Federal Employee Unions Must Now Work for Free: Bill Eliminates All Paid 'Official Time'

The aptly named No Union Time on the Taxpayers Dime Act is about as direct as legislation gets: it completely eliminates the practice of “official time” for federal employees who handle union business. Right now, federal employees who serve as union representatives or stewards can use a certain amount of paid time—official time—to handle union duties like contract negotiations, processing grievances, or representing a colleague in a disciplinary hearing. This bill changes that entirely.

The End of Paid Union Duties

Under this new proposal, any work a federal employee does for their labor organization must happen when they are in a “non-duty status.” Think of it this way: if you’re a federal employee who volunteers as a union steward, you can no longer handle workplace disputes or attend administrative meetings during your regular 9-to-5 workday. Instead, you would have to do that work on your own time—lunch breaks, after hours, or weekends—without pay. The bill explicitly states that the work must occur when the employee is not being paid by the government for their time (SEC. 2).

What This Means for the Federal Workforce

For the federal government, the potential benefit is clear: reduced payroll costs associated with union activity. The argument is that taxpayer money should only pay employees for performing their core government job duties. However, for the roughly two million federal employees, this change could be a major headache. Official time isn't just for union meetings; it’s often used for the essential administrative tasks that keep labor-management relations running smoothly, like resolving disputes before they escalate to costly litigation. Requiring union reps to use unpaid time for this work will make it significantly harder to find volunteers willing to step up, especially those juggling family responsibilities or second jobs.

The Real-World Impact on Representation

Imagine a federal employee in a remote office facing a confusing disciplinary action. Their ability to get timely, quality representation often relies on a union steward who can quickly step away from their desk to handle the case. If that steward now has to wait until 5:01 PM to start working on the issue, the process slows down considerably. This shift puts the burden of maintaining labor protections squarely on the personal time and expense of the employee representatives. The result could be a significant weakening of the capacity of federal labor organizations to effectively represent their members, potentially leading to administrative backlogs and less efficient handling of workplace issues across agencies.