Since his appointment as the new Director of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, Carlo di Florio has embarked upon an ambitious agenda to review the examination program from top to bottom, with an eye towards proposing changes to OCIE’s structure. As part of that process, he appointed several Task Forces comprised of OCIE senior managers to assess various components of the examination program and make recommendations for changes. He also invited all OCIE employees to submit their ideas and recommendations for improvements.

In connection with this “self-assessment,” the Union established a process for gathering comments from its members and communicating them to management. This spring, Chapter 293 President Greg Gilman appointed a committee of Union volunteers from OCIE staff across the country to meet with the bargaining unit employees in their respective offices and gather comments, suggestions and ideas for improving the OCIE program. These volunteers were: Jeff Lyttle (SFRO) and Paul Prata (BRO) (co-chairs of the OCIE committee); Paul Anderson (MIRO); Thomas Conroy (CHRO); Joel Crepea (NYRO); Will Fergus (FWRO); Sherry Gonzales (DRO); Steven Graham (FWRO); Sue Hannan (LARO); Tricia Kelley (LARO); Judith Kotula (CHRO); Michael Nally (PLRO); Azam Riaz (NYRO); Suanne San (LARO); Susan Schneider (HQ); and Carole Solloway (ARO).

In light of the fact that Chapter 293 enjoys approximately 2/3 majority overall membership in OCIE, participation in this process across the country was very strong. Union volunteers gathered hundreds of individual comments ranging across a wide spectrum of subject areas, including organizational structure, examination processes, technology, people & culture, training and communication. They then distilled those comments into recommendations with respect to which there appeared to be a broad consensus across the country. The recommendations included:

• Ensuring that management remains engaged throughout the life of an exam, particularly during fieldwork;
• Clearly defining the roles all examination staff, including branch chiefs, attorney-advisors and newly created positions to be filled with experts in specialized risk areas;
• Emphasizing consistent application of CBA articles regarding Telework and AWS;
• Developing metrics and providing transparency on performance awards;
• Providing as much advance notice of examination assignments as possible;
• Identifying examination risks through a collaborative effort between management and staff;
• Reducing the size and improving content of exam reports through technology and format;
• Eliminating risk scorecards;
• Improving technology available to staff, including by providing dual monitors in the office and wireless cards for all staff to maintain connectivity in the field; and
• Enhancing training for experienced staff and new hires alike.

During meetings in June, Chapter 293 President Greg Gilman and the OCIE committee co-chairs, Lyttle and Prata, presented these recommendations to Director di Florio and other senior OCIE management officials. At their most recent meeting last week, management disclosed that it would be presenting the proposals of the management Task Forces regarding restructuring OCIE during the Town Hall meeting that has been scheduled for this Monday, July 12.

At an OCIE Town Hall meeting on July 12th, di Florio and other senior management officials made a presentation regarding the proposals generated by the management Task Forces. Since that time, Chapter 293 has sought from its membership comments, reactions and suggestions regarding those proposals. In addition, di Florio and Chapter 293 President Greg Gilman have jointly urged OCIE employees to respond to a survey identifying focus groups on which they would like to participate. In August, the members of these groups will be selected from amongst the staff, and the process of honing management’s proposals will continue.

No final decisions have been made by management concerning restructuring proposals for OCIE, and the Union has entered into no agreements regarding proposals. The Union will continue its positive dialogue with OCIE management prior to implementation of any negotiable proposals, seeking appropriate resolution of issues of importance to the examination staff and providing constructive criticism on those points where any disagreements may exist.

The Union welcomes your further input in the coming weeks. We have set up a webform on Chapter 293’s independent website which you can reach at www.secunion.org, to make it easy for you to provide feedback in a safe environment. You should also feel free to contact any of the members of the OCIE committee listed above to provide comments, recommendations and suggestions. As your exclusive representative at the SEC, the Union continues to be eager to hear your views. And, of course, you should feel free to volunteer for any of the focus groups via the joint survey.

“I would like to thank all of the Union members on the OCIE committee, and in particular Jeff Lyttle and Paul Prata, the committee co-chairs, for all of their work to date to ensure that the views of front line staff were clearly presented to management,” Chapter 293 President Gilman said today. “I also welcome the sincere efforts of Carlo Di Florio to bring OCIE’s senior management into substantive discussions with Union representatives at the agency. This kind of dialogue is consistent with President’ Obama’s recent Executive Order directing federal agencies to engage in meaningful, pre-decisional, labor-management communications to improve upon the efficient accomplishment of their missions. We know that the employees that we represent are eager to ensure that OCIE does the best job possible, and we hope that the good communications between the Union and management will continue.”

The Union will continue to do its part in keeping the lines of communication open and engaging management in a constructive conversation as the restructuring of OCIE unfolds.