Article 17: Reassignments

Section 1 – Reassignments

A. The Agency shall publish a notice in SEC Today every six (6) months that informs employees of the availability of the hardship and voluntary reassignment programs.

B. The Agency shall provide the Union with an annual spreadsheet of all reassignment requests (hardship and voluntary), including the name of each employee who requested reassignment; the employee’s grade, position and office at the time of making the request; the office/position to which the employee requested to be reassigned; and whether or not the employee was reassigned. At any time, the Union may request and receive a list of all requests for voluntary and hardship reassignments that are currently pending.

C. The provisions of this Article will not apply to any reassignment resulting from a major reorganization, restructuring, or closing of Divisions, Offices, or Regional Offices. In such cases, the Employer agrees to provide the Union with advance notice of an opportunity to bargain in accordance with the requirements of Article 40 (Office Relocations and Openings) and/or Article 6 (Mid-term Bargaining) of this Agreement.

Section 2 – Hardship Reassignments

A. The Employer agrees to seriously consider an employee's request for reassignment when the employee demonstrates that a significant hardship exists and that such hardship would be relieved by the reassignment.

B. Significant hardships include, but are not limited to, the following: • a serious medical condition affecting a member of an employee's immediate family, as defined in the Family Medical Leave Act; • access to special education or a medical facility that is not available in the employee's current commuting area; • the employee's spouse or life partner has received either a job in a new location or military orders to relocate outside the employee's current commuting area; or • the employee’s minor child (or adult child with special needs) has moved to a location outside of the employee’s current commuting area.

C. An employee desiring consideration for reassignment based upon significant hardship may submit a request to the Office of Human Resources. OHR may direct employees requesting a hardship reassignment based upon a medical condition to submit a medical certificate or other medical information through the Reasonable Accommodation procedures or to an alternative email box designed to protect the confidentiality of the medical information.

D. The employee must provide appropriate documentation concerning the situation or condition that gave rise to the significant hardship request along with a current resume which demonstrates that the employee’s qualifications and technical competencies meet those of the position and job series to which they are seeking reassignment. The employee must indicate the specific bargaining unit position and Division/Office/Regional Office to which they seek reassignment.

E. The request for hardship reassignment will remain active until the employee is selected or until the end of the fiscal year in which the application is submitted to the Office of Human Resources, whichever comes first.

F. If the Division or Office specified in the reassignment request has a vacancy, the Division/Office/Regional Office will determine, through a review of the employee’s resume, whether the employee meets the qualifications and technical competencies that are necessary for the position. If so, the employee will be offered an interview.

G. As between current qualified employees seeking a reassignment, an employee seeking a hardship reassignment will be considered before an employee seeking a voluntary reassignment.

H. Nothing in this Article precludes an employee from applying for a position in response to a vacancy announcement.

Section 3 – Voluntary Reassignments

A. The Employer will consider an employee's request for voluntary reassignments.

B. If an employee requests a voluntary reassignment, they must submit a current resume which demonstrate that the employee’s qualifications and technical competencies meet those of the position and job series to which they are seeking reassignment to the Office of Human Resources. The employee must indicate the specific bargaining unit position and Division or Office to which they seek reassignment as well as position(s) sought.

C. The request for voluntary reassignment will remain active until the employee is selected or until the end of the fiscal year in which the application is submitted to the Office of Human Resources, whichever comes first.

D. For every vacant position, the Office of Human Resources will provide the hiring manager of each Division/Office/Regional Office in which the position is located, with the list of eligible employees from the list, based on the job series, grade, location, and full performance level (FPL) for which there is a match.

E. Nothing in this Article precludes an employee from applying for a position in response to a vacancy announcement.

Section 4 – Management-Initiated Reassignments

A. The Employer has the right to reassign employees based upon legitimate management considerations. The Employer will consider assertions by the employee that the reassignment will cause undue personal hardship.

B. Unless a management-initiated reassignment is directed for a specific employee(s) for legitimate business reasons, the Employer will adhere to the following procedures prior to effectuating the reassignment:

1. The Employer will determine which employees are qualified for the reassignment.

2. The Employer will solicit volunteers from within the pool of qualified employees.

3. If there are more volunteers than needed, the Employer will reassign the employee(s) with the greatest amount of Agency seniority.

4. If there are not enough volunteers, the Employer will reassign the employee(s) with the least amount of Agency seniority.

C. As soon as practicable, the Employer agrees to give an employee who will be involuntarily reassigned reasonable advance notice setting forth the reasons for the reassignment.