New legislation would eliminate 'official time'
- By FederalSoup Staff
- Jul 29, 2019
With ‘official time’ being a top issue of concern under the Trump Administration, legislation introduced last week would eliminate its use altogether, Federal Times reports.
Currently, federal employees that serve as representatives for their agency’s official union have the right to perform certain union duties while on the clock—“official time” — but, a bill introduced by Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.) would eliminate official time entirely by removing its protections outlined in Title 5 of U.S. Code, according to the report.
The article notes that the Office of Personnel Management’s most recent evaluation of official time use found that approximately 2.95 hours of official time are used per bargaining unit employee in the federal government, which costs the government over $177 million in salary expenses.