[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 99 (Monday, May 24, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 27899]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12975]



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  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 99 / Monday, May 24, 1999 / Rules and 
Regulations  

[[Page 27899]]


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MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD

5 CFR Part 1201


Practices and Procedures


AGENCY: Merit Systems Protection Board.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB or the Board) is 
amending its rules of practice and procedure to provide an automatic 
extension of the regulatory time limit for filing an appeal with MSPB 
where an appellant and agency mutually agree, prior to the timely 
filing of an appeal, to attempt to resolve their dispute through an 
alternative dispute resolution process.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 24, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert E. Taylor, Clerk of the Board, 
(202) 653-7200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 1, 1998, the President issued a 
Memorandum for Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies in which he 
called on Federal agencies to ``promote greater use of mediation, 
arbitration, early neutral evaluation, agency ombuds, and other 
alternative dispute resolution techniques'' to resolve disputes to 
which the agency is a party. The Memorandum established an Interagency 
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Working Group to assist agencies 
in establishing ADR programs, help agencies that already have ADR 
programs to improve and promote greater use of them, and share ADR 
information among agencies. The President's Memorandum furthers the 
purposes of the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 
104-320, October 19, 1996). The Board has determined to encourage use 
of ADR by allowing an automatic 30-day extension of its regulatory 
filing time limit where parties mutually agree in writing to attempt to 
resolve workplace disputes through an ADR process.
    The Board has been committed to the use of ADR to resolve matters 
submitted to it for adjudication since its establishment by the Civil 
Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA). The CSRA explicitly granted the 
Board authority to provide for one or more alternative methods for 
settling matters within its jurisdiction.
    For more than a decade, the Board has required its administrative 
judges to conduct settlement efforts in all cases. Since 1988, the 
administrative judges have maintained an annual settlement rate of 
about 50 percent of cases not dismissed. In 1993, the Board implemented 
a petition for review (PFR) settlement program at headquarters, thus 
extending the benefits of ADR to cases at the Board review level. The 
Board continues to explore ways in which it can employ its legal and 
ADR expertise in a cooperative effort with agencies to try to resolve 
personnel disputes at the agency level, before they result in formal 
appeals to MSPB.
    In light of the longstanding MSPB commitment to ADR, the Board 
would like to support the new and improved agency ADR programs that can 
be expected to result from the President's May 1, 1998, Memorandum and 
the work of the Interagency ADR Working Group. The Board wants to 
ensure that its regulatory requirements with respect to filing time 
limits do not deter potential appellants from first attempting to 
resolve their disputes through an agreed-upon ADR process. Therefore, 
the Board is amending its regulation at 5 CFR 1201.22(b)(1) by adding a 
new provision to extend the 30-day filing time limit by an additional 
30 days--for a total of 60 days--where an appellant and an agency 
mutually agree in writing to attempt to resolve their dispute through 
an ADR process.
    The Board intends that when an agency provides notice of the time 
limits for appealing to the Board in compliance with 5 CFR 1201.21(a), 
it include notice of the automatic extension of the time limit that 
will apply under 5 CFR 1201.22(b)(1) should the parties mutually agree 
in writing to attempt to resolve their dispute through an ADR process.
    The Board is publishing this rule as a final rule pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 1204(h).

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 1201

    Administrative practice and procedure, Civil rights, Government 
employees.

    Accordingly, the Board amends 5 CFR part 1201 as follows:

PART 1201--PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES

    1. The authority citation for part 1201 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 1204 and 7701, and 38 U.S.C. 4331, unless 
otherwise noted.

    2. Section 1201.22 is amended by revising paragraph (b)(1) to read 
as follows:


Sec. 1201.22  Filing an appeal and response to appeals.

* * * * *
    (b) * * * (1) Except as provided in paragraph (b)(2) of this 
section, an appeal must be filed no later than 30 days after the 
effective date, if any, of the action being appealed, or 30 days after 
the date of receipt of the agency's decision, whichever is later. Where 
an appellant and an agency mutually agree in writing to attempt to 
resolve their dispute through an alternative dispute resolution process 
prior to the timely filing of an appeal, however, the time limit for 
filing the appeal is extended by an additional 30 days--for a total of 
60 days. A response to an appeal must be filed within 20 days of the 
date of the Board's acknowledgment order. The time for filing a 
submission under this section is computed in accordance with 
Sec. 1201.23 of this part.
* * * * *
    Dated: May 18, 1999.
Robert E. Taylor,
Clerk of the Board.
[FR Doc. 99-12975 Filed 5-21-99; 8:45 am]
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