BIDDING PROCEDURES

All vacancy announcements for bargaining unit positions shall be open for a minimum of twenty-one (21) days before the closing date and time of the announcements.

Vacancy announcements will be posted on the USAJOBS website as they become available. Access to the website shall be afforded to all bargaining unit employees (BUEs) through the computers provided for in Article 36 of this Agreement.

a. TMC positions may be bid in-house and open for a minimum of fourteen (14) days.

b. Intra-facility details, for bargaining unit positions covered by this Agreement, of one (1) year or less may be advertised in-house for a minimum of fourteen (14) days.

Candidates must apply online to receive consideration. All bids must have a status of “Received” prior to the closing date and time associated with the vacancy announcement.

All qualification requirements shall be posted on the vacancy announcement at the time the announcement is made.

If the selection list is shortened to a best qualified list through a comparative process, then the best qualified list shall be considered to be the selection list. If the Agency decides to interview any qualified employee on the selection list, then all on the list who are qualified must be interviewed. If it is determined that interviews are required and telephone interviews are not utilized, travel expenses incidental to these interviews will be paid in accordance with the Agency's travel regulations and this Agreement.

Employees desiring consideration for placement to a specific bargaining unit position at a specific facility may make voluntary application for transfers to facilities of the same, lower, or higher Facility Pay Level (FPL) by submitting the appropriate forms as outlined in Agency directives to the Human Resource Management Division having jurisdiction over the position(s). The type of position applied for and specific location must be stated.

The employee shall not normally be eligible to receive any permanent change of station (PCS) benefits unless the selection was made in conjunction with a vacancy announcement where PCS benefits were authorized. In that case, the individual requesting voluntary transfer shall be entitled to the same benefits as advertised on the vacancy announcement.

Employees shall submit the following forms to the appropriate Human Resource Management Division:

a. cover letter stating: "Filed in accordance with Employee Requested Reassignment for ________ position at (name of facility);"

b. FAA Form 3330-42, Request for Consideration and Acknowledgment;

c. FAA Form 3330-43-1, Rating of Air Traffic Experience for AT Movement;

d. a resume; and

e. most recent performance appraisal.

Upon receipt of the package, the receiving office will advise the employee that they have received his/her request. The application shall remain on file for fifteen (15) months from receipt, unless it has been updated in writing by the employee.

Employees shall be permitted to request reassignment outside of the announced vacancy process without any waiting period or time requirements.

Applications submitted in accordance with Section 5 will be treated equally to applications that are submitted under any subsequent vacancy announcement for that specific position.

Mutual reassignment transfer requests may be submitted to the same, higher, or lower ATC FPL facility, for employees who have a minimum of one (1) year as a certified controller at his/her facility, but no more than three (3) ATC FPLs above the employee's current ATC FPL, unless the employee had been previously certified at the higher ATC FPL.

Both employees must then notify their facility management, in writing, of their desire to swap with the following information:

a. name of the swapping employee;

b. facility of the swapping employee;

c. type and FPL of that facility;

d. requested release dates of the swap; and

e. employee's signature and date.

Approval will not be unreasonably denied nor will release dates be unreasonably delayed. The Parties recognize that mutual transfers under this Article are solely in the best interest of the employees and therefore employees will not be entitled to receive any PCS funds.

If, as a result of a grievance being filed under this Article, the Agency agrees or an arbitrator decides that an employee was improperly excluded from the best qualified list, he/she will receive priority consideration, as defined in Article 100 of this Agreement, for the next appropriate vacancy for which he/she is qualified. If the employee is selected for the vacancy, the priority consideration will be considered to be satisfied. An appropriate vacancy is one at the same FPL, which would normally be filled by competitive procedures, or by other placement action, including outside recruitment, in the same area of consideration, and which has comparable opportunities as the position for which the employee was improperly excluded.

In the event two (2) or more employees receive priority consideration for the same vacancy, they may be referred together. However, priority consideration for separate actions will be referred separately and in the order received based on the date the determination of improper exclusion is made.

Within twenty-one (21) days of a request, the following information shall be made available to the employee:

a. whether the employee was considered for the position and, if so, whether he/she was found eligible on the basis of the minimum qualification requirements for the position;

b. whether the employee was one of those in the group from which selection was made (i.e. one of the best qualified candidates available and appeared on the list made available to the selecting official);

c. any record of formal or informal supervisory appraisal of past performance used in considering the employee for the position;

d. who was selected for the position;

e. in what areas, if any, the employee should improve to increase his/her chances for future selection.

Release dates are subject to the staffing requirements of his/her current facility as well as the needs of the target facility. Every reasonable effort shall be made to provide a release date within six (6) months of selection. If a six (6) month release date is not practicable, the Agency shall propose a fixed date that the employee may accept or decline.