Canadian Employment Law Today

PM40065782 Emplo y ment Law Today Canad ad a ian www.employmentlawtoday.com August 19, 2015 Employee resigns, starts over at entry-level position Employee can't resign from position without also resigning from employment, even if applying for job in another department: Arbitrator BY JEFFREY R. SMITH A BRITISH COLUMBIA worker who re- signed her position but accepted another position with the same employer two weeks later is not entitled to have credit for her pre- vious service, an arbitrator has ruled. Derra Truscott attended Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Vancouver. After she graduated, she started working in the uni- versity's temporary pool in 2008. Two years later, she was hired in a full-time position as a program assistant in the university's Life- long Learning Department at the downtown campus. In September 2012, Truscott began her studies in a Master's degree program at SFU's suburban campus in Burnaby, B.C. She applied for several other jobs at SFU as well. One strike and you're out! pg. 3 When a single act of misconduct can be just cause for dismissal with Tim Mitchell CREDIT: ALEXSKOPJE/SHUTTERSTOCK False accusation leads to real dismissal pg. 4 Employee's claims supervisor threatened him were false and in bad faith in light of co-workers' reports that nothing of the sort happened EMPLOYEE'S ACTIONS on page 6 » ASK AN EXPERT pg. 2 Employees working alone Employee's voluntary extra shift warrants OT pay: Arbitrator A SASKATCHEWAN employer must pay overtime pay to an employee who volun- teered to work on her day off , an arbitrator has ruled. Susanne Kraus was a permanent full-time server at e Bentley, a retirement living community in Moose Jaw, Sask., operated by RRR Sas Capital Facilities. Kraus was hired in November 2008 and worked on a three- week shift rotation – 40 hours in week one, 32 hours in week two, and 40 hours in week three. e collective agreement between Sas Capital Facilities and Kraus' union stipu- lated that employees who were "required to work on their scheduled days off shall be paid overtime at the rate of two (2) times their regular pay for all hours worked." For hours worked in excess of the employee's regular hours, the rate of pay was one-and-one half times the regular rate. Normal hours of work were set at eight hours per day and 40 hours per week. During the week of June 23, 2013, Kraus was scheduled to work 32 hours as she was on the second week of a three-week shift schedule. She worked four eight-hour days. On one of the days she didn't work, she was called in to attend a three-hour staff develop- ment meeting and was paid for three hours. On the fourth and fi nal workday of the week, Kraus was asked by her supervisor to work a fi ve-hour shift the following day, which was a scheduled off -day for her. Kraus had signed up for a list of people indicating they were available to be called in for addi- tional shifts, a practice that was done twice per year. Kraus had indicated she was avail- able to work "anything." When shifts were available, the supervisor would call people on the list in order of seniority until someone accepted. Employees on the list were free to accept or refuse. Kraus accepted and worked the shift, ex- pecting to get paid double time. However, when she received her paycheque the next WORKER'S CHOICE on page 7 »

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