Petitioner American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO (hereinafter “the APWU”), by its undersigned counsel, hereby respectfully moves the Court for permission to file the accompanying First Amended Petition to Compel Arbitration in the above-captioned case. The Second Declaration of Greg Bell is also submitted herewith verifying the First Amended Petition and in further support of the preliminary injunctive relief sought in this case.

This matter is before the Court on the Petition to Compel Arbitration and Motion for Preliminary Injunctive Relief filed by the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO (the APWU). Respondent Postal Service, by its counsel, has previously filed a consent Motion seeking leave to extend its time to respond to the pending Motion for Preliminary Injunction until October 7, 2003; leave for Petitioner APWU to file a reply to that response on October 10, 2003; and asking the Court to schedule a hearing some time between October 14 and October 17, 2003.

The First Amended Petition and Mr. Bell’s Second Declaration are necessary because a September 9, 2003, letter from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to the Postal Service concerning the voluntary early retirement program that is the subject of this dispute materially affects the issues the Union seeks to have submitted to arbitration and the issues before this Court. The letter in question was not provided to Petitioner prior to the filing of the Petition in this case.

Counsel for Respondent has indicated that Respondent will not oppose this motion and that Respondent will file another consent Motion providing that Respondent will file its response in this matter on October 15, 2003, and Petitioner will file its Reply on October 20, 2003. The parties will seek a hearing on the Motion for Preliminary Injunction some time between October 21 and October 24, 2003.

For these reasons, Petitioner respectfully requests permission to file the First Amended Petition in this case.

Dated October 3, 2003 Respectfully submitted,

O'DONNELL, SCHWARTZ & ANDERSON, P.C.

By:

Darryl J. Anderson DC Bar # 154567

1300 L Street NW Suite 1200

Washington, DC 20005-4178

(202)898-1707/(202)682-9276 FAX

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note: APWU filed a supplemental motion to compel on October 3, 2003

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Civil Action No. 1:03 CV 1908


AMERICAN POSTAL WORKERS UNION, AFL-CIO
          Plaintiff,
v.

UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
          Defendant,
 

FIRST AMENDED PETITION TO COMPEL ARBITRATION

1. This is a suit to compel arbitration under a collective bargaining agreement. Plaintiff is the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO (hereinafter "APWU"). The APWU seeks to compel the Employer in this case, the United States Postal Service, to submit a dispute between the parties to final and binding arbitration under the terms of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement. The APWU also seeks an order that the arbitration proceeding be expedited. The parties’ agreement includes a Memorandum of Understanding on Excessing (hereinafter "VER Agreement"), which requires the Employer, acting pursuant to authorization from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (hereinafter "OPM"), to offer voluntary early retirement to all eligible employees of the Postal Service who are represented by the APWU. The VER Agreement also provides that any dispute that arises under the VER Agreement will be resolved under the parties’ Administrative Dispute Resolution Procedures, which require that disputes not resolved by the parties be submitted to final and binding arbitration.

2. The Employer contends that the agreement does not require it to offer voluntary early retirement to all employees represented by the APWU. It is arbitrarily excluding several categories of employees from the offer of voluntary early retirement. Because the Employer is only authorized by OPM to offer its voluntary early retirement program for a limited time, and because the program is designed to be available only during a limited time period, called a "window periods," employees who are entitled to be offered voluntary early retirement but who are denied that right in violation of the parties’ agreement, will lose the opportunity to participate in the voluntary early retirement program. Accordingly, they would be irreparably injured by their wrongful exclusion from the program.

3.The Employer also contends that OPM has not authorize the Employer to offer VER to all employees represented by the APWU, and that it therefore cannot be compelled to do so under the parties agreement. The APWU responds to this contention by averring (a) that the Employer is arbitrarily excluding APWU-represented employees from the VER who are within the categories of employees whom the Employer is authorized by OPM to offer and (b) that the Employer violated the parties agreement by requesting that OPM authorize a VER for fewer than all employees represented by the APWU.
 

