5 U.S.C. § 7122
Section 7122 · Exceptions to arbitral awards
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 83 court decisions — leading case Devine v. White (1983)
Most recently applied in Federal Education Association Stateside Region v. FLRA (June 2024)
Applied most in the District Circuit Circuit (27 decisions)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Either party to arbitration under this chapter may file with the Authority an exception to any arbitrator's award pursuant to the arbitration (other than an award relating to a matter described in section 7121(f) of this title). If upon review the Authority finds that the award is deficient—
(1) because it is contrary to any law, rule, or regulation; or
(2) on other grounds similar to those applied by Federal courts in private sector labor-management relations;
the Authority may take such action and make such recommendations concerning the award as it considers necessary, consistent with applicable laws, rules, or regulations.
(b) If no exception to an arbitrator's award is filed under subsection (a) of this section during the 30-day period beginning on the date the award is served on the party, the award shall be final and binding. An agency shall take the actions required by an arbitrator's final award. The award may include the payment of backpay (as provided in section 5596 of this title).
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1984—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98–224 amended subsec. (b) generally, substituting “beginning on the date the award is served on the party” for “beginning on the date of such award”.