HomeMy WebLinkAboutEvans 98-12-21In the matter of an arbitration
L.
between C~"~ (S)
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: Mary Ann Evans
Sole Arbitrator: Gregory J. Brandt
Appearances:
For the College: Sheila Wilson, Human Resources Consultant
Janet Brady, Manager, Continuing Education and
Corporate Training
For the Union: Louise Watt, Chief Steward
Barb Ford, Advisor
Mary Ann Evans, Grievor
Hearing:
Fanshawe College, London
December 8.1998
2
AWARD
1. Introduction and Background
The grievor is employed as a Reception and Registration Officer in the Department
of Continuing Education at the St.Thorttas campus of the College. She is currently
classified as Clerk General Atypical, Payband 7. In this ghevance she claims that she is
improperly classified and seeks re-classification as a Clerk General D, Payband 8.
The Department of Continuing Education consists of 5 full time support staff.
Two employees, the grievor and a Secretary A, payband 6 report to Ms. Janet Brady,
Manager, Continuing Education and Corporate Training. Three others, a Clerk payband 7
(responsible for purchasing and budget related activity), a Clerk D payband 8 (primarily
accountable for records related to the of and Clerk D payband 8
registration
students)
a
(primarily responsible for timetable, SWFs, room bookings and payroll- and secretarial
support to the Principal) all report to the Manager, Administrative and Support Services.
There are 5 factors in dispute: Training/Technical Skills, Experience, Complexity,
Judgement and Sensory Demand. Although the Arbitration Data Sheet indicates that the
union disagrees with the contents of the PDF it appears that this disagreement relates
more to the appropriate rating that should be given in respect of the various factors than to
the contents of the ?DF itself. Where there is significant disagreement as to the contents
of the PDF questions arise as to whether or not it is possible to determine the grievance
through the expedited process. However, in this case, I am satisfied that to the extent that
the dispute relates to the contents of the PDF, I am able to resolve it without the need to
refer the grievance to a full board.
As indicated, there are 5 job factors in respect of which the parties disagree as to
the appropriate rating. In the course of its rating of the position the College compared
the position with the classification guide charts for a Clerk General C Pa~yband 6. While
it concluded that the grievor's core duties fit well within certain of the typical duties of a
Clerk General C (viz, disseminates detailed information in response to a wide range of
enquiries, completes and analyzes documents related to student admission and
registration) it was concluded that there were certain respects in which the guide chart
levels for a Clerk General C were inappropriate. In particular, it was thought that the
customer service aspect of the job and its emphasis on "pro-active" service warranted a
rating for Communications/Contacts higher than the level of 2 set down in the guide
charts for a Clerk General C. Secondly, the Training requirement of a one year
Community College certificate camed this position beyond the guide chart secondmy
school graduation requirement for the Clerk General C. The College also examined thc
Guide Charts for the Clerk General D position and concluded that the duties and
responsibilities of the grievor did not involve the level of responsibility associated with
the typical duties of a Clerk General D, viz, determines student financial assistance and
eligibility, verifies accuracy of payroll, analyzes statements to determine cause of budget
variance, conducts cost analysis studies.
Accordingly, the College core point rated the position and, having regard to the
considerations referred to above, assigned a core point rating higher than the guide chart
levels to the Training and Communications/Contacts factors. That resulted in a core point
total of 467 which placed the grievor in payband 7 and leading to her classification as
Clerk General Atypical. The union disputes the College's rating of those factors that
remain in dispute.
4
The Arbitration Data Sheet provides as follows:
College Union
F actors Level Points Level Points
1. Training/Technical Skills 4 71 5 91
2. Experience 3 32 4 45
3. Complexity 3 41 4 58
4. Judgement 3 48 4 66
5. Motor Skills c4 28 c 4 28
6. Physical Demand 2 16 2 16
7. Sensory Demand 3 28 4 39
8. Strain from Work Pressures/Demands 3 28 3 28
9. Independent Action 3 33 3 33
10. Communications/Contacts 3 88 3 88
11. Responsibility for Decisions 3 44 3 44
12. Work Environment I 10 1 10
PAYBANDFrOTAL POINTS 7 467 8 543
JOB CLASSIFICATION Clerk Atypical
Clerk
General
D
The PDF states, in the Position Summary, that:
Under general supervision of the Manager Continuing Education and Corporate
Training, the incumbent is responsible for initial customer service, which includes
providing information on College programs/courses and services, and part-time
student registrations at the St. Thomas Campus.
The Duties and Responsibilities of the position, as set out in the PDF, are:
The incumbent staffs the front line counter by:
Providing proactive customer service that includes:
· responding to inquires (phone, mail, fax, email, walk in)
· providing information about College programs and services, including
course/program requirements. 48%
Responsible for registering continuing education students that includes;
-accepting fees, handling student refunds, transfers and issues general accounting
receipts for text and materials if necessary.
