HomeMy WebLinkAboutStewart 93-00-00 IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
between
FANSHAWE COLLEGE OF APPLIED ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY
(hereinafter referred to as the College)
and
ONTARIO PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES UNION, LOCAL 109
(hereinafter referred to as the Union)
Classification Grievance of A. Stewart
Sole Arbitrator: G. J. Brandt
Appearances:
For the College: Peter Myers, Ass't Dir, Human Res.
Saskia Gingrich, Mgr. Acc/ting Services
For the Union: Sandra Kippen, Chief Steward
Arthur Stewart, Grievor
Brenda Smith, Observer
Hearing:
London, Ont.
January 20, 1993
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AWARD
1. Introduction
The grievor, Arthur Stewart is a Reconciliation Clerk in the
Accounting Services Department of the College. He is classified as
a Clerk D General, Payband 7. In this grievance he seeks to be
reclassified as a Clerk Atypical, Payband 9 with retroactive pay,
benefits and seniority to the date of the grievance, December 13,
1991.
The parties are agreed as to the contents of the Position
Description Form. However, they differ on the appropriate ratings
for a number of the job factors in the Manual.
The following table sets out the respective ratings assigned
to the various factors by the parties.
College Union
1. Job Difficulty C4 144 C5 166
2. Guidance Received D3 129 D4 150
3. Communications C3 84 D3 109
4. Knowledge (Training/Exp) D4 90 D4 90
(Skill) 3 34 3 34
5. Working Conditions
Manual Effort A5 3 B4 10
Visual Strain B4 10 C4 18
Environmental A5 3 B5 13
Total Points 497 590
Pay Band 7 9
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2. Facts
The position summary reads as follows:
Under general supervision of the Manager, Accounting
Services, the incumbent is responsible for reconciliation
of all payroll deductions. Responsible for ensuring all
deductions are interpreted and set up appropriately on -
line payroll system for each benefit offered (currently
around 140 deductions on file). Responsible for ensuring
deduction premium payments are made on a timely basis.
Responsible for maintaining records of appointments for
sessional, partial load and part-time faculty, and
ensuring departments are advised if the appointments
contravene Collective Agreement.
The grievor performs his duties while seated at a desk located
in a cubicle that is separated from other cubicles by six foot high
partitions. His cubicle is one of 4 cubicles located in a fairly
confined area. Each cubicle has a telephone, calculators,
computers and printers where other members of the Accounting
Services Department carry out their functions. In addition there
is nearby a machine that periodically issues cheques.
Virtually all of the grievor's duties (90% on his estimation)
are performed while sitting at his desk. Although he is able to
leave his desk on breaks or, for example, to go to a printer to
print a document etc, he would not be able to complete his work if
he were to absent himself from his desk for more than 10% of his
time.
Most of his time is spent working with names and numbers on a
printed page. Each month after the payroll cycle has been
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completed the grievor generates deduction reconciliation sheets
numbering 280 pages in total. These are single spaced documents
which use a type font that is smaller than the normal type font
seen on the printed page. In the course of doing his duties the
grievor spends ten full days a month closely examining these
numbers. His cubicle is lit by an overhead fluorescent light that
casts a shadow on his page. Consequently, he has been provided
with a desk top lamp to light the page.
Somewhat in excess of 50% of the grievor's duties involve him
in reconciling the deductions from payroll of all employees of the
College, full time and on contract, with the remittance of the
monies so deducted to those to whom it is to be directed. Thus,
35% of his time is spent reconciling Sun Life and CIGNA benefit
premiums and remittances to the carrier. A similar kind of
function is performed with respect to tax, UIC, CPP and pension
deductions (8%); union dues (5%); and CSBs, Parking, ASA, Blue
Cross and United Way deductions (5%)
Although the precise way in which this is done varies with the
particular deduction the essential process is one in which the
grievor initially seeks to verify that the total amount deducted
corresponds to the amount paid out to insurance carriers, the
union, Receiver General etc. Where, as is usually the case, those
numbers do not balance, he examines more closely the deduction
reconciliation sheets looking for possible explanations for the
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discrepancy. In some instances there may have been new employees
added or other employees deleted since the previous month's
reconciliation; or there many have been some change in salary that
triggers a different deduction. Or errors could arise as a result
of incorrect data entry by payroll clerks or through computer
malfunction.
