§412 Labor-management Relations

Summary

Agencies or parts moved into the Department must stay covered by the federal labor law in chapter 71 of title 5 and cannot be excluded by an order under section 7103(b)(1) issued after June 18, 2002, unless two things both happen: the agency’s job changes a lot, and most of its employees mainly do intelligence, counterintelligence, or investigative work directly tied to terrorism investigations. An order may still exclude parts that were never recognized as bargaining units or whose recognition was ended. Bargaining units that were recognized the day before the transfer stay recognized unless the same two conditions above apply. Individual jobs or employees in those units can only be removed if their main job changes to the terrorism-related intelligence or investigative work (for jobs or hires made on or after the transfer date, the “change” test is not required). The President may waive these rules if they seriously harm homeland security, but only 10 days after sending Congress a written explanation. Other parts of the law cannot override these rules unless they refer to them specifically, and section 9701(e) of title 5 does not apply to agencies, employees, or their representatives who are excluded under an order following these rules.