No specific laws identified for this ruling.
The D.C. Circuit denied the union's petition for review, upholding the FLRA's determination that the agency had no duty to bargain over a proposal restricting performance appraisal rating levels because such bargaining would interfere with management rights to direct employees and assign work.
National Treasury Employees Union v. FLRA (2019)
What Happened
The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents federal workers at the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection agency, proposed a contract change. The union wanted to limit how many different performance rating levels managers could give employees. Management rejected this proposal, and the dispute went to court.
What the Court Decided
The court sided with the government employer. The court upheld a previous decision stating that how managers rate employee performance is a management right that cannot be negotiated with unions. The court found that allowing unions to restrict performance ratings would interfere with management's ability to direct and manage employees.
Why This Matters
This ruling limits union power in federal employment. It establishes that unions cannot negotiate over certain core management decisions—specifically how employers evaluate worker performance. This means workers have less say through their unions in shaping appraisal systems that directly affect their careers and pay.
This summary was generated to explain the ruling in plain English and is not legal advice.
Other orders and opinions in FLRA from the same court.
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