RECRUITMENT . . . AREA OF SELECTION

Department of the Treasury, U.S. Customs Service, Houston, Texas and Chapter 163, National Treasury Employees Union, Case No. 00 FSIP 39, June 7, 2000 (Release No. 432).

The AGENCY proposed that the parties maintain the status quo:

[A]nnouncements for vacant specialist positions on special teams are made within the teams; announcements for vacant generalist inspector positions on the CET and the PAT are made Port-wide during the annual "open season" pursuant to Article 20 of the MCBA; and voluntary reassignments of inspectors are conducted through the "waiting list" method pursuant to Article 20 of the MCBA.

The UNION proposed the following:

Vacancies for Journeyman and Team Leader Import Specialist, Inspectional Assistants, and Inbound bargaining-unit positions will be announced Port-wide to all bargaining unit positions named above. Where two (2) or more employees who put in for the vacant position are equally qualified, the most senior employee for the position will be selected.

Vacancies for Senior Inspector bargaining unit positions in the PSU, ISU, PAT, ROV, Outbound, ATT, CET, Firearms, Field Training Officer, Cargo/Carrier Compliance and Northbelt will be announced Port-wide to all bargaining unit senior inspectors. Where there are two or more employees who put in for the vacant position are equally qualified, the senior inspector with the greatest amount of time and grade as a senior inspector shall be selected.

Vacancies for Journeyman Inspectors in the same units named above shall follow the guidelines set forth for the senior inspectors.

Any employee that does not have the option to volunteer for a vacancy will not be reassigned to those areas.

The PANEL ordered the parties to adopt the AGENCY's proposal.

RECRUITMENT . . . AREAS OF CONSIDERATION

Department of Defense, Arkansas Air National Guard, Little Rock Air Force Base, Jackson ville, Arkansas and Razorback Chapter 117, Association of Civilian Technicians, Case No. 00 FSIP 31, August 3, 2000 (Release No. 433).

The UNION proposed the following:

Section 8: Areas of Consideration

The areas of consideration for each position vacancy announcement will be in the following manner and sequence:

a. Bargaining-unit positions:

(1) Area one: All civilian excepted (service) and/or competitive (service) technicians currently employed.

(2) Area two: All members of the Arkansas Air National Guard or those eligible for membership.

b. For vacant bargaining-unit positions, the initial area of consideration will be all civilian technicians (excepted and/or competitive) in the bargaining unit, specifically excluding all AGR [active guard reserve] personnel. Vacant bargaining-unit positions made (sic) be announced concurrently. In the event the announcement is concurrent, non-bargaining unit candidates, including any AGR personnel, will not be submitted to the selection official for consideration until those qualified bargaining-unit, if any, have been given first consideration and not selected.

c. For vacant competitive positions, the initial area of consideration will be concurrently employed employees (sic) technicians (excepted and/or competitive). In the event there are no qualified applicants, the DOD stopper list must be cleared prior to any announcement outside the current workforce. Competitive employees who qualify for positions advertised as area one, will be considered as area one candidates for the purposes of initial competition as provided in Section 8b above.

The UNION proposed the following:

Section 8: Areas of Consideration:

The areas of consideration for each specific position vacancy announcement will be in the following manner and sequence:

a. Bargaining-unit positions:

1. Arkansas Air National Guard Technicians at Little Rock AFB

2. Arkansas Air National Guard Technicians

3. Arkansas Army National Guard Technicians

4. All members of the Arkansas NAG/ARNG

5. Individuals who are not members of the National Guard but who are eligible to acquire membership in an available and compatible military grade for excepted technician positions.

b. For vacant bargaining-unit positions the initial area of consideration will be all Technicians in the bargaining unit. Vacant bargaining-unit positions may be announced concurrently as Technicians and AGR.

