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HomeMy WebLinkAboutUnion 89-10-31 IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION BETWEEN: ALGONQUIN COLLEGE (The College) AND: ONTARIO PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES UNION (The Union) AND IN THE MATTER OF A-UNION POLICY GRIEVANCE - OPSEU 987P95 BOARD OF ARBITRATION: H.D. BROWN, CHAIRMAN R.J. GALLIVAN, COLLEGE NOMINEE RON COCHRANE, UNION NOMINEE APPEARANCES FOR THE COLLEGE: MARY LOU TIMS, COUNSEL C. WARBURTON, DIRECTOR, HUMAN RESOURCES APPEARANCES FOR THE UNION: PETER LUKASIEWICZ, COUNSEL D. BRANDY HEARINGS IN THIS MATTER WERE HELD AT OTTAWA ON OCTOBER 6th, 1987, APRIL 27, 1988, JANUARY 11 and MARCH 22nd, 1989. AWARD - 1 - The grievance was filed by the Union on May 21st, 1987, under the provisions of a Collective Agreement in effect between the parties at all material times. The claim of the Union is that the College improperly excluded certain employees from the bargaining unit, that they had been improperly classified and improperly assigned work. The Union seeks to have such employees included in the academic bargaining unit. The claim involves two employees, Paulette Godwin and Mary Ann Hanson, each of which were classified as a Support Services Officer B, a position in the support staff bargaining unit and were Career Advisors in the Futures Program. It is the Union's position that their job duties are identical to those of a Counsellor in the academic bargaining unit and therefore these two positions were improperly classified which should be changed to Counsellor falling within the academic bargaining unit. The parties agree that the Board was properly constituted and that it had jurisdiction in this matter. The Board received considerable and detailed evidence of the parties during the course of the hearings noted above, all of which has been considered by it in its preparation of this award. The Board is obliged to counsel for the parties for the completeness of their submissions.with' regards-to the difficult issue in this dispute. - 2 - Paulette Godwin has an undergraduate arts degree from Dalhousie University, an educational degree from the University of New Brunswick and has a two years Masters in Education in guidance counselling from the University of Western Ontario, graduating in 1979, following which she was a supply teacher in a Community College in New Brunswick in basic education and English. She was employed by the College in April 1985 after graduating from Western as a counsellor with Ontario Youth Start Program which is similar to the program referred to in this matter and called Futures which program was established by the Ontario Ministry of Skills Development and offered through Community Colleges to assist disadvantaged persons to find employment. Prior to becoming a Career Advisor in May 1986, she did some supply teaching for Basic Education at the College and worked in life skills in the Futures program for youths who, because of lack of education or other personal problems have employment barriers. There is pre-employment preparation (PEP) which involves 16 weeks of intensive training in basic mathematics, English and other subjects from full time teaching masters in order to deal with the barriers for their employment which includes a life skill course and career planning. They are tested and given exercises to find their skills. There is a computerized aptitude testing system and they work with the Singer evaluation system to evaluate the trainees ability in - 3 - different jobs to see wht they can perform. There is a two week work placement introductioninto the work experience to try the jobs devised by the tests. At the intake stage of the program, the students are told of and given a choice of options. The Career Advisors are present to help them with their decision and outline PEP. The application form is filled out by the trainee and then the Career Advisor makes a more intense assessment of them on an "intake assessment summary" during an individual meeting with the trainee of one hour which assists in the assessment of the trainee. As a guideline, they use the Counsellor Assessment Guidelines attached to the Release of Information form signed by the student. The Career Advisor determines whether PEP is the bes~ place for the applicant or could refer the trainee to other agencies of which they are aware in cases of severe alcohol or drug problems and with a literacy deficiency. The Career Advisor collects this information and required educational certificates if available and information on their health. Once the trainee is in the program, the Career Advisor's contact with the trainee continues through the 16 weeks, commencing with orientation when the trainee is given the basic rules and regulations and an explanation of what the program will deliver and ~he contract is entered into with the student. It is - 4 - explained that the Career Advisors are available to help them with personal concerns after informing them of their qualifications. They would meet with the trainees for interpretation of the tests and would keep in touch with them during the course. There are usually four groups of 15 each for a total of 60 in the program. At the end of the first week they would commence to interview the trainees in alternate groups to go over any problems they have in the program-and to assess their needs and to set goals. Trainees with personal problems would either drop into their office or make an appointment to discuss their problems with them. She works with the other staff members in the program and they have monitoring meetings each week when all the teachers are present with the Career Advisors and discuss the attitude and attendance problems of the trainees. The Career Advisor would see the student with the problem and that information would be shared with the teacher. At the completion of PEP she would meet with the training consultant who placed the group in the job and would monitor them, but at the end of