Labor Relations Impact and Implementation Bargaining

Impact and Implementation bargaining is required when management decides to change conditions of employment (i.e., personnel policies, practices, or working conditions) of unit employees. Management must provide the union with advance notice through the Labor Relations Office of any change even if the change is an exercise of a reserved Management right. The union may elect to bargain on the procedures that management will follow in implementing its decision as well as on appropriate arrangements for employees expected to be adversely affected by the decision.

Specifically, the Federal Labor Relations Authority has ruled:

• An agency is obligated to bargain over the impact and implementation of a change in unit employees' conditions of employment provided that the change has more than a de minimis effect.
• Examples: The removal of a water cooler had more than a de minimis impact. The removal of reserved parking spaces had a de minimis impact when the affected employees retained free parking in the same garage and plenty of open spaces were available.
• Before implementing a change in conditions of employment of unit employees the agency must provide the union reasonable advance notice of the intended change.
• Notice provided after a change has already been implemented does not meet the notification requirement.
• After receiving notice of an intended change to conditions of employment a union is obligated to request bargaining within a reasonable amount of time.
• Upon receipt of notice of an intended change a union may request additional information.
• Failure to request bargaining within a reasonable time after notification can result in a determination that the union waived its right to bargain.
• In order to constitute an "appropriate arrangement," a proposal must mitigate the adverse affects flowing from the exercise of a management right, but cannot "excessively interfere" with its exercise.
• In order to constitute an "appropriate arrangement" a proposal must be "tailored" to benefit employees suffering from a reasonably foreseeable adverse affect flowing from the exercise of a management right.

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Last Modified 10/12/2011