TSA Prohibits Unauthorized Local Policies Following AFGE's Protest 

Washington, D.C., Oct.2, 2009 – Just three weeks after the American Federation of Government Employees brought up workplace issues at the historic first-ever labor-management meeting with the new leadership of the Transportation Security Administration, the agency issued a new directive prohibiting unauthorized local personnel policies and requiring Federal Security Directors to submit future and current unapproved local directives to TSA headquarters for review.

"TSA is building a culture that provides for a fair and consistent employment environment for the workforce. This means that every manager and supervisor – in the field and here at headquarters – must follow and apply the provisions of TSA national policy to the fullest," TSA Assistant Administrator for Security Operations Lee Kair said in the Aug. 13 directive. "This memorandum reminds the field that all local policies and practices that have been issued without the full written review and concurrence of OHC [Office of Human Capital] are unsanctioned."

Kair singled out the Attendance Control Procedures and the Attendance Control and Accountability Procedures that are being implemented at several airports and are tremendously demoralizing to the workforce. Under these programs, employees will receive a letter of counseling or a letter of reprimand if they take three unscheduled leaves within a period of time, usually three months, regardless of circumstances or approval from their immediate supervisors. There is no analysis of the particular circumstances that necessitated the unscheduled leave use. AFGE earlier this year wrote to the FSD at Dallas-Fort Worth and Acting Administrator Gale Rossides demanding a repeal of the policy after several employees had been disciplined under these absurd programs.

Kair reminded FSDs that "accrual and use of leave is a benefit and consistent with TSA policy. Employees should be given reasonable opportunities to schedule and use leave appropriately." He also condemned the practice of issuing an absence without leave to employees who have called in sick but do not respond to management's subsequent phone calls.

The new directive appears to mark a shift in how TSA handles another major leave issue: the Family and Medical Leave Act. Local management routinely denies intermittent FMLA leave requests and disciplines employees who exercise their rights under the law, which allows up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family and medical reasons. Kair pointed out in his memo that "management does not have the right to deny leave and order the employee to report to duty" and that if the employee's use of intermittent FMLA leave negatively affects his or her duties, management has to clear that with field counsel and the OHC before proceeding with any disciplinary actions.

"The memo is a step in the right direction," AFGE President John Gage said. "We're glad that TSA listened to our concerns and acted accordingly."