the 16 weeks when the trainee is turned over to the Training Consultants, that would be the end of their contact with those individuals. She said that the Release of Information forms were developed by them and if something was newly required, it was added to the program including orientation which is important - 5 - to the trainees and while no one instructed them what was to be done, they went over in detail with the trainees the terms of the program as set out in the participation agreement at the start of the program and decided what to look for in the trainees and use this information to fill out the forms and the groups with their educational levels and came up with their own system. They established contacts with other agencies to assist in the trainees' difficulties. Ms. Godwin has referred individuals for professional help outside of the College including social workers, lawyers and Doctors. She said that they reviewed the work requirements with the trainee group in the discussion of their overall problems. Career testing was done by a-teaching master but they would help with the tests and go over the Aptican tests with the group. The Singer and Aptican tests measure aptitude of normal dexterity, verbal and numerical ability and interests of the trainee. The Career Advisor interprets the results and works with the trainee on those results. She said that she has been told that anyone could interpret the test depending on how the tests are to be used. Interpretation of tests is part of counselling. While they did not give the test to the trainee, they work with the result. She has had training in testing and evaluating as part of the Masters Degree. She said that quite often, a teacher would discuss particular problems of a trainee with them. She has provided educational information to the students on the - 6 - College program and have catalogues and calendars available. A Career Advisor is not assigned to teach. In May 1987 there were other SSOB's in the office who were Training Consultants who do the job placements and work with the employers. There is as well, one head clerk in that classification. Ms. Godwin had been a counsellor in OYS having been hired by the Counselling Department in which she reported to the Director of Counselling but was not a public employee under the Collective Agreement at that time. She said there was not much difference between that program and Futures and there were criteria to be met to enter the program with less than Grade 12 education and other employment barriers. She agreed that PEP had a particular mandate for a particular clientele in that component for 16 weeks, during which the trainees are in classes each day, which courses include academic, life skills and career planning conducted by teaching masters. In addition, there is contact with the Career Advisors as she described above. The Career Advisors liaise with the training consultant who become the main contact with the trainee. The actual job placements are made by the consultants. The Aptican and Singer tests are administered by the Testing Co-ordinator, Mr. Hector, who conducts and scores the tests. She receives the print-outs of the result and those results are discussed with the trainees as to their goals and to help them make decisions. That was the interpretation given by her of - 7 - the tests given. A Career Advisor does not have discretion to use other tests; although there are career planning exercises which may be used to help the trainee make a choice for employment. The personal counselling of a Career Advisor is related to job placement working with the trainees employment barriers. She does not provide counselling for matters outside of that program. A good part of the Career Advisor's function is the informational role which is the key in obtaining and providing the information to the others. The liaison function with faculty and training is a minor part. They monitor trainees attendance which is a substantial part of the pro~ram and as it is a common problem a Career Advisor who checks and works on that problem with the trainee. Ms. Godwin said that while some of the job is administration, she did not see her job as administrative and the duties require significant degree of judgment. She does not use the term counselling in this job in a broad sense, but said that the orientation sessions'in the program are the beginnings of group counselling. She also deals with attendance problems of the trainees and with the results of Aptican with the group. The Career Advisor is involved with the trainees for four months only after which they are assigned to the Training Consultants which does limit what the Career Advisor can do with the individual. She agreed that they do not have flexibility to pursue other - 8 - issues than the focus of the program which is job placement. She said that the essence of the Career Advisor position is working with the trainees and assessing their needs at the outset of the program, setting goals with them and following up with them during the program and making necessary judgments to ready them at the end of the program. The extent of counselling deals with the employment barriers of the trainees which includes their problems with relationships with others. She could make the decision to refer a trainee with such problems. Mary Jane Tedford has been employed by the College as a Counsellor in the Counselling Department since 1971 to work with mature adults. She holds a Masters in English from Carleton University and is trained as a child care worker and as a teacher. She has worked in the counselling area with many age groups, the mentally ill and disturbed persons. In that Department, the counsellors see both students and others to provide group and individual counselling for both part-time and full time students of the College. When she was first h~red, she did intake counselling involving the review of mature students before they entered the adult education program and reviewed their progress