The Foreign Service Journal, October 2003

T his is my first column since returning toWashington to begin my service on the AFSA Governing Board. Bill Crawford, our FCS representative, and I are in the early stages of establishing priorities and setting an agen- da, making this an excellent opportunity to invite your thoughts as to the detail of our work plan. My number one priority is to ensure that this is a membership-driven process. With this in mind, Bill and I will establish a new sys- tem to broaden the ability of all FCS members to shape our agenda. Any mem- ber is encouraged to contact us directly at any time. In addition, however, I believe we need to identify volunteers to serve as regional FCS AFSA representatives who would generate ideas and channel commentary on our priority issues. Our region- al members are frequently in touch with each other, thus facilitating discussion and communication. My goal is to have this regional network up and running before the end of the year. As for our agenda, we need to be active in twomajor areas that reflect the basic mission statement of AFSA. The first is commercial diplomacy. AFSA is a professional association as well as a union, and we represent those professionals at the forefront of the national effort to promote and defend our commercial inter- ests. With resources strained and much in demand by new, compet- ing programareas, our commercial diplomacy program is at a cross- roads. Program priorities were defined in the period immediately after the end of the Cold War. They are out- dated and backward-looking and need to be overhauled. Most importantly, we need to engage our business community to help drive this process. We also need to be leading the effort to reform and strengthen our commercial diplomacy pro- gram. Please share your views, and I will keep you updated at every step along the way as we begin our work in this area. The second item relates to our responsibilities as a union and partner withman- agement to improve the conditions of employment. I already witnessed much progress during this past summer. I participated in two consultations that con- cluded a multiyear effort to create a newManagement Planning and Performance Appraisal System as well as new precepts for the selection boards. These new poli- cies will dramatically change and improve FCS evaluation procedures. Many of our members were deeply engaged in this process, and the atmosphere between AFSA and management was excellent. Much credit goes to Peter Frederick, our outgoing vice president. For my part, I want to build on this success and work to deepen and expand on the very constructive AFSA-management attitude that I found in our August sessions. Please let Bill and me know if there are other issues that should be priorities. Also let us know how we are doing. We will provide you with monthly reports on our activities. Together I know we can make a difference. ▫ My goal is to have this regional network up and running before the end of the year. V.P. VOICE: FCS ■ BY CHARLES A. FORD Shaping a New Agenda OCTOBER 2003 • AFSA NEWS 5 authority to suggest and recommend promotions, or advances of pay for subordinate employees. —Administrative Exemption: For example, formulating management policy, doing work that is “intellectual or varied in nature,” or exercising dis- cretion and judgment. — Professional Exemption: For example, doing work that requires knowledge in a field of science or learn- ing that is customarily and characteris- tically acquired through education or training that meets the requirements of a bachelor’s or higher degree. The proposed changes to FLSA would extend these exemptions by, essentially, lowering the bar so that lower level supervisors, virtually all white-collar workers who have any education beyond high school, and employees who are “in a position of responsibility,” rather than actually supervising, would become “exempt” from FLSA. In the federal government, but not in the private sector, they would then become eligible for Title 5 overtime. The difference is consider- able. FLSA overtime is paid at a straight time-and-a-half. Title 5 over- time, on the other hand, is subject to a variety of caps, the most commonly encountered one being the hourly rate cap at one-and-a-half times the hourly rate of a GS-10/1, which at the basic rate without locality pay in 2003 comes to $28.11. If the changes are implemented as pro- posed, it is likely that more Foreign Service employees on domestic assign- ments—mostly IMSs and OMSs— will fall into categories that are “exempt” fromFLSA and will only be eligible for overtime pay under the Title 5 rules. This is likely to result in receiving less money per hour of overtime worked. For more information, go to the AFSA Web site at http://www.afsa.org/ statevp.cfm and look under Member Guidance for “Overtime and Compensatory Time Rules.” Briefs continued on page 6 News Briefs • Continued from page 4