U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20250
1 PURPOSE 1
2 SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS/CANCELLATIONS 1
3 DEFINITIONS 2
4 POLICY 3
5 RECOGNITION PROCEDURES 4
6 DUES ALLOTMENTS 5
Appendix A Declaration Statement for
Associations of Management
Officials
or Supervisors, Professional Associations and USDA Employee Organizations
Appendix
B Sample MOU for Dues
Allotments
1 PURPOSE
This regulation establishes USDA policy dealing
with established associations of management officials and/or supervisors,
employee organizations and professional associations other than labor
organizations as defined in chapter 71
of title 5, U.S. Code (Federal Service Labor Management Relations
Statute (FSLMRS), whose membership is comprised primarily of USDA
employees. It is intended to ensure the
Department complies with provisions of 5 C.F.R. 251. It does not address organizations or associations established
outside USDA, of which USDA employees may be members, or USDA organizations
formed to promote the social, welfare, and recreational interests of Department
and agency employees.
2 SPECIAL
INSTRUCTIONS/CANCELLATIONS
This
regulation replaces Departmental Regulation DR 4020-251, dated January 24,
2005, which at that time replaced Personnel Manual Chapter 252, Amendment 213,
dated October 28, 1991, and Personnel Bulletin No. 252-1, dated March 11, 1999,
as they pertained to all associations and organizations except welfare and
recreation organizations. This issuance
is made to make minor technical changes in Section 3, wherein the organizations
named as examples for the definitions were removed, and to the Declaration
Statement (Appendix A) to conform with 7 CRF Part 15d.
3 DEFINITIONS
a Association of Management
Officials and/or Supervisors
(Supervisory/Managerial Association) means a established association
comprised primarily of USDA management officials and/or supervisors, which is
not eligible for recognition under the FSLMRS or comparable provisions of other
laws, and which is not affiliated with a labor organization or federation of
labor organizations. The purpose of such associations may include
providing consultation services to USDA executives concerning the
identification and resolution of agency operational issues, including problems
affecting working conditions of supervisors and managers.
b Employee Organization means a established organization, other
than a labor organization, Supervisory/Managerial
Association, or Professional
Association, made up primarily of USDA employees whose purpose may
include providing information, views and services that contribute to improved
USDA agency operations, personnel management, and employee effectiveness. Such an organization may be a group of
employees focused on matters related to civil rights, social, consumer,
cultural, or safety, or similar issues
c Professional Group or Association
(Professional Association) means a established organization (or local
chapter of such organizations), other than a labor organization, Supervisory/Managerial Association or
Employee Organization, whose membership consists primarily of USDA
employees within a recognized professional, technical or managerial field of
work that normally requires credentials acquired from an institution of higher
learning or a course of specialized instruction. Typically, the primary purpose of such groups or associations is
to improve their profession and advance professional growth and development of their respective members in their
career field. A professional group or
association may include members of several professions or disciplines.
d USDA employee, for the purposes
of this regulation, means both Federal civilian employees as defined under 5
U.S.C. 2105, and USDA county committee employees, as
defined under 16 U.S.C. 590h.
4 POLICY
USDA only recognizes established Supervisory/Managerial Associations, Employee Organizations and Professional Associations who meet the coverage requirements set forth in 5 C.F.R. 251.102, as determined by the Director of the Office of Human Capital Management (OHCM). Recognition does not infer Departmental sponsorship, sanction, or endorsement of the organization or its activities. Moreover, because such organizations are not Federal entities, employees are not performing official duties while engaged in organization activities. Use of official time for employees attending organization-sponsored meetings and events may be authorized subject to the conditions contained in this policy.
Support to recognized Supervisory/Managerial Associations, Employee Organizations and Professional Associations will be specifically limited to the activities listed below as authorized by the agency’s Human Resource Management Director or designee. In making this determination, the subject activity must comply with applicable statutes/regulations (including 5 C.F.R. 2635, Subpart H, ethics regulations pertaining to outside activities), and in the case of meeting attendance, the event benefits agency programs or is part of an established employee development program consistent with 5 C.F.R. Part 410.