and placement. The test centre is part of the Counselling Department and is responsible for the pre-admission testing of prospective students and to determine if they are appropriate for the program. A Counsellor administers the tests, does the scoring and interprets - 9 - the results which are sent to the Counselling Department for scoring. There are forms used in the Counselling Department to develop a written record of the student which forms are developed in the department for the statistical information necessary. She dealt with students in a post-secondary program for both regular and mature students and worked at three separate campuses. Those in the post-secondary course would be proceeding to a job market with a goal to obtain training to enter the labour force, others would be taking general education courses. Many of the post-secondary students go'for the Counselling Department for formal interviews and she dealt with obtaining the information for their career planning and job concerns. If they could not deal with the problem, the individual would be referred elsewhere to other agenCies to give them support. The Counselling Department does testing of academic ability and personality testing. She has worked with the students who are upgrading their academic standing and those on special projects. Reference was.made to the Basic Job Readiness Training (BJRT) program in which she does some career planning in a couple of sessions at an elementary level. Her said role was informal, she administers tests in the classroom and review the goals with their students along with the teacher with whom she works as well as with the Manpower Counsellors on the progress of the students. Many different kinds of issues arise of a personal nature including - 10 - drug and alcohol problems. Attendance in the program is monitored. If the terms of the contract were not met by the student, she could terminate their participation in the program. Along with the teacher and the Management personnel, she would deal with the employment future of these types of students. She works with them as a group and individually and sometimes would initiate the contact and sometimes the contact would be initiated by the student. BJRT is a program with higher academic range than the basic employment training program which is intended for adult students seeking a job. In BJRT she would deal with the group in career planning in a more developed sense. In the other program some students do not have reading ability and although it is the same type of career planning, it is more difficult but more structured. She would follow up with the individuals after the program has been completed where she could. She has dealt with the individual's personal and academic problems including reference to other agencies if necessary. Ms. Tedford also deals with "Focus for Change" in which groups of 12 or more students who are seeking to further their education and are' eligible for more training, are given career planning courses. As well, they are seen individually for regular counselling at their request. She had worked in the OYS Program and said the counselling function in these programs are similar and is tailored to the particular needs of the groups - 11- but the object is the same to deal with the individuals in the groups who have individual concerns to proceed in the programs. Mr. Lacroix has been the Manager of Ontario Skills Office at the College since March 1988 and as at May 1987 was Manager of PEP and is responsible for the supervision of all the staff in the program including Career Advisors and with the academic section. He is not a counsellor, but he is the supervisor of Goodwin and Hanson, both of whom are at the Huronpark campus as Career Advisors. The four training consultants all classified as SSOB also reported to him and were mostly involved in job placement. A test technician administered all the tests and interpreted most of them and reported to him and was classified as an SSOB. He liaised with the Academic Co-ordinator. The PEP component is mainly life skills, career planning, computer skills and involves tests with the next phase involving up to 52 weeks before a job placement. When a trainee arrives at Heron Park, there is an informational session to explain the objectives of the course to them by the Training Consultant and the Career Advisor would explain the program at which the trainee decides which component to take, either PEP or Work Experience. When a trainee proceeds to PEP, an interview is arranged with the Career Advisor who - 12 - explains the guidelines of the program and assesses the trainee at which time the test results are available to the Career Advisor. The intake assessment summary form is ocmpleted and the employment barriers are discussed with the individual who is interviewed personally by the Career Advisor who is not expected to make a psychiatric examination which, if necessary, would require the reference to another agency. If the applicant did not meet the criteria, the Career Advisor refers the individual to the Personnel Department, otherwise they will be given a start date for the program. At the start of the program, the trainees are given an orientation by the staff including a Career Advisor ~and teachers and they are assigned to a class. He explains the rules and regulations to the trainees, but if he was not available, the Co-ordinator would perform that task. The Career Advisor attempts to met with the trainees once a week on an individual basis to review their attendance and progress in their class based on the teachers comments which is limited to discussions of their progress in the program. The decision to terminate the individual's participation in the program is that of the Career Advisor. A Career Advisor can refer trainees to outside agencies to deal with their personal problems. Attendance is one of the major barriers which the Career Advisor deals with. He said the scope of the focus for the Career - 13 - Advisor