Official time is all time granted an employee by the agency to perform representational functions on behalf of a labor union. This time is granted without charge to personal leave or loss of pay, when the employee would otherwise be in a duty status and is considered hours of work.

Representational functions are those authorized activities undertaken by employees on behalf of other employees pursuant to such employees' right to representation under labor relations statutes, regulations, Executive Orders, or the terms of a collective bargaining agreement.

Requests by union officials for use of official time must be approved by their immediate supervisors. In evaluating requests supervisor consider the "reasonableness" of the request - not just in amount of time but including other factors such as, the specific time of day, availability of staff to complete tasks, past experience with the amount and efficient use of official time, the benefits to be derived by the agency, etc.

Normally, union officials perform their union functions on an as-needed/on- call basis, while they remain assigned to primary duties they are hired to perform. It is not unusual to have full-time union officials at an locations with a large work force. Supervisors must understand the role of the union official and attempt to achieve a balance between use of official time and getting the job done.

Union officials also have responsibilities with respect to official time. They must:

- Receive supervisory approval before using it. - Use it for authorized representational functions only. - Be reasonable in their requests.

Employees record official duty time on their Time and Attendance Sheet or Work Schedule Log. The specific code indicates the type of representational function it was used for. This information is then available for tracking and reporting purposes.