Listed activities are not entitlements. Authorization is subject to the availability of resources and agency funds, work priorities and other bona fide management considerations.
a Reasonable use of agency equipment and administrative support services for employees to prepare professional papers in conjunction with their role or membership in a professional association where there is a benefit to the agency.
b Payment for travel, per diem, tuition and official time to attend professional association meetings where the agency will benefit directly.
c Authorization of excused absences for employees willing to pay their own way to attend professional association meetings where benefit to the agency is evident.
d Use of meeting space in USDA facilities on a space available basis.
e Use of designated bulletin boards and other areas for display as consistent with building policy, USDA internal mail system, and electronic mail to notify its members about meetings and organization or group activities provided such activity does not interfere with conducting official business. USDA-recognized associations and employee organizations are not authorized to use agency-developed and controlled all-employee mailing lists to send broadcast messages.
These limitations do not preclude the attendance of USDA employees at training events or meetings that may be sponsored by USDA-recognized supervisory/managerial associations or employee organizations as part of an approved employee development plan, or authorized as part of an employee’s official duties.
Supervisory/Managerial Associations, Employee Organizations and Professional Associations are specifically prohibited from using agency office space, equipment and administrative support services to engage in fund raising, lobbying efforts, or litigation- related activities in which the United States or USDA is a party or has a direct substantial interest.
An
association or other employee organization may use the name of the Department
or an Agency in its name provided it is made clear that the association or
organization is not an official organization of the Department or Agency.
USDA
managers must not bypass a labor organization with exclusive recognition rights
as provided for under Chapter 71 of Title 5 of the U.S. Code or comparable
provisions of other laws, to meet with or negotiate with an association or
employee organization on grievances or matters affecting conditions of
employments of bargaining unit employees.
5 RECOGNITION PROCEDURES
a
In order to be recognized as a Supervisory/Managerial Association,
Employee Organization, or Professional Association within USDA, and therefore
become eligible for coverage under this regulation, the Director of OHCM must
certify that the conditions in 5 C.F.R. 251.102 are being met. Procedures for recognition are as follows:
(1)
The President or duly authorized official
of the Association (Supervisory/Managerial or Professional) or Employee
Organization must submit a copy of the group’s Constitution and Bylaws along
with a signed Association or Employee Organization Declaration Statement, to
the OHRM Director. See Appendix A.
(2)
The Director, OHCM will review the
documents and initiate any necessary follow up action in order to determine
whether conditions set forth in 5 C.F.R. 251.102, are being met.
(3)
Upon determining such conditions are met,
the Director OHRM will issue a memo to the President of the Association or
Employee Organization recognizing the group under these regulations. Recognition will be conditional on the group
continuing to meet provisions of 5 C.F.R. 251.102, as determined by Director
OHCM.
(4)
The Director OHCM will maintain a listing
of all Associations and Employee Organizations recognized by USDA and post this
list on the USDA OHCM web site.
b
After being recognized, the Association or Employee Organization must
provide the Director OHCM with any changes to their Constitution, Bylaws, as
well as updated contact information for their President within 30 days after
the change occurs.
6 DUES ALLOTMENTS
a Consistent with 5 C.F.R. 550.331, for Associations (Supervisory/Managerial or Professional) and Employee Organizations, the Director, OHCM or designee may authorize the automatic allotment of dues to an Association or Organization provided that the following conditions are met:
(1) Authorization to establish automatic dues allotments for members of an Association must be established in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Director of OHCM and President of the Association or Organization. A sample MOU is provided as Appendix B.
(2)
To justify administrative costs associated with setting
up an allotment program; the Association or Organization must have at least 200
USDA employee members who may request dues withholding. [Note: The 200 employee
requirement will be applied prospectively, with no effect on current
organizations receiving automatic dues allotments for their members.] Additionally, bi-weekly withholding for
amount dues cannot be less than ($1.00).
