1. (a) Purpose. The purpose of the agency's statement of position is to inform the Authority and the exclusive representative why a proposal or provision is outside the duty to bargain or contrary to law, respectively, and whether the agency disagrees with any facts or arguments made by the exclusive representative in the petition.
2. (b) Time limit for filing. Unless the time limit for filing has been extended pursuant to § 2424.23 or part 2429 of this subchapter, the agency must file its statement of position within thirty (30) days after the date the head of the agency receives a copy of the petition for review.

3. (c) Content. You must file your statement of position on a form that the Authority has provided for that purpose, or in a substantially similar format. You meet this requirement if you file your statement electronically through use of the eFiling system on the FLRA's website at www.flra.gov. That website also provides copies of statement forms. You must date your statement, unless you file it electronically through use of the eFiling system. And, regardless of how you file your statement, your statement must:

   1. (1) Withdraw either:

      1. (i) The allegation that the duty to bargain in good faith does not extend to the exclusive representative's proposal, or
      2. (ii) The disapproval of the provision under 5 U.S.C. 7114(c); or

   2. (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:

      1. (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;
      2. (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. (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;

      1. (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
      2. (ii) [Reserved]
   4. (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.
4. (d) Service. A copy of the agency's statement of position, including all attachments, must be served in accord with § 2424.2(g).

[88 FR 62457, Sept. 12, 2023; 88 FR 69873, Oct. 10, 2023]