A railroad required to develop a risk reduction program (RRP) under this part shall in good faith consult with and use its best efforts to reach agreement with its directly affected employees on the contents of the RRP plan. See § 271.207(a)(1). This appendix discusses the meaning of the terms “good faith” and “best efforts,” and provides non-mandatory guidance on how a railroad may comply with the requirement to consult with directly affected employees on the contents of its RRP plan. Guidance is provided for employees who are represented by a non-profit employee labor organization and employees who are not represented by any such organization.
I. The Meaning of “Good Faith” and “Best Efforts”
“Good faith” and “best efforts” are not interchangeable terms representing a vague standard for the § 271.207 consultation process. Rather, each term has a specific and distinct meaning. When consulting with directly affected employees, therefore, a railroad shall independently meet the standards for both the good faith and best efforts obligations. A railroad that does not meet the standard for one or the other will not be in compliance with the consultation requirements of § 271.207.
The good faith obligation requires a railroad to consult with employees in a manner that is honest, fair, and reasonable, and to genuinely pursue agreement on the contents of an RRP plan. If a railroad consults with its employees merely in a perfunctory manner, without genuinely pursuing agreement, it will not have met the good faith requirement. For example, a lack of good faith may be found if a railroad's directly affected employees express concerns with certain parts of the railroad's RRP plan, and the railroad neither addresses those concerns in further consultation nor attempts to address those concerns by making changes to the RRP plan.
On the other hand, “best efforts” establishes a higher standard than that imposed by the good faith obligation, and describes the diligent attempts that a railroad shall pursue to reach agreement with its employees on the contents of its RRP plan. While the good faith obligation is concerned with the railroad's state of mind during the consultation process, the best efforts obligation is concerned with the specific efforts made by the railroad in an attempt to reach agreement. This would include considerations such as whether a railroad had held sufficient meetings with its employees to address or make an attempt to address any concerns raised by the employees, or whether the railroad had made an effort to respond to feedback provided by employees during the consultation process. For example, a railroad would not meet the best efforts obligation if it did not initiate the consultation process in a timely manner, and thereby failed to provide employees sufficient time to engage in the consultation process. A railroad would also likely not meet the best efforts obligation if it presented employees with an RRP plan and only permitted the employees to express agreement or disagreement on the plan (assuming that the employees had not previously indicated that such a consultation would be acceptable). A railroad may, however, wish to hold off substantive consultations regarding the contents of its RRP plan until one year after publication of the rule to ensure that information generated as part of the process is protected from discovery and admissibility into evidence under § 271.11. Generally, best efforts are measured by the measures that a reasonable person in the same circumstances and of the same nature as the acting party would take. Therefore, the standard imposed by the best efforts obligation may vary with different railroads, depending on a railroad's size, resources, and number of employees.
When reviewing RRP plans, FRA will determine on a case-by-case basis whether a railroad has met its § 271.207 good faith and best efforts obligations. This determination will be based upon the consultation statement submitted by the railroad pursuant to § 271.207(b) and any statements submitted by employees pursuant to § 271.207(c). If FRA finds that these statements do not provide sufficient information to determine whether a railroad used good faith and best efforts to reach agreement, FRA may investigate further and contact the railroad or its employees to request additional information. (FRA also expects a railroad's directly affected employees to utilize good faith and best efforts when negotiating on the contents of an RRP plan. If FRA's review and investigation of the statements submitted by the railroad under § 271.207(b) and the directly affected employees under § 271.207(c) reveal that the directly affected employees did not utilize good faith and best efforts, FRA could consider this as part of its approval process.)
If FRA determines that a railroad did not use good faith and best efforts, FRA may disapprove the RRP plan submitted by the railroad and direct the railroad to comply with the consultation requirements of § 271.207. Pursuant to § 271.301(b)(3), if FRA does not approve the RRP plan, the railroad will have 90 days, following receipt of FRA's written notice that the plan was not approved, to correct any deficiency identified. In such cases, the identified deficiency would be that the railroad did not use good faith and best efforts to consult and reach agreement with its directly affected employees. If a railroad then does not submit to FRA within 90 days an RRP plan meeting the consultation requirements of § 271.207, the railroad could be subject to penalties for failure to comply with § 271.301(b)(3).
II. Guidance on How a Railroad May Consult With Directly Affected Employees
Because the standard imposed by the best efforts obligation will vary depending upon the railroad, there may be countless ways for various railroads to comply with the consultation requirements of § 271.207. Therefore, it is important to maintain a flexible approach to the § 271.207 consultation requirements, to give a railroad and its directly affected employees the freedom to consult in a manner best suited to their specific circumstances.
