Canadian Labour Reporter - sample

April 24, 2017

Canadian Labour Reporter is the trusted source of information for labour relations professionals. Published weekly, it features news, details on collective agreements and arbitration summaries to help you stay on top of the changing landscape.

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8 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2017 ARBITRATION AWARDS April 24, 2017 (between May 5 to May 8, and on July 28), the pair were not brought back to work. Their recall rights expired on July 31, 2015. The ministry contended that as part of its management rights, it was allowed to assign work to labourers instead of Anderson and Palmer to keep costs down. The union, B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union, grieved the treatment, arguing the pair should have been recalled for the research planting project in May and the cone harvest in July. Both worked managing seeds, cones and trees at the orchard, which is located in Tappen, B.C. In most years, the pair would pick cones in addition to other duties, but once every four years, according to Palmer, extra labourers would be brought in to provide more help when the crop was too large for the existing staff to handle. In May 2015, Anderson went to the SSO office to retrieve her pesticide ticket, and she saw various people planting trees, which she felt forest technicians such as herself and Palmer should have been recalled to do. Hilary Graham, SSO manager, said, "There wasn't enough work" when questioned by Anderson about why they weren't recalled. "If (the cone crop) is now to be done by labourer(s) instead of (forest technicians), it would have been ethical to let Cindy (and I) know. We are willing to work," wrote Palmer to Graham on July 23. But a 2014 site review completed by Stephen Joyce, seed production manager, showed the orchard had been losing money for years, which was against its mandate. Joyce determined SSO was overstaffed at times, leading to high labour costs. Arbitrator Marli Rusen upheld the grievance. "If the employer implements operational or staff- ing changes in a manner that breaches the collective agree- ment — as it has in these circum- stances — then the violation has occurred, regardless of the un- derlying intention." When management decided to cut costs by hiring labourers instead of forest technicians to do the jobs they had previously done (picking cones), it did not have the right to do so, said Rusen. "The fact that some of these duties had also been and could be performed by individuals in a lower classification (i.e. labourers) does not justify a refusal to recall Anderson and Palmer if, as in this case, it is work ordinarily done by them in the past." Forest technicians had done similar work on many occasions in the past. "The testimony of Anderson and Palmer and other witnesses, along with the detailed information set out in the 2014 Orchard Costing System, makes it abundantly clear that forest technicians at SSO have routinely engaged in both skilled and unskilled tasks, including cone picking, actual planting, assisting with research, building maintenance among many other duties," said Rusen. "The work performed by labourers during the week of July 28, 2015, was 'the same nature of work and for the same purpose' as the work performed by Anderson and Palmer in the prior seasons in which they worked. It is work that falls squarely within the 'family of tasks' associated with Anderson and Palmer's previous work at SSO." Reference: Ministry of Forests, Lands, Resources and Operations and B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union. Marli Rusen — arbitrator. Denise Pritchard for the employer. Erik Hoibak for the employee. March 20, 2017. Social worker dismissed during probationary period A SOCIAL WORKER was hired by the Newfoundland and Labra- dor Department of Child, Youth and Family Services (CYFS) in 2014, but then dismissed in 2015. Amanda Neville began work on Nov. 14, 2014, but on July 23, 2015, she was released by the depart- ment. Neville hadn't yet complet- ed 975 working hours so no cause was needed to terminate her em- ployment, according to CYFS. Neville worked at the Sheshat- shiu office providing social servic- es for the Aboriginal community. A Nov. 10 letter for Neville, written by the director of strate- gic human resource management at CYFS, stated: "You will be re- quired to serve a probationary period of six months upon com- pletion of the CYFS training." But Neville testified she did not re- ceive this letter, perhaps because she just moved to the province and it could have been sent to her old address in the Northwest Ter- ritories. A June 8, 2015, letter was also sent by a compensation and ben- efits division human resource sec- retariat worker to Neville regard- ing her application for a mortgage. It stated she was a "full-time em- ployee" and had been so since Nov. 17, 2014. When Neville was hired, she missed out on attending the Octo- ber pre-core training courses and the next available block of training time was scheduled for January 2015, according to the manager of employee relations at the human resources secretariat. As a result, the amount of actu- al hours worked was 767.5 hours, well short of the 975 hours indi- cated. And although Neville accom- panied a fully-trained case worker during work time, she was not legally responsible to assume the duties of a social worker in the community, according to the clinical program supervisor at the Sheshatshiu office. However, Neville said she had been given a full caseload and did the same work as other social workers on staff. She said she was on call as a backup and was pro- vided with a cellphone. As well, she was paid overtime for correc- tions caseload training in Labra- dor City. The most recent collec- tive agreement had its wording changed under the definition of probationary period, from six months to 975 hours with a "full caseload if applicable," accord- ing to Amanda Galway, employee relations officer for the union, Newfoundland and Labrador As- sociation of Public and Private Employees. The union grieved the termi- nation and argued once Neville was provided with a full caseload, that meant her employment hours commenced, not when she started training. It contended Neville actually worked 1,092 hours up to her dis- missal on July 23. Arbitrator James Oakley dis- missed the grievance due to clear wording in the collective agree- ment, which read: "For employees who are required to undertake training on employment, whose probationary period shall com- mence immediately following such training." Because Neville didn't do the required training, her hours were not counted until after it was done, according to Oakley. "I have found that the Neville's probationary period did not start until she completed the pre-core training on Jan. 23, 2015. It is un- necessary in this case to interpret and apply the meaning of 'full caseload' in order to decide the is- sue of whether Neville was a pro- bationary employee on the date she was dismissed from employ- ment," said Oakley. "The hours worked between Nov. 10, 2014, and Jan. 23, 2015, were prior to completion of pre- core training, were prior to the commencement of her proba- tionary period, and did not count towards her probationary period." Reference: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees. James Oakley — arbitrator. Bernadette Cole Gendron for the employer. Andy Parsons for the em- ployee. Dec. 6, 2016. < Forest technicians pg. 1

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