When the explanation for the discrepancy is discovered the
grievor goes into the system and, by computer, either sets up an
arrears or a reimbursement for the employee to be reflected in the
next month's direct deposit of salary to the employee's bank
account. However, in order to avoid confusion and conflict when
monthly bank statements are sent to employees the grievor notifies
them in advance of what he has done. He testified that he
frequently encounters opposition from other employees who either
want a credit paid out immediately in the form of a cheque or who
resist the notion that their next succeeding pay will be reduced by
a greater amount sufficient to recover the loss suffered as a
result of the error.
The other portion of this aspect of the grievor's duties
require him to determine the amount of money that is to be remitted
to eg, the insurance carrier, to prepare the necessary remittance
forms and to ensure that the remittances are made by the due date.
Where that date is missed the College can incur a substantial
penalty.
A significant proportion (25%) of the grievor's time is spent
on slightly different, through related, duties. Faculty who are
under contract with the College could be part time employees,
sessional employees, or on partial load. Under the collective
agreement different salaries and benefits trigger once these
employees reach certain service levels. Consequently, the grievor
is required to monitor their months of service and to advise
Department or Division heads when the status of an employee is
about to change in order that the appropriate salary or benefits
can be paid in the next pay period. Or, the grievor may be
expected to monitor progress for the purpose of alerting Department
or Division Heads to the fact that an employee is getting close to
the trigger point and so permit them to avoid such increases by
reducing the number of hours to be assigned in future pay periods.
There is very little close review of the grievor's work by his
supervisor. Ms. Saskia Gingrich. There is no review at all of the
monitoring of the months of service of sessional or partial load
faculty. The grievor deals entirely with the Department or
Division heads on those matters. As for the deduction
reconciliation duties Ms. Gingrich ensures that the payments to
insurance carriers, Receiver General, union, etc. are within the
prescribed deadlines. Further, she looks at the "reasonability" of
the dollar amounts on the cheques. However, she does no specific
review of his work. The only other kind of review that is done is
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a year end analysis and reconciliation of liability accounts.
3. Analysis
Initially it must be determined whether or not this is an
appropriate case for the application of Core Point Rating. The
Manual indicates that Core Point Rating is reserved for cases which
are atypical and that an effort should be made initially to
classify the position according to the Classification Guidelines.
The grievor is classified as a Clerk General D. The Typical
Duties for that classification as set out in the Guidelines are as
follows:
1 Determines student financial assistance and eligibility
2 Verifies the completeness and accuracy of produced payroll.
3 Analyzes statements to determine causes of budget variance
4 Conducts cost analysis studies
5 Processes and controls purchase orders
Organizes systems, procedures and paper flow
7 Analyzes problems relating to clerical systems and
procedures and recommends revisions.
8. Organizes the clerical activities of activities such as
convocation, open house, orientation, etc.
In my opinion this list of typical duties does not accurately
reflect the duties performed by the grievor. First, a number of
the duties there listed, (viz, numbers 1,4,5,7) do not (according
to the evidence) appear to be done by him at all. However,
secondly (and more importantly) important parts of the grievor's
duties are not referred to or suggested at all by these duties. I
refer to the contact with staff to avoid conflict and confusion
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over future adjustments to bank deposits, the calculation and
processing of remittance payments to recipients by an established
deadline, and the monitoring of service of sessional and partial
load faculty. Each of these functions requires a level of
accountability and sensitivity which is not reflected in the list
of duties set out in the Classification Guidelines. Accordingly, I
would find the grievor's position to be one which is atypical
thereby warranting an application of the Core Point Rating Plan.
I proceed to a consideration of the factors in dispute in the
Core Point Rating Plan.
1. Job Difficulty (Judgment)
In my opinion the level of judgment required for this position
should be set at level 5. It is to be noted that this requirement
will be met if problem solving involves either the interpretation
of complex data or the refining of work methods and techniques. I
am satisfied that the nature of the position is such that the
grievor is frequently required to refine his methods and
techniques.
I am impressed with the significant variety in the situations
that confront the grievor. The data that he works with involves
faculty and staff whose status varies considerably (full time, part
time, sessional.) Deductions from payroll are made for a large
number of purposes not all of which are the same for each employee
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or group of employees. Benefit carriers may decide to offer a
premium free holiday to employees, some of whom may qualify and
some of whom may not. Further, the employee absence system
according to which an earnings line is set up for people on various
kinds of absence (eg. Long Term Disability, Post Retirement, Leave
of Absence,etc.) contributes to a situation in which it is
difficult to speak of any conventional way of approaching a
particular problem.
