b. Entries on or attachments to the Standard Form 7-B relating to the counseling or verbal warning will be deleted after 2 years. GPO agrees to remove any Letter of Warning from the employee's Official Personnel Folder after 2 years. After these records of offenses have been destroyed, such offenses will not be considered in determining a penalty for a later infraction. The GPO agrees to destroy the files on any verbal warning, counseling or letter of warning 2 years after its issuance. c. An employee or his designated representative may request to review any of the records referred to in Section 8.a. SECTION 9. As a general policy, the GPO will normally follow the principle of progressive discipline and abide by the principle of like penalties for like offenses for employees with comparable disciplinary records. SECTION 10. In cases where an employee receives a letter proposing his suspension, reduction in grade, or pay for cause, or removal, the employee may use the following procedure: a. The employee has the right to answer orally and/or in writing and to furnish affidavits and other documentary evidence in support of the answer. Written or oral replies are to be made to the official who issues the proposal notice. The right to answer orally and/or in writing also permits the employee to be represented by his union, an attorney, or a representative of his choice. Provided, however, if the selected representative is himself involved in the investigation, he may not serve as the union representative until his own examination has been completed. b. The letter of formal decision will inform the employee and his representative of his right to appeal the final decision to either the Merit Systems Protection Board or to proceed to Article VII, paragraph d, section 10 of this Agreement. ARTICLE IX HOURS OF WORK AND BASIC WORKWEEK SECTION 1. Employees, except police, will be provided a half (2) hour lunch period during which they will be free from all duties connected with their job. SECTION 2. Reasonable time will be allowed at the end of each shift for the protection of government/ personal property and equipment or as otherwise defined in a supplemental agreement. SECTION 3. a. The GPO will notify a union of permanent changes in shift hours which affect 10 percent or 3 or more employees, whichever is higher, of the employees in the same classification within a particular section or branch, whichever is smaller. Upon written request, and unless otherwise provided in a supplemental agreement, the GPO will negotiate on the impact and implementation of the change with the president of the union or his representative prior to making such change effective. b. Verbal notification and negotiation will be utilized when there are unusual circumstances or emergencies which require a temporary shift change of employees. c. Employees involved in permanent shift changes will be notified in writing at least 2 weeks before any change is implemented after the negotiations are completed. The GPO will abide by applicable transfer provisions in supplemental agreements. SECTION 4. Employees detailed out of their sections will be allowed a reasonable amount of time to return to their own sections before quitting time to put away equipment and personal property. SECTION 5. Employees are expected to be at their duty site ready to work at the start of their shift. Employees who arrive late will report directly to their supervisor who will issue a late entry pass. ARTICLE X HOLIDAYS SECTION 1. All employees shall be entitled to holidays prescribed by law or applicable Executive Order, with or without pay. As of the date of this agreement, these holidays are: New Year's Day Martin Luther King Day Washington's Birthday Memorial Day Independence Day Labor Day Columbus Day SECTION 2. Holidays designated above will normally be observed as nonwork days. When such holiday as determined above falls on Saturday or Sunday, the preceding Friday or succeeding Monday as prescribed by law shall be deemed as holiday. All eligible employees who are in a pay status at the end of their tour of duty on the day before or the beginning of the day after a holiday shall be entitled to such holiday pay. SECTION 3. All eligible employees shall receive pay at their regular hourly rate plus appropriate shift differential on all days defined as holidays that they are not required to work, except as provided otherwise in applicable law and regulation. SECTION 4. Eligible employees working on a holiday within their basic workweek shall receive in addition to holiday pay, 11⁄2 times their hourly rate including appropriate shift differential for all hours worked on such holiday up to eight hours. (Hours worked in excess of eight hours on a holiday will be paid at the normal overtime rate.) SECTION 5. Benefits for part-time employees will be determined in accordance with applicable regulations. SECTION 6. Inauguration Day is a holiday for employees employed in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area if it falls on a day within their basic workweek. ARTICLE XI OVERTIME SECTION 1. Overtime opportunities will be distributed and rotated equitably among all employees within each section and in each classification provided they are competent to perform the work required, however, management may assign an employee to work overtime to meet the needs of the GPO providing no volunteers are available. SECTION 2. a. Overtime procedures will be governed by the provisions of a union's supplemental agreement, if any, or by shop rules. b. An employee formally in a light duty status in accordance with GPO Instructions shall not be eligible for overtime opportunities. ARTICLE XII ORGANIZATION LEAVE SECTION 1. Employees who are elected to the office of the president, vice president, secretary-treasurer, or other designated union officials ranking above chapel chairmen or shop steward or the ranking officials in the unit will be permitted to be on leave without pay in excess of 10 days during a leave year to conduct official union business without the requirement that the following year it will be necessary that annual leave must be earned before it can be taken. SECTION 2. Leave without pay may be granted to a reasonable number of union officials to conduct fulltime union business. The leave granted will be for a term concurrent with the term of office to which the employee was elected or appointed. When the employee is reelected or reappointed, the leave will be renewed automatically upon notification of such reelection or reappointment. When the continuous period of leave without pay will exceed 10 years, then this will have to be applied for in writing. ARTICLE XIII LEAVE AND ABSENCE SECTION 1. Employees shall accrue and use leave in accordance with appropriate laws, rules, regulations, and as outlined in this Agreement. |