RETURN RIGHTS

To the extent that the Agency has a need for and maintains an administrative return rights program, the program shall be administered in accordance with applicable directives and the terms of this Agreement. If any changes to the program are proposed, the Agency will provide the Union ninety (90) days notice and the opportunity to negotiate the changes with the Union. Employees on overseas tours are entitled for the remainder of their current tour to the protection of the regulations under which they accepted the overseas assignment.

To maintain administrative return rights, the employee shall execute the employment agreement in Appendix J for each tour of duty. If an employee serves only one (1) tour, his/her tour should total thirty-six (36) months. Any subsequent tours should be twenty-four (24) months. The length of a tour of duty may be reduced if it is deemed to be in the best interest of the Agency; consideration will be given to the needs of the overseas organization, the needs of the parent organization, and personal desires/circumstances of the employee. Employees shall be advised of the length of the initial tour when applications are solicited.

The Agency shall provide the rights and benefits provided by applicable laws to all eligible employees on employment agreements under this Article. An employee’s pay shall be set in accordance with Article 108 of this Agreement when returning from a tour of duty.

Unless staffing and workload do not permit, an employee who enters into a new employment agreement shall be granted up to twelve (12) months following expiration of his/her preceding employment agreement to exercise his/her home leave and/or rights and benefits. Home leave will not be applied toward the time an employee is required to serve on his/her tour of duty.

Employees, who accept assignment outside the continental United States, and after completing a tour of duty, are allowed expenses for travel and transportation from post of duty to place of actual residence at time of appointment for transfer and return overseas, for the purpose of taking leave between tours of duty overseas. The employee must enter into a new written agreement before departure from his/her post of duty that he/she will serve for another period of service at the same or another post of duty outside the continental United States.\n This provision is also applicable to employees serving tours of duty in Alaska and Hawaii, but only under the following conditions. Employees who transferred to Alaska or Hawaii on or before September 8, 1982, will continue to be eligible to receive allowances for travel and transportation expenses for tour renewal travel to the maximum extent permissible under government-wide regulations. However, those who have transferred or are transferring to Alaska or Hawaii after September 8, 1982, are restricted. (Leave under this provision is not the same as "home leave" for which employees in Alaska and Hawaii are not entitled to in any event.).

Employees exercising return rights shall be given a list of all existing bargaining unit vacancies that are to be filled and for which he/she is qualified. He/she must make a selection from the list supplied. This shall be the position to which he/she is returned.

Waiver of employment agreements shall not be required for an early return of ninety (90) days or less, when an employee has been selected for another position.

Unless staffing and workload do not permit, tour extensions not to exceed an aggregate period of nine (9) months may be granted by the overseas organization to an employee after coordination with the parent organization.

An employee completing a tour of duty outside the continental United States shall notify the Agency not prior to one hundred eighty (180) calendar days nor less than one hundred fifty (150) calendar days before that tour expires that he/she shall or shall not return.

The Agency shall advise the employee of his/her specific assignment in the continental United States at least ninety (90) calendar days in advance of the expiration date of his/her current tour.

The Agency shall contact the employee prior to determining the release date. Careful consideration will be given to the employee's personal needs in determining a release date under this program.