Local 2455 Members,

The union has learned that some supervisors and managers in the agency are insisting that employees need to request permission from the Agency before participating in any and all Volunteer Activities under Article 1o (Outside Employment and Volunteer Activities) of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) – that is FAKE NEWS.

Under the new CBA a change to volunteer activities was made due to new requirements under Federal Regulations.

The 1995 CBA has the following statement: “Volunteer activity is not considered outside employment for the purposes of [Article 10].” This statement was removed in the new CBA because federal regulations changed, requiring that federal employees request permission before engaging in SOME volunteer activities.

5 CFR 4601.101 (d)(2)(ii) states,

“Outside employment does not include participation in the activities of a nonprofit charitable, religious, professional, social, fraternal, educational, recreational, public service, or civic organization, unless the participation involves:

·     Acting in a fiduciary capacity,

·     Providing professional services for compensation,

·     Rendering advice for compensation other than the reimbursement of expenses, or

·     An activity relating to the employee’s official duties as defined in 5 CFR 2635.807(a)(2)(i)(A) through (E), to include activities relating to any ongoing or announced policy, program, or operation of the employee’s agency as it is defined at 5 CFR 4601.102.

This means that for activities like Little League, Pee Wee Football, Food Bank Volunteering, Community Efforts, Volunteering at Church, and others, no permission is required as long as the participation does not involve something in the four bullets above.

Remember, all Outside Employment and Volunteer Activities are handled by the Office of Chief Counsel (OCC).

Please contact your station Union Representative for assistance on this and other employment related matters. 

Thank you, 

Hector Garza, President