(3)
The Association or Organization must allow its USDA
employee members to voluntarily revoke their dues allotment at least
quarterly. Revocation requests must be
submitted in writing from the employees and processed through their Servicing
Personnel Office in accordance with terms of the MOU described in (1).
(4)
Dues allotment requests must be initiated on a Request
for Payroll Deductions for Association Dues, Form AD-1054.
b As
an option to establishing automated dues allotment, members of Associations or Employee Organizations may set up
individual financial allotments to pay dues.
Arrangements for such allotments must be made directly between the
employee member and their Servicing Personnel Office using a Direct Deposit
Sign Up Form, SF 1199A.
APPENDIX A
DECLARATION STATEMENT
FOR
ASSOCIATIONS OF MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS OR SUPERVISORS,
USDA EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS, or PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Name of Association
or
Employee Organization:
This Declaration Statement is submitted in accordance with Departmental Regulation 4020-251, in fulfillment of requirements necessary to receive recognition by the USDA.
On behalf of this Association or Employee Organization, I declare the following statement to be true.
This Association or Employee Organization:
1.
Is a nonprofit organization whose membership is
primarily made up of USDA employees,
2.
Has a current Constitution and Bylaws (copy attached),
3.
Does not discriminate in terms of membership or
treatment of its members because of race, color, religion, sex, national
origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, marital status., familial status,
or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public
assistance program, and
4.
Will not assist or participate in any strike, work
stoppage or slowdown against the USDA, or advocate the overthrow of the
Constitutional form of Government of the United States.
_____________________ ____________
President Date
Contact information:
Name of President
Association
or
Organization Address
Phone
number
E-mail
Attachment:
Constitution and Bylaws
SAMPLE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
BETWEEN
THE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
AND
NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF XYZ
The parties
to this Memorandum, the National Association of XYZ, herein after referred to
as NAXYZ, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, hereinafter referred to as
USDA, enter into this agreement for the purpose of establishing a mutually
beneficial dues withholding agreement.
1 . This Memorandum of Understanding is
subject to and governed by regulations issued by the Office of Personnel
Management (5 CFR 550.301, 550.311, 550.312, 550.113, and 550.331), and will be modified as
necessary by any future amendments to said rules, regulations and law.
2. USDA will permit any employee of USDA
who is a member of NAXYZ to make a voluntary allotment for the payment of dues
to NAXYZ. Such deductions shall begin
after certification of this agreement by USDA and upon request by the
appropriate association official and shall be at no cost to NAXYZ. Prior to the processing of any voluntary allotments, the
Association must furnish USDA-OHCM information necessary for the USDA-National
Finance Center to electronically transfer funds to a financial institution
designated by the Association, to include; the account type, taxpayer ID
number, account number and routing number.
This Memorandum of Understanding shall be made part of every future
agreement between USDA and NAXYZ and shall be the only authorized method for
obtaining dues withholding.
3. An employee requesting dues
withholding shall obtain an AD-1054, "Request for Payroll Deductions for
Association Dues", from NAXYZ and shall file the completed AD-1054 with
the designated NAXYZ officer. The
employee shall be instructed by NAXYZ to complete Section A of the form. No number shall appear in block 2 of the
form except the employee's Social Security number.
4. The NAXYZ authorized official will
certify on each AD-1054 that the employee is a member in good standing of
NAXYZ; insert the amount to be withheld; and submit the completed AD-1054(s)
and a covering memo to the Servicing Personnel Office (SPO) of the USDA Agency
involved. The SPO shall certify the
employee eligibility for dues withholding, insert the NAXYZ code and, process
the form(s). The SPO will promptly sign
and note the effective pay period on the cover memo and return a copy to
NAXYZ.
When the SPO
determines that an AD-1054 cannot be processed, the SPO shall promptly return
the form to the Association, annotated with the reason for its return. Dues deductions, to be taken in the order of
precedence under law, will not be made for employees who do not receive
compensation sufficient to cover the total amount of the dues allotment.
