PART 2424—NEGOTIABILITY PROCEEDINGS Authority: 5 U.S.C. 7134. Source: 63 FR 66413, Dec. 2, 1998, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A—Applicability of This Part and Definitions § 2424.1 Applicability of this part. This part applies to all petitions for review filed on or after August 29, 2025. [90 FR 42132, Aug. 29, 2025] § 2424.2 Definitions. In this part, the following definitions apply: (a) Bargaining obligation dispute (1) A proposal concerns a matter that is covered by a collective bargaining agreement; (2) Bargaining is not required because there has not been a change in bargaining-unit employees' conditions of employment or because the effect of the change is de minimis; and (3) The exclusive representative is attempting to bargain at the wrong level of the agency. (b) [Reserved] (c) Negotiability dispute (1) Affects a management right under 5 U.S.C. 7106(a); (2) Affects bargaining-unit employees' conditions of employment; (3) Enforces an “applicable law,” within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 7106(a)(2); (4) Concerns a matter negotiable at the election of the agency under 5 U.S.C. 7106(b)(1); (5) Constitutes a “procedure” or “appropriate arrangement,” within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 7106(b)(2) and (3), respectively; (6) Is consistent with a Government-wide rule or regulation; and (7) Is negotiable notwithstanding agency rules or regulations because: (i) The proposal or provision is consistent with agency rules or regulations for which a compelling need exists under 5 U.S.C. 7117(a)(2); (ii) The agency rules or regulations violate applicable law, rule, regulation, or appropriate authority outside the agency; (iii) The agency rules or regulations were not issued by the agency or by any primary national subdivision of the agency; (iv) The exclusive representative represents an appropriate unit including not less than a majority of the employees in the rule- or regulation-issuing agency or primary national subdivision; or (v) No compelling need exists for the rules or regulations to bar negotiations. (d) Petition for review (e) Proposal (f) Provision (g) Service (h) Severance (i) Written allegation concerning the duty to bargain [63 FR 66413, Dec. 2, 1998, as amended at 88 FR 62455, Sept. 12, 2023; 88 FR 69873, Oct. 10, 2023; 90 FR 42132, Aug. 29, 2025] §§ 2424.3-2424.9 [Reserved] Subpart B—Requesting and Providing Allegations Concerning the Duty to Bargain § 2424.10 [Reserved] § 2424.11 Requesting and providing written allegations concerning the duty to bargain. (a) General. (b) Agency allegation in response to request. (c) Unrequested agency allegation. [88 FR 62456, Sept. 12, 2023; 88 FR 69873, Oct. 10, 2023] §§ 2424.12-2424.19 [Reserved] Subpart C—Filing and Responding to a Petition for Review; Conferences § 2424.20 Who may file a petition for review. A petition for review may be filed by an exclusive representative that is a party to the negotiations. § 2424.21 Time limits for filing a petition for review. (a) A petition for review must be filed within fifteen (15) days after the date of service of either: (1) An agency's written allegation that the exclusive representative's proposal is not within the duty to bargain, or (2) An agency head's disapproval of a provision. (b) If the agency has not served a written allegation on the exclusive representative within ten (10) days after the agency's principal bargaining representative has received a written request for such allegation, as provided in § 2424.11(a), then the petition may be filed at any time, subject to the following: (1) If the agency serves a written allegation on the exclusive representative more than ten (10) days after receiving a written request for such allegation, then the petition must be filed within fifteen (15) days after the date of service of that allegation on the exclusive representative. (2) [Reserved] [88 FR 62456, Sept. 12, 2023] § 2424.22 Exclusive representative's petition for review; purpose; divisions; content; service. (a) Purpose. (b) Divisions. (c) Content. www.flra.gov. (1) The exact wording and explanation of the meaning of the proposal or provision, including an explanation of special terms or phrases, technical language, or other words that are not in common usage, as well as how the proposal or provision is intended to work; (2) Specific citation to any law, rule, regulation, section of a collective bargaining agreement, or other authority that you rely on in your argument or that you reference in the proposal or provision, and a copy of any such material that the Authority cannot easily access (which you may upload as attachments if you file the petition electronically through use of the FLRA's eFiling system); (i) An explanation of how the cited law, rule, regulation, section of a collective bargaining agreement, or other authority relates to your argument, proposal, or provision; (ii) [Reserved] (3) A statement as to whether the proposal or provision is also involved in an unfair labor practice charge under part 2423 of this subchapter, a grievance pursuant to the parties' negotiated grievance procedure, or an impasse procedure under part 2470 of this subchapter, and whether any other petition for review has been filed concerning a proposal or provision arising from the same bargaining or the same agency head review; (i) Documents relevant to the statement, including a copy of any related unfair labor practice charge, grievance, request for impasse assistance, or other petition for review; and (ii) [Reserved] (4) Any request for a hearing before the Authority and the reasons supporting such request, with the understanding that the Authority rarely grants such requests. (d) Service. [88 FR 62456, Sept. 12, 2023; 88 FR 69873, Oct. 10, 2023, as amended at 88 FR 77883, Nov. 14, 2023] § 2424.23 Post-petition conferences; conduct and record. (a) Scheduling a post-petition conference. (b) Conduct of conference. (1) The meaning of the proposal or provision in dispute; (2) Any disputed factual issue(s); (3) Negotiability dispute objections and bargaining obligation claims regarding the proposal or provision; and (4) Status of any proceedings—including an unfair labor practice charge under part 2423 of this subchapter, a grievance under the parties' negotiated grievance procedure, or an impasse procedure under part 2470 of this subchapter—that are directly related to the negotiability petition. (c) Discretionary extension of time limits. et seq., (d) Record of the conference. (e) Hearings. [88 FR 62457, Sept. 12, 2023; 88 FR 69873, Oct. 10, 2023] § 2424.24 Agency's statement of position; purpose; time limits; content; service. (a) Purpose. (b) Time limit for filing. (c) Content. www.flra.gov. (1) Withdraw either: (i) The allegation that the duty to bargain in good faith does not extend to the exclusive representative's proposal, or (ii) The disapproval of the provision under 5 U.S.C. 7114(c); or (2) Set forth in full your position on any matters relevant to the petition that you want the Authority to consider in reaching its decision, including: A statement of the arguments and authorities supporting any bargaining obligation or negotiability claims; any disagreement with claims that the exclusive representative made in the petition for review; specific citation to, and explanation of the relevance of, any law, rule, regulation, section of a collective bargaining agreement, or other authority on which you rely; and a copy of any such material that the Authority may not easily access (which you may upload as attachments if you file your statement of position electronically through use of the FLRA's eFiling system). Your statement of position must also include the following: (i) If different from the exclusive representative's position, an explanation of the meaning the agency attributes to the proposal or provision and the reasons for disagreeing with the exclusive representative's explanation of meaning; (ii) If different from the exclusive representative's position, an explanation of how the proposal or provision would work, and the reasons for disagreeing with the exclusive representative's explanation; (3) Status of any proceedings—including an unfair labor practice charge under part 2423 of this subchapter, a grievance under the parties' negotiated grievance procedure, or an impasse procedure under part 2470 of this subchapter—that are directly related to the negotiability petition, and whether any other petition for review has been filed concerning a proposal or provision arising from the same bargaining or the same agency head review; (i) If they have not already been provided with the petition, documents relevant to the status updates, including a copy of any related unfair labor practice charge, grievance, request for impasse assistance, or other petition for review; and (ii) [Reserved] (4) Any request for a hearing before the Authority and the reasons supporting such request, with the understanding that the Authority rarely grants such requests. (d) Service. [88 FR 62457, Sept. 12, 2023; 88 FR 69873, Oct. 10, 2023] § 2424.25 Response of the exclusive representative; purpose; time limits; content; severance; service. (a) Purpose. (b) Time limit for filing. (c) Content. www.flra.gov. (d) Severance. (e) Service. [63 FR 66413, Dec. 2, 1998, as amended at 74 FR 51745, Oct. 8, 2009; 77 FR 26434, May 4, 2012; 88 FR 62458, Sept. 12, 2023; 88 FR 69873, Oct. 10, 2023; 88 FR 70579, Oct. 12, 2023; 88 FR 71731, Oct. 18, 2023] § 2424.26 Agency's reply; purpose; time limits; content; service. (a) Purpose. (b) Time limit for filing. (c) Content. www.flra.gov. (d) Service. [88 FR 62458, Sept. 12, 2023] § 2424.27 Additional submissions to the Authority. The Authority will not consider any submission filed by any party other than those authorized under this part, provided however that the Authority may, in its discretion, grant permission to file an additional submission based on a written request showing extraordinary circumstances by any party. The additional submission must be filed with the written request. All documents filed under this section must be served in accord with § 2424.2(g). [88 FR 62458, Sept. 12, 2023] §§ 2424.28-2424.29 [Reserved] Subpart D—Processing a Petition for Review § 2424.30 Procedure through which the petition for review will be resolved. (a) Exclusive representative has filed related unfair labor practice charge or grievance alleging an unfair labor practice. (1) The exclusive representative withdraws the grievance; (2) The parties mutually resolve the grievance; (3) An arbitrator has issued an award resolving the grievance, and the 30-day period under 5 U.S.C. 7122(b) has passed without an exception being filed; or (4) An arbitrator has issued an award resolving the grievance, a party has filed an exception to that award, and the Authority has issued a decision resolving that exception. (b) Exclusive representative has not filed related unfair labor practice charge or grievance alleging an unfair labor practice. (1) No bargaining obligation dispute exists. (2) A bargaining obligation dispute exists. [88 FR 62458, Sept. 12, 2023] § 2424.31 Hearings and other appropriate action. When necessary to resolve disputed issues of material fact in a negotiability or bargaining obligation dispute, or when it would otherwise aid in decision making, the Authority, or its designated representative, may, in its discretion: (a) Direct the parties to provide specific documentary evidence; (b) Direct the parties to provide answers to specific factual questions; (c) Refer the matter to a hearing pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 7117(b)(3) or (c)(5); or (d) Take any other appropriate action. [63 FR 66413, Dec. 2, 1998, as amended at 88 FR 62459, Sept. 12, 2023; 88 FR 69873, Oct. 10, 2023] § 2424.32 Parties' responsibilities; failure to raise, support, or respond to arguments; failure to participate in conferences or respond to Authority orders. (a) Responsibilities of the exclusive representative. (b) Responsibilities of the agency. (c) Responsibilities to sufficiently explain. (d) Failure to raise, support, or respond to arguments. (1) Failure to raise and support an argument may, in the Authority's discretion, be deemed a waiver of such argument. Absent good cause: (i) Arguments that could have been but were not raised by an exclusive representative in the petition for review, or made in its response to the agency's statement of position, may not be made in this or any other proceeding; and (ii) Arguments that could have been but were not raised by an agency in the statement of position, or made in its reply to the exclusive representative's response, may not be raised in this or any other proceeding. (2) Failure to respond to an argument or assertion raised by the other party may, in the Authority's discretion, be treated as conceding such argument or assertion. (e) Failure to participate in conferences; failure to respond to Authority orders. [88 FR 62459, Sept. 12, 2023; 88 FR 69873, Oct. 10, 2023] §§ 2424.33-2424.39 [Reserved] Subpart E—Decision and Order § 2424.40 Authority decision and order. (a) Issuance. (b) Cases involving proposals. (c) Cases involving provisions. [63 FR 66413, Dec. 2, 1998, as amended at 88 FR 62459, Sept. 12, 2023; 88 FR 69873, Oct. 10, 2023] § 2424.41 Compliance. The exclusive representative may report to the appropriate Regional Director an agency's failure to comply with an order issued in accordance with § 2424.40. The exclusive representative must report such failure within a reasonable period of time following expiration of the 60-day period under 5 U.S.C. 7123(a), which begins on the date of issuance of the Authority order. If, on referral from the Regional Director, the Authority finds such a failure to comply with its order, the Authority will take whatever action it deems necessary to secure compliance with its order, including enforcement under 5 U.S.C. 7123(b). [88 FR 62460, Sept. 12, 2023] §§ 2424.42-2424.49 [Reserved] Subpart F—Criteria for Determining Compelling Need for Agency Rules and Regulations § 2424.50 Illustrative criteria. A compelling need exists for an agency rule or regulation concerning any condition of employment when the rule or regulation was issued by the agency or any primary national subdivision of the agency, and the agency demonstrates that the rule or regulation satisfies one of the following illustrative criteria: (a) The rule or regulation is essential, as distinguished from helpful or desirable, to the accomplishment of the mission or the execution of functions of the agency or primary national subdivision in a manner that is consistent with the requirements of an effective and efficient government. (b) The rule or regulation is necessary to ensure the maintenance of basic merit principles. (c) The rule or regulation implements a mandate to the agency or primary national subdivision under law or other outside authority, which implementation is essentially nondiscretionary in nature. [63 FR 66413, Dec. 2, 1998, as amended at 88 FR 62460, Sept. 12, 2023] §§ 2424.51-2424.59 [Reserved]