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Office of the General Counsel
Date: January 12, 1998
Matter of: [xxx]
File Number: S9601442
OPM Contact: Joann Charleston
We have completed our review of a claim for hazardous duty pay
and a wage grade increase and have determined that the Office of
Personnel Management (OPM) cannot render a decision concerning this
matter.
This claim was submitted by an employee of the [xxx].
Information in the file shows that the employee is part of a unit
covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Our Office cannot take jurisdiction over the claim of a federal
employee on a matter that is subject to the negotiated grievance
procedure under a collective bargaining agreement between the
employee's agency and union, unless that matter is or was
specifically excluded from the agreement's grievance procedure.
This is because the courts have found that Congress intended that
such a grievance procedure is to be the exclusive remedy for
matters not excluded from the grievance process.
Cecil E. Riggs, et
al., B-222962.3, April 23, 1992.
In the present case the negotiated grievance procedure was
available to the employee when the claim arose, that grievance
procedure was his exclusive remedy. The fact that he failed to take
advantage of that procedure when it was available does not create
jurisdiction in our Office to consider a claim over which we
otherwise have no jurisdiction. Accordingly, we decline to assert
jurisdiction or issue a decision concerning this matter.