39:0011(2)AR - VA MEDICAL CENTER, JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI and NFFE LOCAL 589 -- 1990 FLRAdec AR

39 FLRA NO. 2
39 FLRA 11

25 JAN 1991


  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
            MEDICAL CENTER
         JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI
               (Agency)

                 and

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES
              LOCAL 589
               (Union)

              0-AR-2048

ORDER DISMISSING EXCEPTIONS

     The Agency has filed exceptions to the award of Arbitrator
Samuel J. Nicholas, Jr. in the above-captioned case. The Agency's
exceptions are untimely and must be dismissed.

     The time limit for filing exceptions to an arbitration award
is 30  days beginning on the date the award is served on the
filing party. 5 C.F.R. 2425.1(b). The date of service is the date
the arbitration award is deposited in the U.S. mail or is
delivered in person. 5 C.F.R. 2429.27(d). Absent evidence to the
contrary, the date of the arbitration award is presumed to be the
date of service of the award. See Oklahoma City Air Logistics
Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma and American Federation
of Government Employees, Local No. 916, 32 FLRA  165, 167 (1988).
If the award is served by mail, 5 days are added to the period
for filing exceptions to the award. 5 C.F.R. 2429.22. The time
limit may not be extended or waived by the Authority. 5 C.F.R.
2429.23(d). All documents filed with the Authority must be filed
in the Authority's Docket Room, 500 C Street, SW., Washington,
D.C. 20424. 5 C.F.R. 2429.24(a).

     Exceptions to an arbitrator's award may not be filed in a
Regional Office, but must be filed in the Authority's Docket
Room. 5 C.F.R. 2429.24(a). See U.S. Department of Defense,
Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Depot, Memphis, Tennessee and
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2501, 33 FLRA 
866 (1989).

     The Arbitrator's transmittal letter, bill, and award are
dated December 10, 1990. However, the Agency asserts in its
exceptions that the award was "served" on the Agency on December
11, 1991. Presuming that the award was deposited by the
Arbitrator in the U.S. mail on December 11, 1990, as alleged by
the Agency, an exception to the award had to be either postmarked
by the U.S. Postal Service or received in person at the
Authority's Docket Room no later than January 14, 1991, in order
to be considered timely. 5 C.F.R. 2425.1(b), 2429.21(b) and
2429.22. 1

     The Agency's exceptions are dated January 9, 1991, and
addressed to the Authority's Atlanta Regional Office. The
Regional Office received the Agency's exceptions by mail on
January 11, 1991, and forwarded the exceptions by mail to the
Authority's Docket Room on the same day after having notified the
Agency by telephone of the misfiling. The Agency's exceptions
were received and considered filed in the Authority's Docket Room
on January 16, 1991.

     The Agency's exceptions were not filed in the Authority's
Docket Room within the prescribed time limit. As the time limit
may not be extended or waived by the Authority, the Agency's
exceptions are dismissed.

For the Authority.

Alicia N. Columna
Director, Case Control Office

FOOTNOTES

     Footnote 1 Presuming the Arbitrator's award was served on
December   10, 1990, as indicated on the Arbitrator's transmittal
letter, the due   date for filing a timely exception would
continue to be January 14,   1991.