Title 22—Foreign Relations--Volume 1
PART 903—INITIATION AND DOCUMENTATION OF CASES
§ 903.1   Initiation of cases.
(a) Grievances submitted to the Board shall be in writing, and shall explain the nature of the grievance, and the remedy sought; shall contain all the documentation furnished to the Agency and the Agency's final review; and shall be timely filed in accordance with applicable regulations.
(b) A member whose grievance is not resolved satisfactorily under Agency procedures, the representative of the grievant, or the exclusive representative (on behalf of a grievant who is a member of the bargaining unit), shall be entitled to file a grievance with the Board no later than 60 days after receiving the Agency decision. In the event that an Agency has not provided its decision within 90 days of filing with the Agency, the grievant, the representative of the grievant, or the exclusive representative (on the grievant's behalf) shall be entitled to file a grievance with the Board no later than 150 days after the date of filing with the Agency. The Board may extend or waive for good cause shown the time limits stated in this section, and may permit or request the views of the parties with respect to whether good cause has been shown for such an extension.
(c) Separation for cause proceedings against a charged employee shall be initiated before the Board by submission of a statement of the acts or behavior considered by the Agency to warrant separation.
§ 903.2   Record of proceedings.
Upon receipt of initial documents relating to a case, a record of proceedings shall be established, and all material received or obtained by the Board in connection with the case shall be placed in it unless the Board excludes such material under § 903.3. The parties and the exclusive representative, if any, shall have access to the record of proceedings. Classified portions of the record of proceedings may be reviewed by the parties and the exclusive representative, if any, under conditions prescribed by the Board to ensure appropriate security.
§ 903.3   Rulings on materials.
The Board may at any stage of the proceedings exclude materials from the record of proceedings at the request of a party or on its own initiative, on the grounds that such materials are irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitive.
§ 903.4   Participation of exclusive representative.
(a) Upon the initiation of a case, the executive secretary shall ascertain from the Agency, the grievant/charged employee and any labor organization which has been certified as the exclusive representative of employees of the Agency, whether the relevant position occupied by the grievant/charged employee is part of the bargaining unit for which the labor organization is the exclusive representative. If a substantial dispute exists as to whether that position is part of the bargaining unit, and if the Board determines that resolution of that dispute is necessary for determining the status of the labor organization in a case, the Board shall notify the parties and the labor organization, who may request the Foreign Service Labor Relations Board to make a final determination of that dispute. If the Foreign Service Labor Relations Board determines that the grievant or charged employee is a member of a bargaining unit represented by an exclusive representative, the executive secretary shall promptly send a copy of the papers filed with the Board to the exclusive representative.
(b) The exclusive representative has the right to intervene as a party to the case if such exclusive representative gives timely notice to the Board in writing of its decision to intervene as a party. Notice shall be considered to be timely if given prior to or at the prehearing conference, or, in a case to be decided under part 907 of this chapter, if given within 10 days of receipt of a notice from the Board of the Board's intent to close the record of proceedings.
(c) An exclusive representative which has not intervened under paragraph (b) of this section may be permitted to intervene as a party upon written application. In ruling upon the application, the Board shall consider whether granting the application will unduly delay or prejudice the adjudication of the rights of the original parties, and may place conditions on the exclusive representative's participation to avoid such delay or prejudice.
§ 903.5   Service of documents.
Any party submitting documents to the Board in connection with a case shall send a copy to the other parties and to the exclusive representative, if any. The Board shall send copies of its correspondence concerning the case to the parties and the exclusive representative, if any.
§ 903.6   Interrogatories.
Each party shall be entitled to serve interrogatories upon another party, and have such interrogatories answered by the other party unless the Board finds such interrogatories irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitive. Parties shall follow procedures established by the Board concerning the use of interrogatories.
§ 903.7   Acknowledgment.
Each case received shall be acknowledged in writing by the executive secretary of the Board. If in the judgment of the executive secretary additional documentation or information is needed, he or she may request such materials.
§ 903.8   Withdrawal.
A case may be withdrawn at any time by written notification to the Board from the party initiating the case. A case may be determined by the Board to have lapsed when the grievant fails to respond in writing to two successive written Board inquiries within any deadline fixed for such response. The Board may permit the reopening of lapsed cases upon a showing of good cause and may permit or request the views of the parties as to whether good cause has been shown.
§ 903.9   Access to records.
(a) If a party is denied access to any Agency record prior to or during the consideration of a case by the Agency, the party may protest such denial before the Board in connection with the case.
(b) In considering a case, the Board shall have access to any Agency record as follows:
(1) the Board shall request access to any Agency record which the grievant/charged employee requests to substantiate his or her grievance or defense to a charge if the Board determines that such record may be relevant and material to the case.
(2) the Board may request access to any other Agency record which the Board determines may be relevant and material to the case.
(3) An Agency shall make available to the Board any Agency record requested under paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) of this section unless the head or deputy head or such Agency personally certifies in writing to the Board that disclosure of the record to the Board and the parties would adversely affect the foreign policy or national security of the United States or that such disclosure is prohibited by law. If such a certification is made with respect to any record, the Agency shall supply to the Board a summary or extract of such record unless the reasons specified in the preceding sentence preclude such a summary or extract.
(c) If the Board determines that an Agency record, or a summary or extract of a record, made available to the Board under paragraph (b) of this section is relevant and material to the case, the Agency concerned shall make such record, summary, or extract, as the case may be, available to the parties.
(d) In considering a case, the Board may take into account the fact that the parties or the Board were denied access to any Agency record which the Board determines is or may be relevant and material to the case.
(e) The parties in any case decided by the Board shall have access to the record of proceedings and the decision of the Board.
§ 903.10   Access to witnesses.
The grievant or grievant's representative, or charged employee or his representative, shall be given access to witnesses employed by the foreign affairs agencies. In the event that the agency of the grievant determines that the requests for access are excessive, it may so notify the Board, which shall rule on the relevance and materiality of the potential testimony and may order that access be granted to any or all of the potential witnesses. It shall be the responsibility of the grievant to advise the agency of the agency witnesses to be interviewed and to request administrative leave.