FLRA Issues Guide to Arbitration

The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) announced today the issuance of the Guide to Arbitration Under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Guide). The publication of the Guide is a significant component of the FLRA’s arbitration initiative, and follows the October 1, 2010 revisions to the FLRA’s regulations concerning the review of arbitration awards, the development and posting of optional forms for parties to use in arbitration cases, and the creation of a nationwide, comprehensive arbitration-training program. “The FLRA’s arbitration initiative involves the first update to the FLRA’s arbitration regulations in nearly 25 years, and the first FLRA offering of comprehensive arbitration training and tools since the mid-1990s,” said FLRA Chairman Carol Waller Pope, “and is yet another step in our efforts to better serve our customers and provide them with meaningful and clear guidance for the processing of cases before the Authority.”

The Guide, which is available on the FLRA’s website, discusses such matters as: the scope of the negotiated grievance procedure; the procedural and substantive requirements of filing arbitration exceptions and oppositions with the Authority; the standards of review that the Authority applies in arbitration cases; the requirements for complying with arbitration awards; and judicial review of Authority decisions in arbitration cases.  More information can be found in the FLRA's press release announcing the issuance of the Guide.