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U.S. Federal Labor Relations Authority

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Guides & Manuals

We created guides to help you understand specific issues, such as unfair labor practices, representation petitions, arbitration appeals, negotiability appeals, and impasses.  You can also find the manuals that we use to process certain kinds of cases.

Unfair Labor Practice Guides and Manuals

ULP Case Law Outline – A comprehensive, up-to-date overview of unfair labor practice issues, designed to help employees, labor organizations, and agency managers understand their respective rights and responsibilities in collective bargaining.  A great place to start if you are trying to figure out whether certain conduct constitutes an unfair labor practice.

Guidance on Meetings – Guidance on the types of meetings that can lead to unfair labor practices, including formal discussions, investigatory (Weingarten) interviews, and bypasses. 

Guidance on Information Requests – Guidance on union and agency rights, responsibilities, and obligations regarding information requests.  It covers common issues, such as particularized need and the Privacy Act.

  • Model Union Request for Information – A model form that unions can use when drafting information requests.  It's a good reminder of all of the elements that your data requests should include to obtain information from the agency.
  • Model Agency Response to Request for Information – A model form that agencies can use when responding to a union's information request.  It's a good reminder of all of the elements that your response should include to satisfy your obligations under the Statute.

Guidance on Electronic Notice Dissemination – A historical memo describing the General Counsel's position on electronic notice postings (i.e., e-mails) as a remedy for an unfair labor practice.  The Authority has since adopted electronic notice postings as a traditional remedy.  DOJ, BOP, Fed. Transfer Ctr., Okla. City, Okla., 64 FLRA 221 (2014).

ULP Casehandling Manual – The manual that our agents follow when processing ULP cases.  It describes the procedures for handling and investigating unfair labor practice charges.

Litigation Manual – The manual that our agents follow when prosecuting ULP complaints.

For more information about unfair labor practice case procedures, read our ULP Factsheet - Filing through Appeals or visit the ULP Frequently Asked Questions.

Representation Guides and Manuals

Representation Case Law Outline (2013) (updated 09/11/20)  – A comprehensive overview of representation case issues.  A great starting place for easy-to-understand information about representation matters. 

Representation Case Handling Manual (2000) (corrected copy posted 02/20/15) – Detailed information about our procedures for processing representation petitions. 

Hearing Officer's Guide (2000) – A guide to our representation hearing procedures.

For more information about representation case procedures, visit the Representation Frequently Asked Questions.

Arbitration Guide 

Guide to Arbitration – An overview of the arbitration-appeals process, including the grounds on which the Authortity will review an arbitration award.

Negotiability Guide 

Guide to Negotiability – A guide designed to helps parties understand the negotiability process and their rights and responsibilities in connection with that process.

Negotiability Regulations – Federal Regulations on Negotiability Proceedings.

Impasses Guide 

Dispute Resolution Procedures Guide – Guidance on the various types of dispute-resolution procedures used by the Panel for resolving impasses.