was job placement for the trainees. The mandate of the program is to get these young people into jobs. The Aptican test is administered to all trainees relating to their academic background which is on a computeer and explained by a test technician which administers the test and who interprets the print-out. The results are given to the Career Advisor who would use the information to discuss with the individual trainee the field of work for which they should aim and to set up a program to speed up their learning in the area where their strengths lie in the occupation where the trainee was indicated to have aptitude. The Singer test is given to all trainees by the test technician which is a hands on test used to confirm the results of the Aptican. The Career Advisor does not have a discretion to administer tests other than Singer and Aptican or to refuse the test to a trainee. At the end of the course, the Career Advisor liaises with the Training Consultant to whom the file on the individual trainee is passed. The information is analysed with the trainee who is to make a choice for job placement after which the Career Advisor does not have any continuing role. Mr. Lacroix was involved with the preparation of the job description for the Career Advisor position and approved it. He - 14 - said the major problem in the program is the attendance and punctuality of the trainees. A small number only are terminated by the College, the decision for which is made by the Career Advisor to whom the responsibility is delegated by the Director. The Test Technician is not a counsellor and does not have formal training in testing procedures or interpretation of the tests but administers and interprets them in this program. Mr. Lacroix also assists the technician in the administration of the tests although he does not have formal training in their interpretation but together they look at the kind of job the trainee could perform not the intelligence of the individual but rather look at his strength in order to slot the individual into a job. He agreed that Ms. Godwin applied and interpreted these tests for the trainees as i~tended in the job description, although the Test Technician administered the primary tests. In his view the reference to counselling in the guidelines for Futures, was to employment counselling but there was not a clear definition of that term. Mr. Dumsday is a Director of Counselling Services for the College which position he has'held since 1975 and reports to the Dean of Student Services and is responsible for the delivery of Counselling Services in 10 campuses of the College in Ottawa. He supervises between 15 and 20 part-time and full-time employees and counsellors, as well as continuing with the small case load in psycho-therapy. Prior to his present position he had been - 15 - Assistant Director and Counsellor at the College and a part-time teacher of psychology at the University of Ottawa. He holds an M.A. in Psychology from the University of Ottawa and has completed one year of Ph.D in clinical psychology. He said the qualifications for counsellors is an M.A. in Education with counselling or psychology option. Counselling Services provide educational career counselling on an individual and group basis for students and potential students and assistance to staff and faculty. Counselling involves a set of skills and a body of knowledge designed to help people deal with issues and problems and as a science deals with educational concerns. The skills to deal with such problems are developed through training and experience. There is a broad mandate for the counsellors to cover the full range of services to help the individual to achieve their full potential, academic success and assistance with personal needs. The counsellor uses a variety of techniques and exercises professional discretion in the choices available when interviewing and assessing individuals and in carrying out their responsibilities. The counsellor makes the decision at the time of the interview but could relate to their colleagues or to him if external assistance may be necessary, but do not need to check with him before a decision is made as to their selection of the techniques to be used. He would periodically review particular cases as part of his responsibility. He referred to a number of choices for - 16 - techniques to use by a counsellor, Gestalt, Directive, yoga, visual and audio tapes. Intelligence and aptitude tests are devices used in assessment of the individual and the counsellor exercises the choice of the tests and administer the test for the client. This would be done without his pre-authorization. The counsellor is involved in the interpretation and the administration of the tests. He said Ms. Tedford's training did not involve a great deal of testing but did a full range of testing. The Singer and Aptican tests have not been used in career counselling by the counsellors who use a variety of intelligence and aptitude tests in their discretion. They do not use a standardized battery of tests for all counselling but have a choice and do not automatically use Singer or Aptican as they cannot afford it. The Singer test is a work stimulation experience to determine if a student is adaptable to a particular position and to determine a level of skill. Aptican is strictly an aptitude test and does not measure intelligence. Mr. Dumsday said that it is a general rule that counsellors do not go beyond their competence and determine appropriate referrals for the individual who may be psychotic or suicidal and in order to assist the client they provide support services at the educational level but it is in the discretion of the counsellor to refer a client elsewhere. They - 17 - avoid judgmental situations but attempt to deal with the individuals in a neutral manner. Counsellors have been involved in the applications of mature students as a service to the Admissions Department to assist it to make decisions on potential students. A formal test centre was created