DEFINITIONS The following terms are defined to clarify their use with regard to the provisions of this Agreement. Absence Without Leave (AWOL): an absence without prior approval, and is a nonpay status resulting from an Agency determination that it will not grant any type of leave (not even leave without pay) for a period of absence for which the employee did not obtain advance authorization or for which a request for leave has been denied. Administrative Dismissal: the release of an employee or groups of employees without charge to leave or loss of pay. For example, when administrative dismissal is authorized because of weather conditions, disaster, or other emergency conditions, employees who reported for work will be dismissed without loss of pay or leave for the remainder of their work shift, except for those employees whose services are specifically required. Adverse Action: removals, suspensions of more than 14 days, reduction in grade or pay, and furloughs of 30 days or less. Agency: the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) Operating Locations. Alternative Work Schedules (AWS): are flexible work schedules and compressed work schedules. See Article 12 for specific provisions. Call-back Overtime: irregular or occasional overtime work performed by an employee for which they are required to return to the place of employment to perform the work. Competitive Area: for purposes of reduction-in-force and transfer of function, the competitive area is each DFAS Center, OPLOC or geographically separate DFAS activity. Competitive Level: that part of an Agency within which employees are in competition for retention in a reduction-in-force. See Article 29 for further information. Contagious Disease: a disease which is subject to quarantine, or which requires isolation or restriction of movement by the patient for a specified period prescribed by the health authorities having jurisdiction. Continuation of Pay: the Federal Employee Compensation Act provides that an employee's regular pay may be continued for up to 45 calendar days of wage loss due to disability and/or medical treatment following a traumatic injury. The intent of the provision is to eliminate interruption in the employee's income while the claim is being adjudicated. See Article 18 for further information. Core Time Bands: those hours of the day that employees not on leave or other authorized absence are required to be present for work. Demotion: a personnel action that moves an employee to (1) a position at a lower grade when both the old and new positions are under the General Schedule or under the same type graded wage schedule, or (2) a position with a lower rate of basic pay when both the old and new positions are under the same type ungraded wage scale or in a different pay-method category. Detail: the temporary assignment of an employee to a different position, without change in status or pay, for a specified period of time. Disability Compensation: compensation benefits received by an employee for disability arising from personal injury or disease sustained while in the performance of duty. See Article 18 for further information. Exclusive Representative: the union locals entitled to act for and negotiate agreements for employees in the bargaining units covered by this Agreement, and responsible for representing the interests of all employees in the units represented without discrimination and without regard to union membership. See Article 1 for further information. Excused Absence: absence from duty administratively authorized without charge to leave or loss of pay. Flextime Bands: those hours of the workday, within the approved tour of duty, that employees may schedule their flextime. Hazardous Duty: a duty performed under circumstances in which an accident could result in serious injury or death, such as a duty performed on a high structure where protective facilities are not used, or on an open structure where adverse conditions such as darkness, lightning, steady rain, or high wind velocity exist. Hazardous Material: any chemical or substance, which by its nature presents a fire, explosive, reactive, or biological hazard. Imminent Danger Right: - the right of an employee to decline to perform his or her assigned task because of a reasonable belief that, under the circumstances, the task poses an imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm coupled with a reasonable belief that there is insufficient time to seek effective redress through normal hazard reporting and abatement procedures. Inspection: a comprehensive survey of all or part of a workplace in order to detect health and safety hazards. See Article 17 for further information. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): selective factors that are used in the competitive promotion process, which consist of the specific job-related experience that is required for the position that is being filled. See Article 26 for further information. Leave Without Pay (LWOP): a temporary nonpay status and nonduty status (or absence from a prescheduled tour of duty) granted at the employee's request. Leave Year: the period beginning with the first day of the first complete pay period in a calendar year and ending with the day immediately before the first day of the first complete pay period in the following calendar year. Medical Certificate: a written statement signed by a registered practicing physician or other practitioner certifying to the incapacitation, examination, or treatment, or to the period of disability while the patient was receiving professional treatment. Merit Promotion Program: the process through which the Agency considers employees for vacant positions on the basis of merit. Vacant positions are usually filled through competition, with applicants being evaluated and ranked for the position on the basis of their experience, education, skills, and performance record. See Article 26 for details of the process. Official Time: time authorized for union officials and stewards to represent employees, resolve issues and concerns, and administer this Agreement. See Article 9 for further information. On-call Overtime: those occasional situations when an employee is notified that they are subject to call during a specified period of time outside their normal