Order Denying Request for Reconsideration
On August 9, 2004, the Architect of the Capitol filed this Request for Reconsideration of our Decision and Order on Negotiability Issues, dated July 23, 2004, pursuant to Office of Compliance Rule of Procedure §8.02. Petitioner, AFSCME Council 26, filed an Objection to Reconsideration on August 24, 2004.
The Board of Directors has reviewed this matter pursuant to the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 7105(a)(2)(E) and 5 U.S.C. 7117, as adopted by §220(c) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1351(c)).
The Architect’s Request for Reconsideration alleges that the Board “misapprehended the nature of the brief notification telephone calls which the AOC employs to notify its employees of certain work assignments.” In support of its request for reconsideration, the Architect incorrectly focuses solely on U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 1923, 37 FLRA 1469 (1990).
The Architect’s motion does not meet the criteria for reconsideration. In our Decision we did not misapprehend the length and nature of the telephone calls at issue in AFSCME’s request for negotiation. The length and nature of the telephone calls is not dispositive of the issue of whether the proposal is negotiable.
Both the Architect and AFSCME narrowly focused their debate on HHS. While HHS is helpful, it does not address the issue of negotiability. HHS addressed exceptions filed from an Arbitrator’s award that denied overtime and differential pay for employees who were required to respond to telephone calls outside of their normal tour of duty. The FLRA disagreed with the Arbitrator and found that responding to telephone calls outside the normal tour of duty qualified as compensable “hours of work” under 5 U.S.C. §5542 and 5 C.F.R. §550.112(a)(2).
This case is one where we were called upon to determine if the AFSCME proposal is negotiable. We found that it was. The FLRA has determined that a proposal to pay employees required to carry and respond to electronic “beepers” during non-duty days is negotiable.