5 . Deductions will be made each pay period
and remittances made by electronic funds transfer (EFT) on the Department's
payday to the payee designated by the Association. A grace period of 7 days will be permitted in unusual
circumstances. The NFC shall also
promptly forward to NAXYZ a hardcopy listing of dues withheld via regular mail. The listing shall show the name of each
member employee from whose pay dues were withheld, the employee's Social
Security number, the amount withheld, the code of the employing agency, and any
specific branch or chapter number to which each employee belongs. The listing will be in alphabetical order by
the employee's last name. Each listing shall be summarized to show the total
number of members for whom dues were withheld, the total number of dues
withheld in each pay grade, the total amount withheld, and amount due to the branch
or chapter. The list will also include
the name of each employee member for that branch or chapter who previously made
an allotment for whom no deduction was made that pay period, whether to leave
without pay, insufficient pay, or dues cancellation. Such employees shall be designated with an appropriate explanatory
term.
6. The amount of dues certified on the
AD-1054 by the authorized Association official (see Section B) shall be the
amount of regular dues, exclusive of initiation fees, assessment, back dues,
fines, and similar charges and fees.
One standard dues amount for all employees will be specified. If there should be a change in the dues
structure or amount, the authorized Association official shall notify the appropriate
SPO. If the change is the same for all
members of the branch or chapter, a blanket authorization may be used which
involves a varying dues structure, and then a revised rate schedule will be
provided to the SPO. The SPO shall add
the NAXYZ code and promptly forward the certification to the NFC. The change shall be effected at the
beginning of the first full pay period after the certification is received by
the NFC which shall be no later than 30 days after the Association provides
written notification to the SPO of the change in dues. Only one such change to the dues structure
may be made in any 12-month period.
7. An employee may voluntarily revoke an
allotment for the payment of dues by completing a AD-356A, "Cancellation of
Withholding of Dues to Labor Organizations and Associations of Supervisors and
Managers" or by memorandum in duplicate, and submitting this form to the
appropriate SPO. If the employee uses a
written request, it must contain all the information required by the AD-356A. The SPO shall process the revocation
effective as of the first full pay period the revocation was received by the SPO.
The SPO shall verify the information and forward an official copy of each
revocation to NAXYZ. This official copy
will be appropriate notification for the revocation.
8. USDA will terminate an allotment:
a. As of the beginning of the first full pay
period following withdrawal of USDA recognition of the Association;
b. At the end of the pay period during which an
employee member is separated from USDA;
c. As of the beginning of the first full pay
period following receipt of notice from the NAXYZ Secretary/Treasurer that an
employee member has ceased to be a member in good standing; or
d. As of the beginning of the first full pay
period following receipt of revocation from the employee member as provided in
section 7.
9. The parties to this agreement
recognize that problems may occur in the administration of this agreement and
the dues withholding program. The parties
agree to exchange names, addresses, and telephone numbers of responsible
officials and/or technicians of NAXYZ and USDA to facilitate resolution of
problems. These individuals shall
cooperate fully in an effort to resolve any issue relating to dues withholding
under the terms of this Memorandum of Understanding. This does not constitute a waiver of any legal, regulatory, or
contractual right.
10. The USDA incurs no liability in connection
with any authorized dues allotment disbursed in accordance with an employee’s
request. Any disputes regarding any authorized allotment are a matter to be
resolved between NAXYZ and the employee.
11. This Memorandum of Understanding shall
remain in effect at the discretion of the Director of Office of Human Capital
Management provided NAXYZ is recognized as an association under USDA
regulations. Either party may propose
amendments annually, before the anniversary date of the signing of this
agreement.
12. The initial dues deduction capability for
the NAXYZ will be in place no later that 6 weeks from the date that this
Memorandum of Understanding is signed.
Agreed and signed:
________________________
_______________________
Director, Office of Human President, NAXYZ
Capital Management, USDA