General Guidance
The criteria for determining whether a position is excluded from the bargaining unit (and coded as 8888) is established by law. Types of positions excluded from coverage by a bargaining unit are found in 5 U.S.C. § 7112{b)(ll through (7)
.
Definitions relevant to making determinations regarding exclusion from a bargaining unit are found in 5 U.S.C. § 7103(a)
. If the position is not excluded from the bargaining unit by law, then a determination must be made as to whether the position is not in a bargaining unit (BUS code 7777) or in a bargaining unit (BUS code for the bargaining unit).
Key Bargaining Unit Status Codes
Bargaining Unit Status: 2009
You are a NFFE-FSC Bargaining Unit Employee. You are covered by the NFFE-FSC Master Agreement.
Bargaining Unit Status: 7777
You are not a NFFE-FSC Bargaining Unit Employee. You are not covered by the NFFE-FSC Master Agreement.
- An SF-50 with a code of 7777 in Block 37 indicates that your position is eligible for coverage by a bargaining unit, but no unit currently exists. If you are in a position with this code, you should contact your FS HRM or an attorney knowledgeable in federal employee law to verify your eligibility and any steps necessary to join a bargaining unit.
Bargaining Unit Status: 8888
You are not a NFFE-FSC Bargaining Unit Employee. You are not covered by the NFFE-FSC Master Agreement.
- An SF-50 with a code of 8888 in Block 37 indicates you are excluded from representation by any federal union.
- This does not necessarily mean that an entire unit is exempt from Union representation. Because the position itself is covered, the duties of the position must be reviewed. A position might be in a unit which has Union representation but the position may be coded as 8888 because of an exemption. The Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute
identifies those positions that are excluded from a Bargaining Unit. See list below for 6 categories of Bargaining Unit exclusions:
- Management Officials
- Supervisors
- Confidential Employees (Only refers to those with direct access to Labor-Management Relations info)
- Employees engaged in Personnel Work
- Employees engaged in National Security activities
- Employees involved in Internal Audit functions
