Canadian Labour Reporter

APRIL 7, 2014 6 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2014 ends. An employee requiring additional babysitter costs due to overtime will be reimbursed $6 per hour per child. Meal allowance: $6 after 2 hours overtime. Additional $6 if em- ployee is required to work after midnight. Dental: Green Shield Dental Plan 19. The employer will provide 100% of orthodontic services to a maximum of $6,000. No other information available. Vision: $500 every 2 years. The vision care plan includes reim- bursement for laser eye surgery as an alternative to glasses. No other information available. Sick leave: 1.5 days per month worked. Life insurance: Coverage of 3 times the employee's salary. The employer will pay full premiums. The employer agrees to carry $15,000 life insurance coverage for COPE Local 491 retirees, to be paid to their estate or beneficiary. Bereavement leave: 5 days for employee's parent, spouse, fi- ancé, child or former guardian. 3 days for employee's brother, sister, parent-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandparent, grandchild or ward. 1 day for em- ployee's aunt, uncle, niece, nephew or a person with whom they have a very close relationship. Reasonable travel time will be provided when the burial takes place out of town. Seniority – recall rights: 3 years. Call-in pay: At least 3 hours at the applicable overtime rate in addition to transportation allowance. Probationary period: 2 months. Discipline: Sunset clause is 1 year. Uniforms/clothing: Any employee required to use reproduction or duplicating machines will be supplied with a smock or other protective clothing. Sample rates of pay (current, after 2.25% increase): Administrative Assistant/Research Assistant/Technology Assis- tant/Job Evaluation Assistant/Legal Analyst/Wage and Salary Analyst/Senior Collective Agreement Analyst: $1,288.21 Bookkeeper I: $1,238.71 Executive Secretary/Senior Secretary/Technology Analyst/Col- lective Agreement Analyst/Information Clerk I: $1,211.74 Personnel Clerk/Bookkeeper II: $1,193.86 Information Clerk II: $1,186.65 Secretary (Clerical Office): $1,180.62 Purchasing and Receiving Clerk: $1,179.01 Secretary: $1,161.51 Statistical Clerk-Typist: $1,143.19 Clerk Typist/Receptionist Clerk-Typist/Receptionist/Machine Operator/Maintenance-Stockroom Clerk: $1,124.18 Editor's notes: Moving expenses: Any employee moved at the re- quest of the employer or as the result of a promotion will be paid full moving expenses. Income protection: An employee whose job is changed or who is displaced due to technological change will suffer no reduction in basic earnings. Bilingual bonus: 7% bonus for employees who are required to use the second official language 25% of the time in the performance of their duties. Coffee: Employees are permitted to have coffee at their desks. Pregnancy/maternity leave: 17 unpaid weeks. Parental leave: 37 unpaid weeks. Adoption leave: 52 unpaid weeks. Compassionate care leave: 8 weeks. Jury or court witness duty: The employer will pay an employee the difference between normal earnings and the payment received for jury service or court witness. The employee will present proof of service and the amount of pay received. Marriage: 3 paid days. Home emergency: 3 paid days. Travel insurance: The employer pays the full cost of a master policy for travel insurance to cover all members, in the amount of $200,000. Union education: The employer will contribute $4 per month per employee for the purpose of union education. Arbitration Awards Summaries of recent arbitration awards from federal and provincial arbitration boards. For summaries from past issues, visit www.labour-reporter.com for a searchable online archive. Your paid subscription includes unlimited access to the archive. Continued on page 8 Who foots the bill for safety footwear? TAKING A WALK in a correctional officer's shoes would raise a number of concerns — safety, in particular. That matter was brought up by the union representing cor- rectional officers at the North Slave Correctional Centre (NSCC) in Yellowknife. In 2010, the government-run facility introduced a new policy that did not require safety footwear. While correc- tional officers were still expected to wear black shoes or boots, management stopped paying out the contract's annual safety footwear allowance of $250. The Union of Northern Workers (UNW), affiliated with the Public Service Alliance of Canada, filed a grievance. Not only was the elimination of the requirement to wear safety footwear unreasonable because there was no internal or external safety consultation, but the change was unjustified. Even if the policy could be justified, UNW went on to say, specified footwear was part of a uniform and therefore correctional officers were entitled to free shoes or boots under the collective agreement. "There was no explanation for why management decided to change the policy and cease requiring, and paying for, safety footwear," the union argued. "To meet a reasonableness test, a change in policy required a rationale, and none had been provided," the UNW explained. The province saw otherwise. It was up to the discretion of the correctional facility as to whether its officers required safety footwear. Furthermore, a requirement to wear black shoes or boots did not, as the union suggested, translate into a regulated uniform and did not warrant funding. Characterized by the prov- ince as a dress code and not a uniform, the black shoes or boots requirement should be treated as such. For correctional officers at the NSCC, the employer provided free of charge shirts with badges, jackets, pants and ties. "Shoes were not included because employees were permit- ted a great deal of discretion within a co-ordinated appearance," management explained. "There was no intent to achieve absolute consistency in footwear." Under the collective agreement, the particulars for footwear

• Cover