ARBITRATOR OVERTURNS CMS SUSPENSION OF FLEXIPLACE

In a case arising in a CMS regional office, an arbitrator has invalidated a management decision barring two employees from continuing to work at home every Friday.

Beginning in 2005, two Health Insurance Specialists were approved for Scheduled Flexiplace (SFP). Each worked scheduled flexiplace at her respective home, each and every Friday for over three years.

As a result of a reorganization, the employees were transferred to another division. They got a new supervisor and some additional duties. Five months later, the supervisor suddenly (with less than two weeks’ notice) informed them and everyone else in the division that their ability to work at home one day a week was being suspended for at least six months. The alleged reason for the suspension was that the backlog that had existed when they were transferred still existed.

The union took the case to arbitration and won. The arbitrator found that the contract allowed flexiplace to be suspended only if certain conditions were met: the suspension must be for a specified limited period of time, and the employees must be given notice at least one full pay period in advance. Since neither condition had been met, the arbitrator ordered flexiplace restored for the two grievants.