By order and design, the ELRB are the "experts" regarding employment matters such as discipline, promotions, transfers, etc. The governing orders make the ELRB available to all employees, from the line agent to SES managers.
If you are seeking guidance from ELRB regarding a grievance, hostile work environment, other adverse matter or unethical act by ATF management, the ELRB is already aware of your situation. All such actions imposed by ATF managers are fine-tuned by ELRB and Counsel’s office before you even know about them.
Wouldn’t it be great if field agents could have a resource such as ELRB and Counsel’s Office write their daily reports and assume all responsibility for accuracy, ethics and procedural correctness? That is basically what happens when a management official sends a proposed personnel action to the ELRB and Counsel’s Office for review and approval. The bottom line is that when you file a complaint with ELRB, you may be conferring with the same decision makers that drafted or approved your adverse action in the first place! How likely is it they they will point out errors or improper decisions made by the managers you are challenging? Not very.
