18:0481(63)AR - Army, HQ XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg and AFGE Local 1770 -- 1985 FLRAdec AR

 18 FLRA No. 63
 
 DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, 
 HEADQUARTERS XVIII AIRBORNE 
 CORPS AND FORT BRAGG 
 Activity 
 
 and 
 
 AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT 
 EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1770 
 Union
 
                                            Case No. 0-AR-858
 
                                 DECISION
 
    This matter is before the Authority on exceptions to the award of
 Arbitrator L. Lawrence Shultz filed by the Agency under section 7122(a)
 of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute and part 2425
 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations.
 
    The grievance in this case concerns the claim of the grievant that
 she performed the duties of a higher-grade position for an extended
 period of time for which she was entitled under the parties' collective
 bargaining agreement to have been temporarily promoted.  The Arbitrator
 sustained the grievance finding that the grievant was entitled under the
 agreement to have been temporarily promoted for the period of June 8,
 1983 to August 24, 1983.  Accordingly, the Arbitrator awarded the
 grievant backpay for that period in the amount of the difference in what
 she was paid and what she should have been paid.
 
    In its exceptions the Agency contends that the award is deficient
 because the grievant did not meet the minimum qualification requirements
 for a temporary promotion to the position in dispute.  The Agency cites
 the Authority's decision in Adjutant General, State of Michigan,
 Department of Military Affairs and National Association of Government
 Employees, 11 FLRA 13 (1983) and maintains that "it was established
 during the arbitration hearing that the grievant was not fully
 qualified."
 
    As noted by the Agency, the Authority held in Adjutant General, State
 of Michigan, that in order for an employee to be properly promoted
 consistent with civil service law and regulation, the employee must meet
 at the time of the promotion the minimum qualification requirements for
 the position to which the employee is to be promoted.  Accord Federal
 Correctional Institution, Petersburg, Virginia and American Federation
 of Government Employees, Appomattox Local 2052, 16 FLRA No. 86 (1984).
 In Adjutant General, State of Michigan, the activity identified the
 specific minimum qualification requirement that the activity had
 determined that the grievant did not possess and the arbitrator
 expressly agreed with the activity's determination.  Similarly, in
 Federal Correctional Institution, Petersburg, the activity again
 specified the particular minimum qualification requirement that the
 grievant did not meet and the Office of Personnel Management confirmed
 that the grievant did not meet that minimum qualification requirement
 for the position in dispute.  In terms of this case, the Arbitrator
 failed to address the grievant's qualification for promotion to the
 position in dispute, and the Authority finds that the Agency has not
 specifically established that the grievant did not meet minimum
 qualification requirements.  Thus, whether the grievant met minimum
 qualification requirements for the promotion is uncertain.  However, in
 order for the award to be consistent with governing law and regulation,
 the grievant must have met at the time of the disputed promotion the
 minimum qualification requirements for the position. Consequently, in
 these circumstances, the Authority must take action with respect to the
 award to assure that it is consistent with civil service law and
 regulation.  Accordingly, pursuant to section 2425.4 of the Authority's
 Rules and Regulations, the award is modified to provide as follows:
 
          The Grievant shall be awarded a retroactive temporary promotion
       for the period June 8, 1983 to August 24, 1983, with backpay in
       the amount of the difference between that which she received as a
       Library Aid, GS-3, and that which she should have received as a
       Library Technician, GS-5, provided the Grievant met on June 8,
       1983, the minimum qualification requirements for promotion to the
       position of Library Technician, GS-5.
 
 Issued, Washington, D.C., June 19, 1985
                                       Henry B. Frazier III, Acting
                                       Chairman
                                       William J. McGinnis, Jr., Member
                                       FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY