Health and Welfare (H&W) Assessment Implementation Guidance, HQ AFMC/A1, March 2014

19 August 2014

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT (MOA)

ON

Air Force Materiel Command Health and Welfare Assessment

Reference:  Health and Welfare (H&W) Assessment Implementation Guidance, HQ AFMC/A1, March 2014

1.  The America Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Council 214 and Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), hereafter referred to as the Union and Management, hereby enter into this Memorandum of Agreement regarding the AFMC Health and Welfare Assessment as it applies to bargaining unit employees covered by the Master Labor Agreement (MLA) between the parties.

2.  The Union and Management jointly embrace the importance of maintaining a healthy work environment that promotes dignity, trust, and mutual respect.  The intent of Health and Welfare Assessments is to discover and remove inappropriate objects and displays from AFMC work areas and network sites.  The targeted items are materials that a reasonable person would consider lewd, obscene, derogatory, discriminatory, or unprofessional.  As outlined in referenced “Implementation Guidance,” Commanders at the squadron level and higher will periodically do walk-throughs to detect and respond to inappropriate items.  This MOA implements the H&W Assessment process, subject to provisions outlined below. 

3.  Commander walk-throughs and follow-up assessments by Equal Opportunity (EO) staff, will include all workspaces but will be limited to areas visible to anyone, including walls, cabinets, desks, and common-area cabinets.  Respective to the Health and Welfare Assessments, personal desk drawers, lockers, clothing, purses, brief cases, etc. will not be assessed.  Assessments may include files stored on shared network drives, publically visible screen savers, and any other data objects available to multiple employees.  Personal email and data files will not be inspected and employee social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) will not be assessed respective to a Health and Welfare Assessment.  Areas where the employee has a reasonable expectation of privacy will not be assessed.

4.  Before conducting a walk-through, the Commander will contact his/her respective Labor Relations Officer (LRO) to make arrangements for the release of a union representative. The LRO will contact the union with at least a days’ notice prior to a planned walk-through. In rare instances where a days’ notice cannot be given, the Commander will provide the local union rationale for a shorter notice.  A walk-through is not required to be delayed should the local union president or his/her designee be unavailable at that time. Management will assure that official time is granted for the local president or his/her designee to accompany the walk-through. Understanding there is a degree of subjectivity in labeling an object “inappropriate” the union representative could provide a second opinion for consideration when assessing materials during a walk-through.  Any items removed or requiring follow-up will be recorded per the AFMC Health and Welfare Implementation Guidance paragraph 6. 

5.  When a workplace item is found to be “inappropriate”, it will be promptly removed.  Normally, for a first offence, counselling is considered sufficient.  Per AFMC Health and Welfare Implementation Guidance paragraph 6i, standard procedures will be followed as needed for any disciplinary action issues and/or issues that may involve criminal offenses.  

6.  All reports resulting from H&W Assessments will be shared with the Union at the appropriate level.

7.  All remedies available under the MLA or 5 U.S.C. 71 will remain available to the parties if concerns cannot be cooperatively resolved.

For Management / Date                                  For the Union/Date

___________________________                  _____________________________

DAVID L. TAYLOR                                     TROY TINGEY

Chief, Readiness and Integration Division      President, AFGE Council 214

HQ AFMC/A1R                                                       

___________________________                  ______________________________           

ANDREW THOMAS                                                TOM ROBINSON                                        

Labor Relations Specialist                                                 Executive Assistance

HQ AFMC/A1KL                                          AFGE Council 214