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56 FLRA No. 77
Association of Civilian Technicians Puerto Rico Army Chapter and U.S. Department of Defense National Guard Bureau Puerto Rico National Guard San Juan, Puerto Rico, Case No. 0-NG-2519 (Decided July 21, 2000)
This case concerned the negotiability of 2 provisions disapproved by the Agency head under section 7114(c) of the Statute. The Authority found that Provision 1 was not contrary to law, and ordered the Agency to rescind its disapproval. The Authority found that section 6-4 concerned the wearing of uniforms by National Guard technicians when engaged in labor-management or collective bargaining activities rather than technician duties. The Authority found that the Agency had not shown that section 6-4 was inconsistent with law. With regard to section 6-2, the Authority held that provisions which provide reasonable official time for employees to change from and into their uniforms before and after engaging in labor-management activities or third party proceedings are negotiable. The Authority also held that, because the proposal was concerned with official time rather than duty time, the proposal could not violate the Agency's right to assign work under section 7106(a)(2)(B) of the Statute. Thus, the Authority held that Provision 1 was not inconsistent with section 709 or management's right to assign work under the Statute.
As to Provision 2, the Authority held that it was contrary to law, and dismissed it. The Authority noted that the disbursement of appropriated funds must be authorized by statute. Thus, the use of appropriated funds to reimburse employees for travel expenses must be authorized by statute. The Authority further stated that to the extent that travel expense determinations are discretionary, agencies are required to bargain about how that discretion will be exercised. However, given the nature of the reimbursement at issue in this case, the Authority concluded that there was no authority for agencies to use appropriated funds to reimburse employees for purely personal expenses involved in the planning of leave.