Canadian Labour Reporter

8 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2017 November 13, 2017 ARBITRATION AWARDS supposed to begin working at midnight and run until 8 a.m. on Saturday — did not show up for work that evening. Shortly after midnight, Krische texted Andreas Hochstrasser, site coordinator and Krische's supervisor, and in- quired who would work the next shift. Hochstrasser attempted to reach other employees who could work the shift and relieve Krische. However, no other workers re- turned his calls. Hochstrasser asked Krische if he could work the overtime shift until 8 a.m., which was on his regularly scheduled day off. Krische agreed to do so and he worked the rest of the shift. He was paid time-and-one-half for the first two hours of the midnight shift, then double time for the rest of the period. When he checked his pay stub on June 24, Krische felt he should have been paid double time for all the hours worked, considering it was on a Saturday, which was his regularly scheduled day off. The collective agreement, un- der the overtime-pay heading, called for workers to be paid dou- ble time "for all hours worked on an employee's scheduled day off." On June 27, Krische sent an in- quiry to Hochstrasser about the disputed two hours of pay, but Hochstrasser said the employer thought Krische worked extra hours after his regular shift, which meant he was paid time-and-one- half "for the first two hours in ex- cess of the normally scheduled full shift hours per day." The union, Health Sciences Association of British Columbia, grieved the employer's decision and argued that because Krische worked on a Saturday — even though it was immediately after his shift — this trumped all other considerations and he should have received double time for all hours worked. Arbitrator Julie Nichols upheld the grievance and ordered the hospital to pay Krische double time for the disputed two hours of work. "(Krische) worked hours that fell on his scheduled Saturday off, as defined by the timeframes ne- gotiated in the agreement. He is, therefore, entitled to double time for those hours," said Nichols. Because the collective agree- ment made specific mention of allowing employees two days off — usually on Saturday and Sunday — it meant that anytime some- one worked after the calendar day changed at midnight, it was con- sidered a regularly scheduled day off and not a continuation of the previous shift, according to the arbitrator. "Given that article 24.08 links expressly to article 25, those pro- visions must be read together in a purposive and harmonious man- ner. Accordingly, I conclude that the parties have clearly expressed a mutual intention to pay double time for all hours worked on a scheduled day off. They have indi- cated that there will be periods of two consecutive days off and the weekend has particular impor- tance," said Nichols. Reference: Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (Delta Hospital) and Health Sciences Association of British Columbia. Julie Nichols — arbitrator. Andres Barker for the employer. Stephen Hutchison for the employee. Sept. 19, 2017. as normal, then let the engine run for about 10 more minutes. Haitas said he then took the truck out for a brief test ride, but after about a half–kilometre, while driving up a hill, the engine gave a "chuckle" and the starter only made a "click-click-click" sound before seizing fully. Hai- tas was able to turn it around and coast down the hill back to the machine shop. He walked up to colleague Chad Coulombe and asked for his help to bring the truck back into the shop. Coulombe testified that Haitas said, "I've fucked up, I didn't put any oil in it." However, Haitas claimed he didn't say anything like that to Coulombe. Haitas then spoke with Robert Walsh, fleet technical supervisor, about the seized engine. Walsh realized it was still under warranty so it was returned to the local Ford dealer, Northstar Ford. On Feb. 10, Chris MacDonald, mechanic at the dealership, in- spected the pickup. He testified the oil in the filter was "completely clean" which he found "suspi- cious" as engine oil typically had some residue if the vehicle had been driven. He told his superiors that in his opinion, the truck was driven without any oil, leading to its sei- zure. The truck was fixed and the municipality wasn't charged for anything because it was under warranty. Walsh eventually reviewed the invoice from Northstar in April and decided the "suspicious" find- ing from MacDonald should be further investigated. He spoke with Coulombe, who told him about Haitas' comment that he didn't put oil in the pickup truck. During an investigation meet- ing with Haitas on May 27, he maintained that he did place oil into the engine before driving it. But on June 25, Haitas was ter- minated for failing to put in oil in teh truck and for his dishonesty after the fact. The employer decided to pay for the expense of the repair — which was about $16,000 — after it decided that Haitas was not tell- ing the truth. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 1505, grieved the decision two days later and argued the just-cause reason- ing wasn't strong enough to war- rant a dismissal, especially con- sidering Haitas had no previous discipline on file. Arbitrator Leslie Wallace dis- missed the grievance. "(Haitas') insistence upon denying responsibility and con- structing an alternative version of events that supported the claim of innocence — first to his employer and ultimately to the arbitration hearing — displayed a continuing unwillingness to own up to his re- sponsibility," said Wallace. Because the cost to the munici- pality was not insubstantial, ac- cording to Wallace, the firing was justified, said the arbitrator. "This was a significant loss re- sulting from (Haitas') failure to properly perform what was plain- ly an elementary part of his main- tenance procedure. Unquestion- ably a disciplinary response was warranted," said Wallace. "(Haitas') willingness to thus shift the financial burden of the repair to Ford showed a disregard for the business relationship be- tween Ford and his employer that is troubling," said Wallace. Reference: Wood Buffalo (Regional Municipality) and Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 1505. J. Leslie Wallace — arbitrator. Danielle Emmett for the employer. Robert Szollosy, Stephanie Lustig for the employee. July 26, 2017. 'Particular importance' to weekends in contract: Arbitrator < Wood Buffalo pg. 1 < Double time pg. 1 Haitas "displayed a continuing unwillingness to own up to his responsibility."

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