Section 1

A. One (1) full-time position will be allotted to the Union.  It can only be used for the Chapter President, Vice President, or the Chief Steward.  The full-time position will not be charged against the bank.  The person using a full-time position agrees to comply with all leave requirements when official time is not being used.  The Union will provide the Employer advance notice before any change is made to this position.  Where practicable, such notice will be provided at least thirty (30) calendar days prior to such change.

B. The Chapter President may designate one (1) other bargaining unit employee who will be on official time up to fifty percent (50%) of his or her total work time, including bank time, non-bank time, and statutory time.  The full-time Union representative will not be from the same Division/Office/Regional Office as the fifty percent (50%) representative. Additionally, no other steward will be on official time for more than twenty five percent (25%) of his or her total work time, including bank time, non-bank time, and statutory time. All of these percentages are based on a calendar year.

C. Notwithstanding Sections 1A and 1B above, the Chapter President may designate one (1) other bargaining unit employee from any Division/Office/Regional Office to be on official time up to one hundred percent (100%) of his/her total work time.  The two full-time Union representatives cannot be selected from the same Division/Office/Regional Office if the Division/Office/Regional Office has less than 50 full-time equivalents in the bargaining unit.

Section 2

A. The Union will appoint stewards at a ratio of no more than one steward for every fifty (50) bargaining unit employees.  The ratio of stewards in any particular Division/Office/Regional Office will not be greater than one for every forty (40) bargaining unit employees, except where there are fewer than forty (40) bargaining unit employees in the Division/Office/Regional Office. Where there are less than forty (40) bargaining unit employees in a Division/Office/Regional Office, the Union may appoint one (1) Union steward in that Division/Office/Regional Office.

B. The Union will provide the Employer with the list of stewards within thirty (30) calendar days after the effective date of this Agreement. The Union will inform the Employer of any changes to that list at least five (5) business days prior to implementing the change.

Section 3

A. Before using official time, a Union steward will request permission from his or her immediate supervisor to use Official time to prepare for and carry out representational activities on behalf of other bargaining unit employees. The Union steward’s request and the Employer's approval or denial of the request will be made on the Request for Official Time NTEU/SEC Nationwide Bargaining Unit form.  The Employer will grant official time if it will not significantly impair the Employer's staffing, workload and mission requirements.  If official time is denied for such reasons, the Employer will arrange for the Union steward to take the official time as soon as practicable. The decision to grant or deny official time will be made as quickly as possible.

B. A Union Steward seeking to use more than eight (8) hours of bank time in a pay period must request approval, at least two (2) business days in advance, from his or her supervisor.  The supervisor will respond to the request as soon as possible, normally within one (1) business day.  Exceptions to the advanced notice requirement may be granted on a case-by-case basis.

C. The Union steward will notify his or her supervisor upon concluding the identified representational activities and will indicate the actual time used on the Request for Official Time NTEU/SEC Nationwide Bargaining Unit form.

Section 4

A. The Union will be provided with a bank of hours for official time in connection with representational activities. The number of hours in the bank for each year will be equal to 2.25 hours per bargaining unit employee.  Any hours not used will not be carried over from year to year.   Official time for representational activities which will be charged against this bank includes, but is not limited to:

1. communications about matters covered under the Collective Bargaining Agreement with employee(s), NTEU union officials, and agency officials;

2. preparing and investigating grievances, interviewing witnesses, preparing for arbitration, and meeting with NTEU National Staff Representatives in connection with representational activity;

3. preparing to represent an employee in a statutory appeal process, including replies to the courts and/or administrative agencies such as MSPB, FMCS, FSIP, FLRA and/or EEOC;

4. preparing to negotiate over mid-contract issues;

5. preparing to participate in a FLRA investigation or hearing as a representative of the NTEU;

B. Official time spent performing the following representational activities will not be charged against the bank:

1. formal discussions;

2. grievance meetings;

3. arbitration hearings;

4. statutory appeals;

5. oral replies to adverse actions and actions based on unacceptable performance;

6. labor/management committee meetings;

7. management-provided training for union representatives;

8. participation in mid-term negotiations;

9. participation in term negotiations; and

10. leave bank coordinator-required duties.

Section 5

A. In addition, the Union will be provided with a bank of hours for official time for Union stewards to participate in NTEU sponsored and financed training programs that are designed to improve representational skills for the mutual benefit of the Union and the Employer.  The number of hours in the bank for each year will be equal to 0.35 hours per bargaining unit employee.  No Union steward may use more than twenty-four (24) hours to attend this training.  Any hours not used will not be carried over from year to year.  For purposes of this section, a year is defined as commencing on the date of execution of this agreement.

B. The Union shall be entitled to up to five (5) representatives from the SEC to attend the NTEU Annual Legislative Conference each year on official time.

C. For purposes of NTEU's Annual National Representative Training, the Employer will reimburse the reasonable and customary travel and per diem expenses incurred by Union representatives at the SEC to attend such training, up to a maximum total amount of $30,000.00 per year.  The administrative reimbursement procedure shall be in accordance with usual and customary reimbursements for SEC travel-related expenses.

Section 6

A Union steward shall not use official time or duty time to conduct internal Union business.

Section 7

The Employer will grant official time and pay travel and per diem expenses for one (1) Union representative to attend quarterly Labor Management Relations Committee meetings under Article 41 (Labor Management Relations Committee) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Section 8

The Employer recognizes that if an employee has served as a full-time Union representative pursuant to Section 1 for at least a year, a reasonable amount of time may be necessary for the employee to become reacquainted with his or her job and some training may be necessary.