4. Pursuant to the parties’ agreement, the APWU has invoked the parties’ dispute resolution procedures in an effort to resolve this dispute through arbitration and has demanded that the Employer agree to schedule arbitration immediately, to avoid irreparable injury to employees improperly denied early retirement. The Employer contends that the parties’ dispute over this issue is not subject to arbitration and has declined to expedite the arbitration of this matter. APWU contends that the matter is arbitrable and that if the Employer is not required to expedite arbitration of this dispute, arbitration will be futile because it will be delayed until after the Employer's authorization from OPM has expired.

5. This Court has jurisdiction under 39 U.S.C. §§ 409(a) and 1208(b); and under 9 U.S.C. § 4; and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1339.

6. Venue is proper pursuant to 39 U.S.C. § 1208(b), and 28 U.S.C. §1391(b) and (e); and under 9 U.S.C. § 4.

7. Plaintiff American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO (the APWU), is an unincorporated labor organization with its offices at 1300 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005. Plaintiff APWU is a party to three collective bargaining agreements with the defendant United States Postal Service and represents, for purposes of collective bargaining, approximately 309,000 employees of the defendant.

8. Defendant United States Postal Service (hereinafter "USPS", "Postal Service" or "the Employer") is, pursuant to 39 U.S.C. §201, "an independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States... ." The headquarters of the Postal Service is at 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW, Washington, DC 20260.

9. At all material times, plaintiff APWU and defendant USPS have been parties to collective bargaining agreements providing the terms and conditions of employment of postal employees in the bargaining units represented by plaintiff APWU at defendant USPS’s various facilities. The parties’ agreements apply to employees in several bargaining units: Maintenance Employees, Motor Vehicle Service Employees, Clerks, Mail Equipment Shop Employees, Material Distribution Centers Employees, Operating Services (mainly custodial employees at postal headquarters), and Information Technology/Administrative Assistance Centers (IT/ASC).

10. The currently effective collective bargaining agreement covering Maintenance Employees, Motor Vehicle Service Employees, Clerks, Mail Equipment Shop Employees, and Material Distribution Centers Employees took effect November 21, 2000. It was originally for a term of three years, expiring on November 20, 2003. In December 2002, the parties tentatively agreed to extend that agreement two years, until November 20, 2005.

11. The currently effective IT/ASC Agreement took effect January 21, 2001. It was originally for a term of four years, expiring on January 20, 2005. In December 2002, the parties agreed to extend it for one year until January 20, 2006.

12. The currently effective Operating Services Agreement took effect November 21, 2000. It was originally for a term of four years, expiring on November 20, 2004. In December 2002, the parties agreed to extend it for one year until November 20, 2005.

13. In their tentative agreement to extend the collective bargaining agreements, the parties reached agreement on, among other things, salaries and wages for the two additional years of the agreement; health benefits; uniform and work clothes allowances; protection against layoffs; and upgrades for certain positions. The parties also agreed to a Memorandum on Excessing (the VER Agreement) which, as part of the agreement to extend their collective bargaining agreements, required the Employer to seek OPM authorization to offer voluntary early retirement (VER) to all employees represented by the APWU.

14. In their VER Agreement, the parties agreed that:

15. After the parties had reached their tentative agreement to extend their collective bargaining agreements, including their VER Agreement, the APWU conducted mail ballot referendums to determine whether the employees affected by the extension agreements would ratify the extensions. Contract extension referendum ballots were sent to all APWU members. Included with the ballots was a copy of the parties’ agreements concerning the terms and conditions of the contract extensions, including a copy of the VER Agreement. Following ratification, the extension of the parties' collective bargaining agreements took affect.

16. During the contract ratification period, Officers of the APWU urged members to ratify the contract extensions. One of the arguments used in support of ratification was that the Employer had agreed to seek approval from OPM to implement a voluntary early retirement program for all eligible employees represented by the APWU. APWU members in all the bargaining units voted to ratify the extension of the parties’ collective bargaining agreements.

17. The vote to extend the parties' collective bargaining agreements was taken by APWU-represented employees based in part upon the express promise by the Employer that it would offer VER to all eligible APWU-represented employees if OPM authorized it to do so.

18. The Postal Service was aware that the APWU informed its members of the VER Agreement during the contract extension ratification process and that APWU members were voting for contract extension in part based on that agreement.

20. In accordance with 5 C.F.R. § 831.114(d)(1) and 5 C.F.R. § 842.213 the Employer identified the organizational unit for which it was requesting VER authorization as "Postal Service Employees represented by the American Postal Workers Union (APWU)."