FRA is nevertheless providing guidance in this appendix as to how a railroad may proceed when consulting (utilizing good faith and best efforts) with employees in an attempt to reach agreement on the contents of an RRP plan. This guidance may be useful as a starting point for railroads that are uncertain about how to comply with the § 271.207 consultation requirements. This guidance distinguishes between employees who are represented by a non-profit employee labor organization and employees who are not, as the processes a railroad may use to consult with represented and non-represented employees could differ significantly.
This guidance does not establish prescriptive requirements with which a railroad shall comply, but merely outlines a consultation process a railroad may choose to follow. A railroad's consultation statement could indicate that the railroad followed the guidance in this appendix as evidence that it utilized good faith and best efforts to reach agreement with its employees on the contents of an RRP plan.
(a) Employees Represented by a Non-Profit Employee Labor Organization
As provided in § 271.207(b)(1), a railroad consulting with the representatives of a non-profit employee labor organization on the contents of an RRP plan will be considered to have consulted with the directly affected employees represented by that organization.
A railroad may utilize the following process as a roadmap for using good faith and best efforts when consulting with represented employees in an attempt to reach agreement on the contents of an RRP plan.
(1) Pursuant to § 271.207(b)(1), a railroad must meet with representatives from a non-profit employee labor organization (representing a class or craft of the railroad's directly affected employees) within 240 days from February 18, 2020 to begin the process of consulting on the contents of the railroad's RRP plan. A railroad must provide notice at least 60 days before the scheduled meeting.
(2) During the time between the initial meeting and the applicability date of § 271.11, the parties may meet to discuss administrative details of the consultation process as necessary.
(3) Within 60 days after February 17, 2021, a railroad should have a meeting with the representatives of the directly affected employees to discuss substantive issues with the RRP plan.
(4) Within 180 days after February 17, 2021 or as otherwise provided by § 271.301(b), a railroad would file its RRP plan with FRA.
(5) As provided by § 271.207(e), if agreement on the contents of an RRP plan could not be reached, a labor organization (representing a class or craft of the railroad's directly affected employees) may file a statement with the FRA Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety and Chief Safety Officer explaining its views on the plan on which agreement was not reached.
(b) Employees Who Are Not Represented by a Non-Profit Employee Labor Organization
FRA recognizes that some (or all) of a railroad's directly affected employees may not be represented by a non-profit employee labor organization. For such non-represented employees, the consultation process described for represented employees may not be appropriate or sufficient. For example, a railroad with non-represented employees should make a concerted effort to ensure that its non-represented employees are aware that they are able to participate in the development of the railroad's RRP plan. FRA therefore is providing the following guidance regarding how a railroad may utilize good faith and best efforts when consulting with non-represented employees on the contents of its RRP plan.
(1) Within 120 days from February 18, 2020, a railroad may notify non-represented employees that—
(A) The railroad is required to consult in good faith with, and use its best efforts to reach agreement with, all directly affected employees on the proposed contents of its RRP plan;
(B) Non-represented employees are invited to participate in the consultation process (and include instructions on how to engage in this process); and
(C) If a railroad is unable to reach agreement with its directly affected employees on the contents of the proposed RRP plan, an employee may file a statement with the FRA Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety and Chief Safety Officer explaining his or her views on the plan on which agreement was not reached.
(2) This initial notification (and all subsequent communications, as necessary or appropriate) could be provided to non-represented employees in the following ways:
(A) Electronically, such as by email or an announcement on the railroad's website;
(B) By posting the notification in a location easily accessible and visible to non-represented employees; or
(C) By providing all non-represented employees a hard copy of the notification.
A railroad could use any or all of these methods of communication, so long as the notification complies with the railroad's obligation to utilize best efforts in the consultation process.
(3) Following the initial notification (and before submitting its RRP plan to FRA), a railroad should provide non-represented employees a draft proposal of its RRP plan. This draft proposal should solicit additional input from non-represented employees, and the railroad should provide non-represented employees 60 days to submit comments to the railroad on the draft.
(4) Following this 60-day comment period and any changes to the draft RRP plan made as a result, the railroad should submit the proposed RRP plan to FRA, as required by this part.
(5) As provided by § 271.207(e), if agreement on the contents of an RRP plan cannot be reached, then a non-represented employee may file a statement with the FRA Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety and Chief Safety Officer explaining his or her views on the plan on which agreement was not reached.