OCC Bargaining Update - May 13, 2016

O CC B argaining Upd ate

News from the National Treasury Employees Union

May 13, 2016

NTEU Secures Positive Changes to Merit Pay System

As you know, the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP) issued a decision resolving NTEU’s dispute over Article 39 (Compensation) of the collective bargaining agreement. Here is a closer look at thechanges to merit and geo pay ordered in the decision:

The arbitrator ordered changes to the OCC Merit Pay system, eliminating the “range penetration” factor and also streamlining merit pay levels by providing additional merit pay only for employees rated as“4s” and “high 3s.”

The decision addresses NTEU’s primary goals entering negotiations: to make the merit pay system fairer and the geo pay system more equitable and comparable to other agencies. When viewed incomparison to what OCC management originally proposed at the start of negotiations, the final out- come reflects significant gains for OCC bargaining unit employees in the chart below.

NTEU has achieved many improvements for OCC employees since the union was first elected as your exclusive representative in 2001, and even more so since NTEU secured the right tonegotiate compensation through the passage of Dodd-Frank.

The union will continue to pursue improvements in the performance appraisal process through its participation in the Performance Management Working Group so that objectives are clearand attainable, and ratings are assigned fairly and equitably. NTEU will need your continued support and involvement throughout this process in order to identify the aspects of the system thatneed to be fixed and whether the proposed solutions adequately address the problems.

Therefore, if you are contacted to participate in a focus group seeking employee input on performance management changes, NTEU urges you to take advantage of this opportunity. All employeeshave also been given the opportunity to provide comments on performance management or to answer the same questions posed to the focus groups, so you should also do this.

OCC management has 30 days to conduct a legal review of the decision, during which time NTEU will be addressing its implementation.

If you are not already a member of NTEU, now is the time to join to demonstrate your support for what the union has achieved and to have a voice in the further improvements that we will continue towork toward.