21. On June 13, 2003, OPM responded in a letter granting the Employer’s request. That letter states only four exclusions from the VER authorization provided:

1. Employees hired less than 32 days before the Employer’s January 23, 2003 request;

2. Employees not represented by the APWU;

3. Limited-term employees; and

4. Employees notified that their employment is to be terminated involuntarily for misconduct or unsatisfactory performance.

22. OPM’s June 13, 2002, letter states that this VER authorization is "subject to the provisions, limitations, and instructions outlined in this letter and sections 831.114 and 842.213 of 5 CFR." The instructions that were included with OPM’s letter state that the Employer "may determine the coverage of offers to eligible employees under this authority based on any combination of organizational components, geographical areas, occupational series or levels, or other nonpersonal and objective factors." [Emphasis added here.]

23. Accordingly, the conditions stated in the parties’ VER Agreement were met. OPM, in its June 13, 2003 letter, granted the Employer the authority to offer VER to all eligible APWU represented employees, subject only to provisions or limitations in the regulations or in OPM’s instructions. Under OPM’s instructions, the Employer has the authority to determine which APWU-represented employees will be offered VER and, under the VER Agreement, the Employer is required to exercise that authority to offer VER to all employees represented by the APWU.

24. Despite the broad authorization letter from OPM, the Employer determined that it will exclude many APWU-represented employees from the VER offer. The Employer now claims a right to exclude:

25. In the VER Agreement, the parties agree that any disputes arising out of that Memorandum will be handled in accordance with the parties’ Administrative Dispute Resolution Procedures (hereinafter "ADR procedures’ or "ADRP").

26. Under the ADRP, the parties’ representatives at the national level are first required to meet to resolve any pending disputes. If they cannot resolve the dispute, either party may declare an impasse. Each party is thereafter required to identify the issue in dispute within 30 days after the declared impasse. "The identified dispute will then be placed on the appropriate arbitration docket," to be heard by a neutral arbitrator, who is to issue a final and binding decision resolving the dispute.

27. In that the parties have a dispute concerning the VER Agreement that raises an interpretive issue of general application, the appropriate docket for this dispute is the national-level arbitration docket.

28. On July 8, 2003, APWU President William Burrus wrote to Doug A. Tulino, USPS Manager of Labor Relations Policies and Programs, to determine whether the parties had a dispute about the requirement of the VER Agreement to offer voluntary early retirement to all eligible APWU represented employees. Mr. Burrus’s letter requested that the Employer reply within five business days in order to ensure a prompt and timely resolution of this question.

29. On or about July 20, 2003, an APWU local president obtained a copy of "Guidelines for Processing Voluntary Early Retirement for APWU-Represented Employees." This document had not been provided to the APWU officially by the Postal Service. At that time, the Postal Service had not answered President Burrus’s July 8, 2003, letter seeking to clarify the Employer’s position on the scope of the voluntary early retirement program.

30. The following day, upon inquiry by President Burrus about the Guidelines document, the Employer provided the APWU another copy of the Guidelines. These Guidelines had been issued by the Postal Service to all its Human Resources Managers in the field nationwide. Contrary to the VER Agreement, the Guidelines exclude categories of employees represented by the APWU.

31. On July 28, 2003, the APWU invoked the parties’ ADR procedures to address the parties’ apparent dispute over the obligation of the Employer to offer early retirement to all eligible APWU represented employees. The APWU’s letter invoking the ADRP requested that the Employer agree to expedited arbitration if the parties could not resolve their dispute.

32. Pursuant to the ADR procedures, the parties’ representatives met on August 5, 2003, to discuss this dispute. At that meeting, the parties were unable to reach agreement; the APWU declared an impasse in accordance with the ADR procedures, and requested that the parties provide expedited scheduling statements and that this matter be scheduled for arbitration in place of other cases already scheduled to be heard on September 11 and 12, 2003.

33. The parties exchanged written statements of position pursuant to their ADR procedures on September 4, 2003. The APWU position statement states, among other things, that the issue in dispute is:

Whether the Employer violated the parties’ December 19, 2002, Memorandum of Understanding on Excessing when it refused to offer voluntary early retirement to all eligible employees represented by the APWU and, if so, what shall the remedy be?

