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62 FLRA No. 13
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau Of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Big Spring, Texas and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3809 (Rivera, Arbitrator), 0-AR-4134 (March 23, 2007)
The Arbitrator sustained a grievance alleging that the Agency violated the parties' agreement by denying the grievants' requests for official time. As a remedy, the Arbitrator ordered the Agency to restore any annual leave used in lieu of official time and to pay the grievants at a straight time rate for any additional hours used. The Agency excepted to the award, contending that the remedy was contrary to law and that the award failed to draw its essence form the agreement.
The Authority denied the exceptions. According to the Authority, the award was not contrary to law because the Arbitrator had found all the legal prerequisites to support the remedy. Secondly, the Authority found that the remedy awarded was consistent with the Arbitrator's interpretation of the agreement and, therefore, denied the essence exception.