- reconciles daily batch 35%
Maintains or prepares records that include:
maim list, data base and continuing attendance records
-prepares tax receipts and forms for C.E. students
-responding to student requests for Letter of Recognition 5%
Provides back up support in the absence of other office support staff:
-accepts full time student course fees and manually documents them
-prints daily reports as necessary, prepares class registers and leaves special
instructions for the C.E. evening supervisor in the absence of the Secretary. 6%
Creates new course codes and assists in preparation of course guides2%
In the absence of the Manager, Continuing Education and Corporate Training, and
within established practices;
-the incumbent acts independently to finalize some contract course arrangements,
and occasionally cancels or postpones continuing education courses. 2%
Maintains and programs telephones 2%
2. Evaluation of Job Factors
I shall deal separately with each of the job factors in dispute.
i) Training/Technical Skill
The PDF stipulates a one year Community College Certificate as the minimum
level of formal education required for incumbents in the position. It is that which led the
College to rate it at level 4, one above the benchmark level of 3. The union maintains that
a more appropriate rating is level 5, viz, "skills acquired through attainment of a two year
Community College diploma or equivalent. - Job duties require ability to organize simple
statistical information and to understand the elementmy principles of a science of a
professional discipline."
In support of this claim the union notes that the College has required the grievor to
take a number of courses, attended seminars or received training in a number of areas
related to her job, viz, the College computer system (particularly Continuing Education
Registration and Report systems), maintaining computerized student records, creating
College course code numbers on the system, student conduct reporting procedures,
student cheating, Microsoft Outlook computer training (e-mail), WHMIS training,
Promotion of Corporate Contract Training and Customer Service Training. [There were
some other courses and seminars which the griever took evidently on her own initiative
and not required by the College.]
I am unable to attach much significance to this list of courses as an aid to raising
the gricvor to the next level. In that regard I note that Ms. Brady stated that they are all
very short (between 2 and 18 hours in length) and would not, taken together amount to
the equivalent of another 1 year Community College certificate (i.e. to raise the
requirement from the current 1 year in the ?DF to 2 years). Further, Ms. Brady indicated
that some of the areas, eg. WHMIS, student cheating, student conduct are areas in which
all employees are required to have some knowledge if they are to work at the College.
They are not specific to this particular position.
The griever also relied on her involvement with Course Enrollment Counts as
indicating the need to have an "ability to organize simple statistical information." devel
5). These documents provide various pieces of information about the courses which are
offered at the College. The courses are identified by Course code number and name and,
in various columns, information is set out as to the current status of the course, (i.e.
whether it is open or closed), the maximum enrollment permitted, the number of students
currently enrolled, the number on a waiting list . and other information as to where and
when the course will be offered. These documents can be accessed on the data base and
provide either the grievor or Ms. Brady with an up to date account of the registration
status of all of the courses listed.
i
Thus, by accessing this document, the grievor is able to provide an answer to
inquiries about course availability, timetabling etc. In certain circumstances the grievor is
entitled to increase the maximum course enrollment in order to accommodate a short
waiting list. Where courses are closed, i.e. full, the grievor creates a waiting list and then
monitors the status of individual courses to notify those on the list of an opening; or, if the
waiting list becomes too lengthy and a new course section is arranged, the gfievor
organizes the notification of waiting applicants advising them of the details of the new
sections. Where courses have been withdrawn (as for example where the actual
enrollment falls far short of the maximum allowed) the gricvor is responsible for
notifying paid applicants of the cancellation, for advising them of altemate courses to
which they might transfer and, where this does not result in a transfer, for issuing a
refund. In the absence of the manager the grievor herself may, based on the current
enrollment data, take the decision to cancel a course. Finally, at the end of each term the
gtievor may be required to use these reports to address any outstanding refund issues or at
the end of the budget year she may be required to answer enrollment or refund questions
arising from these reports.
I fail to see any significant sense in which these duties involve the ghevor in the
"organization" of simple statistical information. It is difficult, for example, to see how
any meaningful comparison could be made between the gfievor's involvement with
statistical information and that of a Programmer A, or B · both of whom are benchmarked
at this level for Training. Essentially what the grievor does is to consult a list on which
are contained numbers conceming course enrollments - which information enables her to
advise a prospective student whether or not the course is open; and, if not · how long is
the wait list or whether to cancel a course (in the absence of a manager). Except in the
unusual case where she can adjust the maximum on the system in order to accommodate a
8
short wait list (again something only done in the absence of the manager), she has little
role to play in "organizing" the data. in the main, the data is simply there for her to
access and act accordingly.
Finally, the grievor claims that there are respects in which she is required to
understand the elementary principles of a science of a professional discipline. It is
suggested that in order for her to respond intelligently to career-related inquiries, she
needs to be able to advise as to which programs will meet the students' needs and that, in
that connection, she needs to understand the elementary principles of the particular
discipline concemed, viz, accounting, human resources management, industrial
management, personal support worker etc. While I would agree that she needs to know in
very general terms the differences between say an Arts course, a Techncial course, or a
Management course - and which courses in general are connected with various programs,
I do not consider the level of knowledge required to extend so far as to include an need to
understand the "elementary principles of [the particular discipline.].
The gricvor also relied on her involvement in the creation of new course codes as
supporting her claim that she needs to understand the elementary principles of a science
or discipline. Essentially, this involves taking the basic curriculum or course information,
reviewing and understanding it, and then assigning an appropriate four-letter discipline
code from a list of approved College discipline regulations. