NTEU-Won Pre-Tax Parking Benefit Now in Effect
CBP employees who carpool or use mass transit to get to work can now take advantage of a pre-tax parking benefit NTEU won in the contract. Under the program, employees can elect to contribute up to $240 per month of pre-tax salary for qualified out-of-pocket parking expenses. Full and part-time employees can participate if they:
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use mass public transportation, or are the primary driver in a vanpool or carpool of two or more persons as their daily means to commute to and from work;
- park at an eligible parking location (metro parking lot, commercial lot, privately-owned parking lot, parking garage or parking meter) near a mass transit station; and
- are not assigned or have access to subsidized parking provided by CBP or another federal agency (individually or as a member of a carpool or vanpool).
This pre-tax benefit is separate and in addition to a public transit subsidy employees may be receiving from CBP. This benefit is designed to encourage the use of public transportation and does not apply to employees who drive to their workplaces and do not use public transportation or car pool.
Since pre-tax payroll deductions are taken from an employee’s gross pay before taxes are withheld, they reduce the employee’s taxable income, which reduces the amount of income tax and Social Security and Medicare withholding. The result is more net take-home pay in an employee's paycheck. Download an application.
New Voluntary Reassignment Process Coming in February
Employees looking to move to a different port will soon see a new process in place that should make it a little easier. The new voluntary reassignment process that was negotiated as part of the
contract will be implemented in February. NTEU has been pressing for a replacement of the current process.
"The new voluntary reassignment rosters will bring a little more transparency and fairness to a procedure that employees perceived as one-sided and arbitrary," said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley. "This new procedure does not include all the changes NTEU fought for during negotiations but it adds some improvements and brings us to a place where we can continue to fight for more."
Under the new procedure, CBP Officers and Agriculture Specialists can indicate their preferences for lateral reassignments to up to three locations. The agency is required to make decisions about requests for voluntary reassignments based on seniority and one of every two vacancies not filled with probationary employees must be filled using voluntary reassignment rosters.
NTEU will monitor the process carefully and look at cases where employees get passed over by a probationary hire.
NTEU also negotiated improvements to procedures that govern the voluntary reassignments of employees outside of these two job classifications.