34. The Employer’s ADRP position statement asserts that this dispute is not arbitrable because the Employer believes that the APWU’s position would require the Employer to offer VER to employees in violation of restrictions referred to by OPM in its authorization letter and found in the early retirement provisions of the CSRA and FERS, 5 U.S.C. § 8336(d)(2) and 5 U.S.C. § 8414(b)(1)(B)(iv)(l), respectively. The Employer’s ADRP statement includes the following statement:

The APWU’s position is clearly contrary to the statutory provisions addressing Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA). Accordingly, the arbitrator has no jurisdiction in this matter and must dismiss this dispute.

35. The statutory provisions in question, paraphrased by the Employer in its September 4, 203, ADRP position statement, state that an employee may take immediate early retirement if the employee:

(D) is separated from the service voluntarily during a period in which, as determined by the Office of Personnel Management (upon request of the agency) under regulations prescribed by the Office –

(i) such agency ... is undergoing a substantial delayering, substantial reorganization, substantial reductions in force, substantial transfer of function, or other substantial workforce restructuring (or shaping);

(ii) a significant percentage of employees servicing in such an agency ... are likely to be separated or subject to an immediate reduction in the rate of basic pay...; or

(iii) identified as being in positions which are becoming surplus or excess to the agency’s future ability to carry out its mission effectively; and

(E) as determined by the agency under regulations prescribed by the Office, is within the scope of the offer of voluntary early retirement, which may be made on the basis of –

(i) 1 or more organizational units;

(ii) 1 or more occupational series or levels;

(iii) 1 or more geographical locations;

(iv) specific periods;

(v) skills, knowledge, or other factors related to a position; or

(vi) any appropriate combination of such factors; ...

36. Notwithstanding its agreement to offer VER to all APWU represented employees, the Employer has excluded the groups of employees listed in paragraph 24 above from participation in the VER program, including many employees who are eligible for early retirement.

37. On Aug. 6, 2003, the Employer wrote a letter to OPM requesting an extension of its VER authority to December 31, 2003. A copy of that letter is Exhibit 7 to the Declaration of Greg Bell filed in this case. The Employer's Aug. 6, 2003, letter to OPM again requests authorization to offer VER to"...U.S. Postal Service employees represented by the American Postal Workers Union (APWU)..."

38. On September 9, 2003, OPM wrote top the Employer extending the Employer's authority to offer VER to some of its employees until December 31, 2004. In addition, to extending Employer's authority, the OPM letter states:

"This authority applies to U.S. Postal employees within the following occupational series and levels:

• clerk craft employees;

• motor vehicle craft employees in levels 5 and below, and

• maintenance craft employees in levels 5 and below, with the exception of technical maintenance positions for which there is a continuing need."

[Emphasis added here]

39. The September 9, 2003 OPM letter referred to paragraph 37 above was transmitted to the APWU by Doug Tulino with a letter dated September 17, 2003.

40. The Employer has communicated to OPM a request that OPM give the Employer authority to offer VER only to employees in the categories specified by the September 9, 2003, OPM letter extending the Employer's authority to December 31, 2004, quoted in paragraph 37 above.

41. By requesting authority limited to employees in the categories specified by the September 9, 2003, OPM letter extending the Employer's authority to December 31, 2004, quoted in paragraph 37 above, the Employer violated the parties' VER Agreement.

42. Insofar as the Employer has represented to OPM, or represents to this Court, that to avoid the Employer having to hire replacement workers, it is necessary to exclude all employees excluded by the limitation of the Employer's VER authority as described in paragraph 37 above, those representations are false

43. The APWU has demanded that the Employer provide the APWU copies of all written Employer communications to OPM, and summaries of all oral Employer communication to OPM, on the subject of the Employer's VER authority, but that information has not been provided to the APWU.

44. Notwithstanding its agreement to offer VER to all APWU represented employees, the Employer has requested that OPM limit its authority to only certain categories of eligible APWU represented employees; and the Employer has excluded thousands of employees from participation in the VER program, including many employees who are eligible for early retirement.

45. Notwithstanding the fact that OPM's September 9, 2003, letter authorizes the Employer to offer VER to all clerk craft employees who would otherwise be eligible for VER that the Employer will not permit them to take VER. These actions by the Employer violate the parties' VER Agreement.

