Title 22, Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-110

§4116 Prevention of Unfair Labor Practices

Title 22 › CHAPTER 52 — FOREIGN SERVICE › SUBCHAPTER X — LABOR-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS › § 4116

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The General Counsel must look into any charge that a Department or labor union acted unfairly. The General Counsel can send a formal complaint to the Department or union. If no complaint is sent because the charge does not show an unfair act, the person who made the charge must get a written explanation. A complaint must say what the charge is, that there will be a hearing before the Board (or a Board member or a Board employee chosen for that job), and when and where the hearing will happen. The Department or union can answer the complaint and appear at the hearing. No complaint can be based on conduct that happened more than 6 months before the charge was filed, unless the filer was kept from finding out or was prevented from filing during that 6-month period; then the General Counsel may act if the charge was filed within 6 months after discovery. The General Counsel may set up rules for trying to solve the problem informally before filing a complaint. Hearings must start no sooner than 5 days after the complaint is served. They will, as far as practical, follow subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, but parties are not bound by rules of evidence. A transcript will be kept. If the Board finds by a preponderance of the evidence that an unfair practice occurred, it must write its findings and can order the Department or union to stop the practice, make the parties renegotiate a collective bargaining agreement with retroactive effect, reinstate an employee with backpay under section 5596 of title 5, or do any combination of these or other actions to carry out the law’s purpose. If the evidence does not support the charge, the Board must write its findings and dismiss the complaint.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §4116

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Investigation by General Counsel; issuance of complaint; statement of reasons

If the Department or labor organization is charged by any person with having engaged in or engaging in an unfair labor practice, the General Counsel shall investigate the charge and may issue and cause to be served upon the Department or labor organization a complaint. In any case in which the General Counsel does not issue a complaint because the charge fails to state an unfair labor practice, the General Counsel shall provide the person making the charge a written statement of the reasons for not issuing a complaint.

(b)Notice in complaint

Any complaint under subsection (a) shall contain a notice—

(1)of the charge;

(2)that a hearing will be held before the Board (or any member thereof or before an individual employed by the Board and designated for such purpose); and

(3)of the time and place fixed for the hearing.

(c)Answer; personal appearance

The labor organization or Department involved shall have the right to file an answer to the original and any amended complaint and to appear in person or otherwise and give testimony at the time and place fixed in the complaint for the hearing.

(d)Time of filing of charges

(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2), no complaint shall be issued based on any alleged unfair labor practice which occurred more than 6 months before the filing of the charge with the Board.

(2)If the General Counsel determines that the person filing any charge was prevented from filing the charge during the 6-month period referred to in paragraph (1) by reason of—

(A)any failure of the Department or labor organization against which the charge is made to perform a duty owed to the person, or

(B)any concealment which prevented discovery of the alleged unfair labor practice during the 6-month period,

the General Counsel may issue a complaint based on the charge if the charge was filed during the 6-month period beginning on the day of the discovery by the person of the alleged unfair labor practice.

(e)Regulations providing for resolution through informal methods

The General Counsel may prescribe regulations providing for informal methods by which the alleged unfair labor practice may be resolved prior to the issuance of a complaint.

(f)Hearing

The Board (or any member thereof or any individual employed by the Board and designated for such purpose) shall conduct a hearing on the complaint not earlier than 5 days after the date on which the complaint is served. In the discretion of the individual or individuals conducting the hearing, any person involved may be allowed to intervene in the hearing and to present testimony. Any such hearing shall, to the extent practicable, be conducted in accordance with the provisions of subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, except that the parties shall not be bound by rules of evidence, whether statutory, common law, or adopted by a court. A transcript shall be kept of the hearing. After such a hearing the Board, in its discretion, may upon notice receive further evidence or hear argument.

(g)Findings of fact relative to issuance of orders; backpay

If the Board (or any member thereof or any individual employed by the Board and designated for such purpose) determines after any hearing on a complaint under subsection (f) that the preponderance of the evidence received demonstrates that the Department or labor organization named in the complaint has engaged in or is engaging in an unfair labor practice, then the individual or individuals conducting the hearing shall state in writing their findings of fact and shall issue and cause to be served on the Department or labor organization an order—

(1)to cease and desist from any such unfair labor practice in which the Department or labor organization is engaged;

(2)requiring the parties to renegotiate a collective bargaining agreement in accordance with the order of the Board and requiring that the agreement, as amended, be given retroactive effect;

(3)requiring reinstatement of an employee with backpay in accordance with section 5596 of title 5; or

(4)including any combination of the actions described in paragraphs (1) through (3) or such other action as will carry out the purpose of this subchapter.

If any such order requires reinstatement of an employee with backpay, backpay may be required of the Department (as provided in section 5596 of title 5) or of the labor organization, as the case may be, which is found to have engaged in the unfair labor practice involved.

(h)Findings of fact requiring dismissal of complaint

If the individual or individuals conducting the hearing determine that the preponderance of the evidence received fails to demonstrate that the Department or labor organization named in the complaint has engaged in or is engaging in an unfair labor practice, the individual or individuals shall state in writing their findings of fact and shall issue an order dismissing the complaint.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 4116

Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110