in 1986 for which he is responsible. Mr. Charlebois, a Counsellor, is responsible for pre-admission testings and the results of the tests. The information is given to the Admissions Office who has the final decision on the individual. They provide educational career services for non-students and encourage drop-ins at night to access career information and in the evening, career studies in an eight week program and provides interviews and testing on a fee for service basis. This would involve a small percentage of the time of the counsellor, the balance of the time is involves students, post-secondary and continuing educational students at the College which type could end up in the Counselling Services as a referral from a teacher or support staff or voluntarily. Counsellors deal with a full range of services for the students including personal issues and have a great deal of discretion dealing with those problems with the individual and reference was made to the counselling format for the "Student Services Division" and in that area counsellors are involved in BETT - 18 - and BJRT dealing with disadvantaged persons for whom the counselling component is largely of a career nature with some element of personal issues. A counsellor is not involved in the admissions to these programs which are employment related. There is a complete scope of counselling in the programs subject to the time limits involved in the program and dependent on the number of students in them which dictates how much time can be spend with the individual. Counsellors do not deal with the rules of these programs and do not deal with terminations. The teachers could consult with counsellors about the progress of the student and follow-up after the programs have been compelted if the individual continues as a student. He said that about 80% of the counsellors' time is involved with Continuing Education or post-secondary students. The Counsellor profession ascribes to ethics as set out in the Statement of Ethics of the Ontario College Counsellor which is their prime reference to practice. Mr. Dumsday said that counsellors assure students of confidentiality. He said that Ms. Tedford worked in the OYS program two days a week in cousnelling services at Huron Park and was not loaded in the scope of counselling which she could g~ve to the individuals in relation to job related counselling. She did not make decisions of eligibility to participate in the program and was not responsible to enforce the program rules or to decide as to terminations of the individuals in the program. - 19 - Mr. Dumsday said that he did not have any formal reporting relationship to the Career Advisors in PEP, but had an understanding of the Faculty admissions role. He said counsellors do not become involved in eligibility criteria for a program as did Ms. Godwin in PEP. Counsellors mandate exceeds that of a job placement and is less specific but rather the goals are broader and less defined for a counsellor dealing with an individual and exercises more discretion concerning the student's problem. A counsellor has more freedom than the Career Advisor in determining whether referrals to outside are appropriate and the nature of the referral. Counsellors administer many more tests and are not limited to Singer and Aptacan. Counsellors are not involved in orientation of students in these programs nor monitor the attendance of the individuals. He agreed that within the schools of counselling there are ranges of techniques which to a degree is dictated by the context of the counselling offered which is closely linked to the problem and anticipated solution while the skills of the counsellor is to select a test and administer the test to deal with the issues which the individual presents. Prior to the Spring of 1986, counsellors of the College gave admission tests to mature students and would make recommendations to the Admissions Department as to that applicant. Since that time the tests were centralized in Mr. Charlebois' area. - 20 - The counselling with regard to the three specific programs - dealing with disadvantaged students is related to a career focus and to reduce or eliminate the barriers for employment with a different type of counselling given to them as compared to others with the same problems but different techniques may be used. Mr. DumsdaY agreed that it could not be said that because counselling was not given in post-secondary progams that the employee was not a counsellor as students in the other programs require counselling, but the focus is on the elimination of barriers to employment. While some of the examination of Ms. Godwin who was called in repl~ was objected to by counseI for the Employer and while such evidence was heard subject to the objection, the Board now rules that the objection is upheld except as to the witnes~s response to the question of supervision of her technique~ The grievor stated in reply that there had not been any restrictions placed by supervision on the counselling techniques used by her. The Union's position is that the work performed by the grievors was counselling which meets the Class definition in the classification plan for Counsellor and does not fall within the responsibilities of the Support Services Officer B and therefore were wrongly classified in that classification in - 21 - April 1987. The Union seeks re-classification of Ms. Goodwin and Ms. Hanson as Counsellors and therefore members of the Academic Bargaining Unit as of April 1, 1987, when they became full time members of the Support Staff bargaining unit. It is the College's position that the Union did not establish that the duties of the grievors fell outside the evaluation of Support Services Officer B classification, but rather the evidence indicated that their duties were well within that definition. In its submission the job description for Career Advisor relates the position to the clients enrolled in PEP and as an administrator of that program for a specified client group with set