46. The APWU has invoked the parties' Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedure (ADRP) to seek a remedy for the Employer's violation of the parties' VER Agreement as described in paragraphs 30 through 33 above. In addition, the APWU has  supplemented its September 4, 2003, ADRP statement on the parties' dispute, with a statement dated September 24, 2003, disputing the validity of the Employer's actions in obtaining the September 9, 2003, letter from OPM limiting the Employer's authority to offer VER to only certain categories of eligible employees represented by the APWU.

47. By a letter dated September 25, 2003, the APWU initiated a dispute through the parties' ADR procedure alleging the following violation of the parties' VER Agreement:

The Employer is refusing to offer voluntary early retirement to all eligible clerk craft employees, motor vehicle craft employees in level 5 and below, and maintenance craft employees in levels 5 and below, with the exception of technical maintenance positions for which there is a continuing need.

48. By virtue of their exclusion from the VER program, employees who are entitled to take VER under the terms of the parties’ VER Agreement will be irreparably harmed, in that they will forever lose the opportunity to elect voluntary early retirement under the parties’ agreement. If these employees are not provided the opportunity to retire and are required to keep working, monetary compensation cannot restore them to the position they would have been in had they been permitted to retire, nor could they be permitted by the Employer to take early retirement at a later date, when the Employer’s VER authorization from OPM has expired.

49. Under the formal scheduling procedure used by the parties to schedule arbitration of their disputes, arbitration cases are scheduled to be arbitrated in the order in which they are appealed to arbitration. If that procedure were followed with respect to this dispute, it would be several years before the issues raised by the APWU through the parties' ADRP, as described in paragraphs 30 through 33 and 45 through 46 above, could be heard in arbitration.

50. Because the Employer's VER authority presently expires on December 31, 2004, and because the Employer has designated specific window periods within which employees must retire, if the arbitration hearing sought in this case is not expedited, the Employer's VER authority will expire before the parties disputes could be arbitrated, and the APWU's right to obtain arbitration of this dispute will be nullified.

51. The parties routinely agree to schedule arbitration cases out of order as a means of resolving disputes that the parties mutually determine should be heard before they would be heard under the formal scheduling system.

52. Because the Employer has refused to expedite the arbitration of this matter, the right of the APWU to have its claims in this case heard and determined in final and binding arbitration pursuant to the ADR procedures of the parties’ agreement will be nullified by the passage of time unless the Employer agrees or is required by the Court to schedule this dispute for arbitration on an expedited basis, and the APWU will thereby be irreparably injured

WHEREFORE, plaintiff APWU prays that this Court issue a decision and order:

(1) Declaring that the Postal Service is required submit the disputes between the parties, described in paragraphs 30 through 33 and 45 through 46 above, concerning the Postal Service’s obligation to offer voluntary early retirement to all eligible employees represented by the APWU, to final and binding arbitration in accordance with the parties’ Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures;

(2) Ordering the Postal Service to submit the dispute between the parties, described in paragraphs 30 through 33 and 45 through 46concerning the Postal Service’s obligation to offer voluntary early retirement to all eligible employees represented by the APWU, to final and binding arbitration in accordance with the parties’ Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures;

(3) Ordering the Postal Service to submit this dispute to arbitration, in accordance with this Court’s Decision and Order, either on the next date on which national-level arbitration before the parties' mutually agreed-upon National- level arbitrator or, in the alternative, on a date and before an arbitrator mutually upon by the Postal Service and the APWU;

(4) Awarding costs, expenses and attorney’s fees to Plaintiff; and

(5) Providing such other additional relief as is just and proper.

Dated October 3, 2003  

Respectfully submitted,

O'DONNELL, SCHWARTZ & ANDERSON, P.C.