tour of duty. Other Duties as Assigned: when used in a position description, it will normally mean tasks, which are reasonably related to the position, and are of an incidental nature. See Article 31 for further information. Performance Appraisal: the act or process of reviewing and evaluating the performance of an employee against the described performance standards for critical and noncritical elements. See Article 35 for further information. Performance Plan: the written record of an employee's critical and noncritical elements and performance standards. See Article 35 for further information. Performance Standards: a statement of the expectations or requirements established by management for each critical and noncritical element in a Performance Plan. A performance standard may include but is not limited to factors such as quality (how well). Position Classification: analysis of the kind of work, level of difficulty and responsibility, and the qualification requirements of a position, and placement of the position in a class and grade according to published standards. See Article 31 for further information. Position (or Job) Description: a statement of duties and responsibilities comprising the work assigned to a civilian employee. Probationary Period: trial period which OPM regards as a final and highly significant test, that of actual performance/conduct on the job, with no preliminary testing methods can approach in validity. It is during this period that the employee may be released without undue formality. Progress Review: a review of the employee's progress toward achieving performance standards (not in itself a rating). Promotion: the change of an employee to a position at a higher grade level within the same job classification system and pay schedule or to a position with a higher rate of basic pay in a different job classification system and pay schedule. See Article 26 for further information. Qualified Candidates: candidates who meet established qualification requirements for a position. See Article 26 for further information, including definitions of "Highly Qualified" and "Best Qualified." Rating Officials: the individuals in the employee's chain of supervisors who prepare and approve employee performance plans and ratings (the rating supervisor, the reviewer, and the approving official). Rating Period: the period of time, normally one year but not less than 90 days, for which an employee's performance will be reviewed and a performance rating assigned under an approved performance plan. Reasonable Time: the amount of time sufficient to show whether the employee can meet minimum performance standards. It will vary with the position and is dependent on such factors as the complexity and frequency of duties. Reduction-in-Force (RIF): a separation of an employee from his or her competitive level, required by the Agency because of lack of work or funds, abolition of position or Agency, or cuts in personnel authorizations. See Article 29 for further information. Reduction in Grade: the involuntary assignment of an employee to a position at a lower classification or grade level. Referral List: the certificate containing the names of the top ranked candidates eligible to be considered by the selecting official for competitive promotion. Removal: the involuntary separation of an employee from employment. Reorganization: the elimination, addition, or realignment of major functions or duties in an organization and/or organizational unit. Representation Rights: the law states that "A labor organization which has been accorded exclusive recognition is the exclusive representative of the employees in the unit it represents and is entitled to act for, and negotiate collective bargaining agreements covering, all employees in the unit." See Articles 1, 4, and 9 for further information. Selecting Official: the individual delegated authority by the Agency to make the decision regarding the selection for placement into a position. Series: classes of positions similar in specialized line of work but differing in difficulty or responsibility of work, or qualifications requirements, and therefore differing in grade and pay range. Servicing Payroll Office: the DFAS activity which is responsible for processing the pay of the employee. Standard Tour of Duty: the specific hours in the standard 8-hour workday. Standard Workweek: five 8-hour days, normally Monday through Friday, unless local circumstances require a different workweek for some employees. Full-time employees are on duty regularly 8 hours per day, unless on an alternative work schedule (AWS). Part-time employees are on duty on prescribed days and hours. Standby Overtime: hours of work when the employee is restricted to their duty station, close to it, or their living quarters and they are required to remain in a state of readiness to perform work. Subject Matter Expert: a person who has demonstrated knowledge and experience about the duties and responsibilities of a particular position (e.g., incumbents of similar positions, supervisors of the position, etc.). See Article 26 for further information. Summary Rating: the written record of the appraisal of each critical and noncritical element and the assignment of one of five ratings to describe overall performance; i.e., Exceptional, Highly Successful, Fully Successful, Minimally Acceptable, or Unacceptable. Temporary Promotion: an increase in pay grade for a specified period of time, after which an employee reverts to his or her previous pay grade. Transfer of Function: the transfer of the performance of a continuing function from one competitive area and its addition to one or more other competitive areas, except here the function involved is virtually identical to a function already being performed in the other competitive area(s) affected, or the movement of the competitive area in which the function is performed to another local commuting area. Traumatic Injury: a wound or other condition of the body caused by external force including stress or strain. See Article 18 for further information Union: the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Locals. Video Display Terminals (VDTs): word processors and/or computer terminals, which display information on television-like screens (cathode ray tubes).