ARBITRATOR Donna M. DiTullio ordered the parties to adopt the UNION's proposal, with the following modification to the last sentence:

In the event the announcement is concurrent, non-bargaining-unit candidates, including any AGR personnel, will not be submitted to the selection official for consideration until those qualified bargaining-unit employees, if any, have been given first consideration.

RECRUITMENT . . . PROCESSING APPLICATIONS

Department of Defense, Arkansas Air National Guard, Little Rock Air Force Base, Jackson ville, Arkansas and Razorback Chapter 117, Association of Civilian Technicians, Case No. 00 FSIP 31, August 3, 2000 (Release No. 433).

The UNION proposed the following:

If there are five (5) or more qualified applicants, the HRO will appoint a rating panel for the purpose of rating the candidates to determine the best qualified candidates. If there are less than five (5) applicants, the HRO will provide the selecting official with the applications and selection certificate for evaluation.

The AGENCY proposed the following:

If there are more than five (5) qualified applicants (new hire) or then (10) qualified applicants (onboard), the HRO will appoint a rating panel for the purpose of rating candidates to determine the best qualified candidates. If there are less than three (3) onboard qualified applicants for an advertisement designated as new hire, the HRO will automatically extend to the next area of consideration to provide the selecting official with the number of candidates indicated above.

ARBITRATOR Donna M. DiTullio ordered the parties to adopt the following compromise language:

If there are seven (7) or more qualified applicants, the HRO will appoint a rating panel for the purpose of rating the candidates to determine the best qualified candidates. If there are less than seven (7) applicants, the HRO will provide the selecting official with the applications and selection certificate for evaluation.

RECRUITMENT . . . RATING AND RANKING . . . NON-SELECTION

Department of Defense, National Guard Bureau, Iowa Army National Guard, Johnston, Iowa and Heartland Chapter, Association of Civilian Technicians, Case No. 00 FSIP 148, Decem ber 22, 2000 (Release no. 437).

The AGENCY proposed the following:

When six or more Area [one] applicants are qualified for a vacant position, the field will be narrowed through rating and ranking in accordance with the National Guard Bureau Technician Personnel Regulation (NGB TPR) 300.335 A12 and A-14. Rating and ranking of Area [one] candidates constitutes first consideration of Area [one] candidates. The rankings shall be considered by, but are not binding on, the selecting official. Nothing in this Article prohibits the selecting official from receiving or considering other information or analyses regarding the qualifications of the candidates. At any point in the process of considering candidates, the selecting official may make a selection.

The UNION proposed the following:

The rankings determined under paragraph (b) shall be considered by, but are not binding on, the selecting official. Nothing in this Article prohibits the selecting official from receiving or considering other information or analyses regarding the qualifications of candidates.

Although under Articles [five]-[nine] and [five]-15 rankings and areas of consideration determine the order in which lists of candidates are presented to the selecting official, rankings do not prohibit the selecting official from receiving any candidate list.

After considering the Area [one] candidates and preparing a written reasonable justification for going forward to consider the Area [two] candidates--including statement of the area or areas in which each Area [one] candidate could improve--the selecting official may receive the list of Area [two] candidates.

At any point in the process of considering candidates, the selecting official may make a selection. The candidate selected may be a candidate whom the official had considered during an earlier phase of the consideration process. If an Area [one] candidate is selected after Area [two] candidates have been considered, the selecting official shall submit to the HRO (Human Resources Office) a written statement of reasons addressing, and making any changes deemed appropriate to, the reasonable justification previously written concerning the candidate.

The PANEL ordered the parties to adopt the following wording:

Although under Article [five]-[nine] and [five]-15 rankings and areas of consideration determine the order in which lists of candidates are presented to the selecting official, rankings do not prohibit the selecting official from receiving any candidate list. The rankings shall be considered by, but are not binding on, the selecting official. The candidate selected may be a candidate whom the official had considered during an earlier phase of the consideration process. Nothing in this Article prohibits the selecting official from receiving or considering information or analyses regarding the qualifications of the candidates. At any point in the process of considering candidates, the selecting official may make a selection.