By:_____________________________

Darryl J. Anderson

DC Bar Number 154567

1300 L Street NW Suite 1200

Washington, DC 20005-4178

(202) 898-1707 FAX:(202) 682-9276

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OPM Early Out Extension Letter dated 9/9/03 Supports USPS regarding exclusion of  employees from Early Outs 10/4

APWU intends on opposing OPM letter in arbitration

Dear Mr. Donahoe: Based on your request, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has determined that a major reorganization is occurring within the U.S. Postal Service  This letter authorizes the continuing use of voluntary early retirements under sections 8336(d)(2) and 8414(b)(J) of title 5, United States Code (U.S.C.), and sections 831.114 and 842.213 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Your OPM authority number is now 2004-016, extending authority 2003-078,which OPM granted last June 13. This authority applies to U.S. Postal Service employees within the following occupational series and levels: These are the same categories of employees covered by OPM authority 2003-78.** As in that authority, the following are excluded: (1) Employees who have not been continuously on the agency's rolls since at least 31 days before the date of your request, August 6, 2003; (2) Employees serving under time-limited appointments; and (3) Employees in receipt of a decision of involuntary separation for misconduct or unsatisfactory performance. downsized version of OPM letter dated 9/9/03 as submitted by APWU to the District Court "...the Postal Service has been attempting to renege on its agreement with the APWU since July, and it now appears that USPS management is acting in concert with OPM." Burrus Update 10/2/03 **link added by postalreporter return to top

OPM EO Approval Letter to USPS (pdf) 6/13/03

Mr. Patrick L Donahoe Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President United States Postal Service 475 L’Enfant Plaza. SW. Washington. DC 20260-0080 Dear Mr. Donahoe: Based on your agency's request, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has determined that a need exists for a substantial reshaping of the workforce within the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) This letter authorizes the use of voluntary early retirements under sections 8336(d)(2) and 8414(b)(J) of title 5, United States Code (U.S.C.), and sections 831.114 and 842.213 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Your OPM authority number is 2003-078. As you have requested, this authority does not cover all employees of USPS. The following are excluded: (1) Any employees who have not been continuously on the agency=s rolls since at least 31 days before the date of your request, January 23,2003; (2) Any USPS employees who are not represented by the American Postal Workers Union; (3) Employees serving under time-limited appointments; and (4) Employees in receipt of a decision of involuntary separation for misconduct or unsatisfactory performance. USPS may offer voluntary early retirements to its eligible employees from the date of approval through September 30, 2003, subject to the provisions, limitations, and instructions outlined in this letter and sections 831.114 and 842.213 of 5 CFR.

Instructions for Use of This VERA You may determine the coverage of offers to eligible employees under this authority based on any  combination of organizational components, geographic areas, occupational series or 1evel,or other nonpersonal and objective factors. These offers may be established on your own initiative. You may establish early retirement window periods during which early retirements may be offered. These window periods may be established for any duration covered by this authority. You may limit window periods only by an established opening and closing date or by receipt of a specified number of early retirement applications. The manner of the limitation must be announced to employees at the time of the initial offer. You may subsequently establish and publicize a revised closing date, or a revised number of applications, when a change in management’s need to offer voluntary early retirement has occurred. The revised closing date, or number of applications, may be applicable to the entire authority or only to employees in specific organizational unit(s), occupational series or level(s), or geographic area(s). The notice of the revised closing date or number of applications must be publicized in the same manner and to the same group(s) of employees as the original notice. In granting this authority, OPM recognizes your need to offer voluntary early retirement to a specific group of employees within your organization for a specific period of time. You have not been delegated the authority to oversee any aspect of the voluntary early retirement program that is outside the scope of this delegation. We have granted this authority based on information concerning the number of excess employees in your agency, the number of employees eligible for voluntary early retirement, and the number of employees expected to exercise the early retirement option. You must use early retirements only to the extent necessary to achieve the changes in your workforce outlined in your request. You must notify OPM if; at any time, further use of voluntary early retirement will no longer accomplish the objectives stated in your request for authority. OPM may suspend or terminate an authority if OPM determines that your agency is no longer undergoing the substantial delayering, workforce reshaping, reorganization, reduction in force, or transfer of function that formed the basis for the approval of the authority. Also, OPM may suspend or terminate this authority if your agency is not operating its early retirement program in a manner consistent with applicable laws or regulatory requirements or if your agency is not complying with the reporting requirements provided in this approval letter. If you find that you must limit voluntary early retirements among your employees, you may adopt any fair and objective methods and criteria for approving applications that you believe are necessary. Please ensure that agency managers or employees do not coerce employees who are eligible for voluntary early retirement. Enclosure 1 return to top