fails to timely terminate dues withholding after receiving a properly submitted employee request), the Employer will refund the payment to the employee in accordance with subsection 9.06 C of this article. However, employees who are assigned to positions out of the bargaining unit and who, due to an error, do not have their dues canceled, will not receive a refund unless they have made a written request to have the deductions canceled. Once such a request is received in the servicing payroll office, any subsequent erroneous deductions will be refunded in accordance with subsection 9.06 C. Erroneous deductions for pay periods prior to the written request will not be refunded.

C. When the Employer fails to commence dues withholding in a timely manner, or otherwise fails to remit dues owed, the Employer will pay the full amount to NTEU and recoup the funds from the employee's salary through an adjustment subject to the employee's right to seek waiver of overpayment. When an adjustment is made to an employee's salary to recoup dues withholding, the employee will be issued written notification by the Department of Energy of the Employer's intent to offset in accordance with 5 C.F.R. 550 Subpart K.

D. Disputes arising out of dues withholding situations where either the Employer has failed to withhold the appropriate amount of dues from an employee, that is the employee or Employer owes NTEU money; or where the Employer has paid NTEU money collected via an inappropriate dues withholding, shall be resolved in the following manner.

1. On a bi-weekly basis, the Employer will send to NTEU a copy of the Employer's dues withholding tape. This tape should be received by the second (2nd) Thursday after the close of the pay period, that is, pay day. The tape will be presumed received on this date unless NTEU informs the Department's servicing payroll office within three (3) days of payday.

2. On receipt of the tape, NTEU will review the information provided, identifying potential problems. NTEU will then transmit information to its local chapters requesting the local chapters to pursue potential problems with the labor relations offices. Local NTEU chapter officials must review the information provided to them and contact the labor relations office within thirty (30) calendar days of the date on which NTEU received the dues withholding tape from the Employer (that is, payday reference in D.1., above). The only exception provided for not making contact within thirty (30) days, as provided in D.1. above, is when NTEU has informed the Employer of NTEU not having received the tape.

3. Once contact has been made by the local NTEU chapter official with an employee's labor relations office regarding a specific problem, the employee's labor relations office shall, within ten (10) work days, unless extended by mutual agreement, review the case(s) presented and decide if a problem does in fact exist, and how it may be corrected, for example, dues withholding adjustment. The labor relations office will advise the servicing payroll office and the employee of its determination and provide the local NTEU chapter with information related to the subject problem.

In instances where it is determined the Employer has failed to withhold the appropriate amount of dues from an employee resulting in an underpayment to NTEU, the Employer will pay the full amount to NTEU and recoup the funds from the employee's salary through an adjustment subject to the employee's right to request waiver of overpayment. When an adjustment is made to an employee's salary to recoup dues withholding, the employee will be issued written notification by the Department of Energy of the Employer's intent to offset in accordance with 5 C.F.R.550 Subpart K.

In instances where it is determined the Employer has failed to withhold the appropriate amount of dues from an employee resulting in an overpayment to NTEU, the Employer will effect an adjustment to reimburse the employee within two (2) pay periods of notification from the labor relations office, and bill NTEU for the dues overpayment pursuant to Section 9.06.

4. If the problem is not resolved at the local level in accordance with D..3. Section 9.12 - Employee Notifications

A. When a dues paying Bargaining Unit employee is permanently placed in a non-bargaining unit position, the employee will be supplied with the following form by the labor relations office:

B. When a Bargaining Unit employee is temporarily (in excess of 6 months) placed in a non-bargaining unit position, the employee will be supplied with the following form by the labor relations office:

Section 9.13 - Deductions from Back Pay Awards

In accordance with current regulations and case law, the Employer will deduct NTEU dues from an employee's back pay award for that period in which the employee had an allotment for dues withholding in effect.

Section 9.14 - Bi-Weekly Dues Tapes Information and Format.

A. The file format of the bi-weekly dues withholding tape should be as follows:

*These are not packed decimal numeric fields

B. A comprehensive list of all the possible dues withholding codes that should be utilized on the Dues Withholding Tape are listed below:

Section 9.15 - Discretionary Allotments

Employees may elect as many as five (5) discretionary allotments, (which are not savings allotments) which employees may use to have additional voluntary deductions withheld from their pay. Such discretionary allotments may be used consistent with regulations for various purposes such as insurance and other benefits which may be offered by NTEU.

Section 9.16 - Bi-Weekly List of SF-1187s

The Employer shall provide each local chapter with a bi-weekly list of SF-1187s that have been submitted to the servicing payroll office. This list will include the dates the SF-1187s were processed and their expected effective dates.