I find it difficult to accept in these circumstances that the
problem solving that the grievor is engaged in involves a "variety
of conventional problems with "established analytical techniques".
In my opinion the problems are neither "conventional" nor the
methods of solution "established".
Accordingly, I would rate this factor at level 5.
2. Guidance Received (Nature of Review)
There can be little dispute that the grievor's work is only
subject to a "general form of review for achievement of specific
objectives and adherence to established deadlines." A significant
portion of his work (the monitoring of service of sessional and
partial load employees) is not reviewed at all by Ms. Gingrich.
The deduction reconciliation work is reviewed for adherence to the
payment deadlines and only in terms of whether the figure that he
has calculated is "reasonable". The year end analysis is, at most,
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a very general form of review.
Accordingly, I would rate this factor at level 4.
3. Communications (Purpose of Contacts)
Although I accept that the grievor, in his dealings with
faculty over questions of adjustment to their pay, may require a
measure of tact, diplomacy and persuasion, I do not believe that,
on balance, the union's claim that the purpose of contacts should
be rated at level D should be accepted.
I note first the Manual requirement that only those contacts
which occupy a significant part of the job and are a regular and
integral part of the job should be considered. While I accept that
there may be a number of errors that appear in the deduction
reconciliation statements I am sceptical of the claim that the task
of persuading employees to accept change in their next salary
deposit is of such a magnitude as to meet this threshold.
Moreover, as an interpretive matter, level D requires that the
contacts be "for the purpose of problem identification and
solution" with respect to certain matters. The grievor does not
have contacts with staff for this purpose. He identifies the
problem and the probable solution to that problem through his
analysis of the deduction reconciliation statements. His purpose
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in contacting staff is not generally to aid him in identifying or
solving the problem but rather to tell them what he intends to do
about it. In my view that function is better captured by the
standards set down in level C, viz "explaining various matters by
interpreting procedures or policy".
Accordingly, I would rate this factor at level C.
4. Working Conditions (Manual Effort)
The evidence is undisputed that the griever is required to sit
at his desk for approximately 90% of his time in order to complete
his duties. I do not believe that the fact that he is permitted to
leave his desk on occasion converts what is in reality "prolonged"
sitting into "intermittent sitting", particularly where as a
practical matter he would be unable to do his job if he were to
leave his desk for any significant period of time.
Accordingly I would rate this factor at B4.
5. Visual Strain
On the evidence there is no serious dispute that the griever
is required to concentrate on small objects for periods of up to 2
hours at a time.
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Consequently, the Visual Strain factor should be rated at
level C.
6. Work Environment.
The evidence is clear that the environment in which the
grievor work is "somewhat noisy" He is in close proximity to a
number of machines and to other employees and to a cheque producing
machine. Although the guidelines suggest that an office
environment should generally be rated at level A I am of the view
that exceptions can and should be made from that general rule.
In this case I am satisfied that an exception should be made.
First, it appears that the design of the office is such that the
grievor is in very close proximity to a number of other noise
producing sources, either human or mechanical. The cubicles are
small and close to one another and the occupant and equipment in
each cubicle is capable of producing considerable noise. Secondly,
the nature of the work that the incumbent is required to do is of
some significance. In this case I am persuaded that, given the
need to concentrate closely on the deduction reconciliation sheets
and the need to search for discrepancies and their possible
solutions, the position occupied by the grievor is one in which the
noise in the environment is perhaps more distracting than it may be
in an area where, for example, an employee is doing relatively
routine work that requires less concentration.
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Accordingly, I rate this factor at level B.
4. Summary
The following table summarizes my evaluation of the factors in
dispute.
1. Job Difficulty C5 166
2. Guidance Received D4 150
3. Communications C3 84
4. Knowledge (Training/Exp) D4 90
(Skill) 3 34
5. Working Conditions
Manual Effort B4 10
Visual Strain C4 18
Environmental B5 13
Total Points 565
Pay Band 8
Consequently, the grievance is allowed, in part, and the
College is directed to reclassify the grievor as a Clerk Atypical
Payband 8 and to compensate him for his losses flowing from
incorrect classification. I do not, however, consider this to be
an appropriate case for the award of interest.
I remain seised of jurisdiction to deal with any issues that
may arise out of the calculation of the compensation to which the
grievor is entitled.
Dated at LONDON, Ont. this day of , 1993
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G. J. Brandt, Arbitrator