guidelines and procedures to meet a pre-determined program objective similar to the Training Consultants who are classified as SSOB. In its position the Career Advisors are similarily appropriately classified as the Career Advisor is an administrator of the portion of the program to the client population of that program. The job evaluation guide chart for Support Services Officer B summarizes the responsibility of that position as in "position incumbants perform a variety of complex duties associated with the administration of College Academic - Administrative Programs and responds to requirements of client groups. Liaison functions are normally of an interactive nature . . . Typical Duties - compiles and analyses data in order to provide recommendations as to appropriate course of action; - prepares operation client schedules and terms of reference; - represents College in dealing with public by attending appropriate functions; - trains, co-ordinates and monitors activities of others as appropriate; that the knowledge factor of this classification requires up to three years of practical experience "normally acquired through attainment of a three year Community College diploma or equivalent. Work requires the ability to organize statistical information and to understand elementary principles of or a professional discipline . . . " It is also stated in that evaluation that "supervisor is available to assist in resolving problems . . . work is performed in accordance with procedures and past practices which may be adapted and modified to meet particular situtations and involves the "performance of varied non-routine complex tasks that not only require different and unrelated processes and methods . " The position summary as set out in the job description for the Career Advisor in the Futures Program prepared by the College is - 23 - "reporting to the ManageN the position selects, monitors, advises and supports clients enrolled in the pre-employment preparation phase of the Futures Program." The class definition of a counsellor set out in the classification plans for academic employees is as follows: CLASS DEFINITION Co..~eilor A Counsellor Is ralxm.ible for a~eietlng students and potential students to function effectively as Isemers and as Individuals by helping them underst~, prevent or overcome personel, social or education~l p~oOlems thet mey hinder lesm. lng or their ability to cope with ever~ley living. The Counseilor's duties include: a) Developing and maln~minin~ ~opropriate counselling programs b) Interviewing indivtduall, by al:~ointment, to explore per- sonei or social difficulties or vocation&l/educational decision making, including: · referring students as ae~:~N~mte to proper professional help; · facilitating discussion/dialogue between students, faculty and administration; · participating in pre-edmlllion Intewiewing and testing as required. c) Group counselling la an l:luCltiortal activity to provide students with an opportunity f~ ~ understanding of them- selves and their reletlonaNl~l ~h othem, e.g. Improving study skills and human relation& d) Testing and evaluation of Im]lvtduals to assist them in their personal, educationa/,%a;af~ '~1 ~lev~opment. e) Assisting admlnlstratl~t, fixity ~ staff, in a consul- tetive role in identifying stm:ll~t ph_l~ll ,~, dealing with student problems, and reiationshl~ 1~4~1. ,.: among students. f) Providing educatlona~mcltl~ta/ Information to stu- dents or directing them to m~ll~t ~ g) Participating in the mllntltl~ of new students to the college. h) Teaching as aeslgne~l. In addition, the Counselk~' may. from time to time, be called upon to contribute to other ~ a~lilaty to the Counsellor's role, such as student reorultme~t and selection, student employment, liaison with community service programs and agencies, professional devetot:x~em an(I control of supplies and equipment. - 24 - The issue in this matter is whether "the grievors were -~ properly classified as Support S~rvices Officers B which is the position of the College. The Union alleged that the incumbents of the position were not involved in the administration of a College program and therefore the description of that job was incorrect. The essence of the College position with regard to these jobs was that the grievors performed counselling for only part of their time and Career Advisors are not counsellors within the class definition which the Union seeks to apply on the facts on which it relies to establish that the duties performed of the grievor are the core duties of those of the counsellor in accordance with the class definition and not that of the classification SSOB in the support staff bargaining unit. The onus is on the Union in this case to establish that the duties and responsibilities of the incumbents fall within the core duties of the class definition of counsellor and are not therefore properly classified by the employer as a Support Services Officer B. In general terms, the issue concerns the application of the duties and responsibilities of the counsellor in professional terms with counselling duties of a more limited nature as required by a particular educational program such as Futures. Mr. Dumsday's evidence dealt with the counsellor at large in the counselling services who has individual professional discretion in counselling - 25 - post-secondary students, Continuing Education .students and staff as required with a full range available of techniques and tests for interviews and assessments of the individual to deal with their personal problems as well as career advice. Counsellors can and do refer individuals with problems beyond their expertise to other agencies and do have discretion to make the determination of what agency can be contacted. Where problems arise with which the counsellor requires guidance, she has access to the other counsellors and to. Mr. Dumsday, the Director of the department, but supervision is general and indirect in that division. The counsellors in Counselling Service do not get involved with admission requirements for Futures or the application of regulations of aprticipation in that program by the students including termination. Counsellors in the Counselling Services Department as described by Mr. Dumsday fall completely within the class definition. The evidence of Ms. Godwin sets out the functions in her job which are counselling of individuals in essence with a primary goal dealing with disadvantaged students of job placement. In reaching that goal, Ms. Godwin, as a Career Advisor, interviews and assesses applicants for the program, gives orientation to them when they become enrolled in the program and follows up with their - 26 - individual and group progress including attendance for the term of that program. The Career Advisor deals with the individuals in that program and may be concerned with their personal problems which are barriers to their employment and may refer such problems which exceed her expertise to other agencies but in that respect performs duties within paragraph B of the class definition. The Career Advisors are involved in two tests of individuals, Singer and °Apticom, in that results are given to them which they interpret for the purposes of their interview and assessment of the individual and his problems. Clearly, a full range of tests and techniques are not available or used by Career Advisors as are counsellors in the counselling division because of the aim of that program being job placement and the time limitation inherent in the completion by the individual in that program, but Ms. Godwin does use testing procedures in the evaluatiorDf individuals in order to assist those participants of the program in their vocational development which is an equal part of paragraph B of the class definition. It is the evidence which.we accep~ that Ms. Godwin assists Teaching Masters and Administration in a consulting role with regard to the students problems in that program which falls under paragraph E of the class definition. The evidence is that - 27 - The Career Advisor provides vocational information to students and directs them to sources of such information and participates in the orientation of new students to the College and to that program. The Career Advisor does not do any teaching in the program. The evidence is that the duties of the Career Advisor relating to counselling of students is confined to the Futures program as opposed to the general application of counselling services in the Counselling Department of the College, but for the purposes of the issue in this case, it is important to consider the duties on the responsibilities of the incumbents in relation to the appropriate classification requirements which do not limit counselling to the Counselling Services Department but is a description of the duties and responsibilities of a Counsellor wherever employed in the College. A Counsellor has the same functions although not necessarily the same duties, whether limited to a particular program or in the counselling office of the College. The Career Advisor does not on the evidence before us, administer the College programs, but is one part of the staff function for the provision of counselling requirements to the Futures program. The typical duties of an SSOB does not, in our opinion, fit the duties required of the Career Advisor set out in Ms. Godwin's evidence. The position summary of the - 28 - Career Advisor job description is indicative in our view of that conclusion. The incumbents' role in PET was to meet with the applicants at an introductory workshop as a group and later individually, when the students were assessed as to their appropriateness to enter the program where an intake assessment summary form had been prepared and was used and subsequently a participation agreement is entered into with the student. Then, the incumbents conduct an orientation program for the new students and according to Mr. Lacroix, the Career Advisor meets once a wek with every student to review the qualifications established for the student and his progress and, as well, is available to deal with individual students at their request. Further, the Career Advisor liase with Teaching Masters in monitoring meetings where the student progress is reviewed in order to assist the students to complete the program. Those duties fit within the class definition and are comparable to the evidence of counselling services referred to by Ms. Tedford which is quite similar to those performed by Ms. Godwin with regard to BETT, BJRT and Focus For Change programs. Paragraph B of the class definition refers to participation in pre-admission interviewing which is a particular duty of the incumbents who also do tests as required, although as noted above are not involved in the full range of testing which might be available in the counselling division. - 29 - Ms. Tedford's evidence was that she deals as a counsellor with career planning which includes both academic and vocational concerns of the individual as well as personal concerns and obtains information of the student which she assesses to assist that individual. In essence that function is not different than the delivery of the services of Ms. Godwin in her role as a Career Advisor in Futures, although the client groups as such is different and they have different needs and goals with regard to the completion of the College program in which they are enrolled. Similarly however, Post-Secondary and Continuing Education students also have specific goals to complete their academic and vocational development and while not disadvantaged students in the context of the goal of OYS and Futures those students are in College programs with a defined goal to graduate which role assists them in their career. For that purpose they have access to counselling services to assist them in completion of those goals. That is not different except in perhaps the nature of the students dealt with, than the program of assistance provided by the incumbents in PET. The Aptican and Singer tests were used by the incumbents to evaluate those students which tests were administered by the technician but interpreted and used by the incumbents as an aid to their assessment of the student and to give them advice. Ms. Tedford's evidence was that her use of tests was minimal but had been involved in - 30 - administering tests but not in their interpretation but she ~.