National Weather Service Employees Organization

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
between
the National Weather Service (NWS)
and the
National Weather Service Employees Organization (NWSEO) regarding use of the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Instrument (MBTI)

The use of the MBTI instrument supports NOAA's Managing Diversity goals. The MBTI identifies individual preferences for gathering and processing information and making decisions, providing increased understanding of individual preferences as well as those of others. The MBTI can promote enhancement of interpersonal relationships through increased awareness and understanding of differences among employees both on an interpersonal and personal level. The parties agree increased knowledge and understanding of commonalities and differences can be both empowering and critical to individual and, ultimately, organizational success.

Therefore, the NWS and NWSEO agree to the following conditions regarding the administration of the MBTI instrument to all NWSEO bargaining unit employees:

1. The MBTI instrument shall be administered in accordance with the requirements and obligations established by Consulting Psychologists Press Inc.; practitioners are encouraged to review and incorporate NOAA s Diversity Council guidance into administration of the MBTI instrument;

2. The MBTI instrument shall be administered on a voluntary basis only;

3. Employees shall not be coerced in any way to participating in taking the MBTI instrument; accordingly, employees shall have the right to refrain from participation without fear of penalty, reprisal, disparate treatment, or any other prohibited personnel practice;

4. MBTI results, or a lack thereof, will not be used as the basis for effecting, or not effecting, any personnel action;

5. MBTI results will be kept confidential unless authorization is obtained from the respective employee; authorization may be either written, or implicit if the employee chooses to share his/her results during or after the feedback session;

6. The local union steward shall be notified of MBTI feedback sessions involving bargaining unit employees at the time employees are notified; the steward shall be afforded the opportunity to attend each session on official time;

7. The parties agree participation in the MBTI feedback session can be useful for all employees, regardless of an individual s participation in the instrument. However, employee participation in MBTI feedback session shall be on a voluntary basis when such sessions are held outside an employee s fixed tour of duty. Appropriate overtime or compensatory time shall be authorized for employees attending outside their fixed tour of duty.

8. Violations of this understanding may be grieved through the applicable negotiated grievance procedure.

9. This MOU becomes effective on the date endorsed by the latest signatory and remains in effect as long as NWS continues offering the MBTI instrument to NWSEO bargaining unit employees.