~ was involved in the ongoing evaluation of students as a counsellor. The definition of counselling given by Mr. Dumsday at the hearing, indicated that it is a science, a profession, an art which involves a set of skills and a body of knowledge designed to help people to deal with issues in order to develop and grow and to deal with normal problems of normal people. Counselling services in the College provide career counselling on an individual and group basis with students or potential students, as well as giving assistance to staff and faculty. CounsellOrs in his department do not assess eligibility of persons to enter College programs. While that is a function of the incumbents, it is as well within Paragraph B of the class definition. Ms. Tedford's evidence was that she had assessed mature applicants with regard to their eligibility and focused in her counselling work on career planning in the three programs in which she was involved as a counsellor. Those programs involve different individuals and problems than those in PET but the aim of the Ministry and therefore the College must be concluded to be the same insofar as assisting those types of people to make a living for themselves and their family. The Career Advisors were restricted to the - 31 - individual problems while they were in the program and not after they had been referred out but they could make referrals to agencies at their discretion. The Career Advisor job description sets out the duties and responsibilities of the position which are as follows: "Provides initial program information to unemployed youth and Community agencies; - analyse client needs, eligibility and suitability .for pre-employment preparation; - presents information regarding the various services of the Futures program to interested agencies to encourage mutual referrals oppor- tunities; - establishes functional referral mechanisms to ensure that program and Community objectives are satisfied; - provides detailed information regarding the pre- employment preparation component of the program during job search seminars and conducts orientation tours for potential program participants." The Board finds that on the evidence of those duties and responsibilities set forth by Ms. Godwin and with reference to the evidence of the other witnesses that those duties and responsibilities fall within the class definition more particularly in paragraphs B, F and G which also covers the entire section of B-2. Section B-3 of the job description is as well covered by the foregoing and paragraphs D and E of the class definition. Those duties as described, are different from and are not the typical duties described in the job evaluation guide chart for the job family of support services Officer. That relates in the chart that the job family "covers positions of employees who perform administrative duties that are funcitonal - project oriented rather than task oriented and involve conceptualization, facilitating and project managing." We find on the evidence that the incumbents, Godwin and Hanson, do not exercise duties and responsibilities which could be found to come within the definition of that job family, nor do the job requirements meet the summary of the responsibilities of an SSOB which duties are functional and project oriented. The job description for a Career Advisor is not restricted to job placement although that is the focus of the programme. It is also the focus of BETT and BJRT and indeed in general terms the focus for every student at the College. The skills exercised in these programmes by Career Advisors and counsellors are counselling within the class definition and they function as resource persons for the operation of these College programmes. While there are time constraints in a particular programme the Career Advisors provide counselling services within that period of time as required by the programme guidelines and are not less a counsellor because of time constraints. It is the evidence that this is counselling of a different type than provided for other students where the same or different techniques can be used. The - 33 - evidence supports the conclusion that the requirements of a Career Advisor in this programme fell squarely within the class definition of a Counsellor which is we find, the appropriate classification for the incumbents. Having regard to the evidence and the submissions for the parties and for the foregoing reasons, the Board finds that the Union has established on the basis of the evidence called in support of its position which the Board has accepted, that the incumbents in the position of Career Advisor in Futures were in fact performing the duties of a counsellor within the class definition of the classification plan of the classification of Counsellor. The Board finds that the Union established that the incumbents were incorrectly classified by the College as a Support Services Officer B, a classification in the support staff bargaining unit and that the incumbents should have been classified as a counsellor, a position falling within the academic bargaining unit. Accordingly, the Board declares that there was an improper classification of the incumbents as alleged by the Union. At the hearing, the Board ruled that it would not at that time deal with evidence relating to any remedy should the Union's position be upheld. The Board reserved its decision on the issue of remedy which it will determine at a future time, - 34 - should the parties be unable to settle that issue directly between them. DATED AT OAKVILLE, THIS '~{~ DAY OF OCTOBER, 1989. R. J. GALLIVAN, COLLEGE NOMINEE RON COCHRANE, UNIO~- NOMINEE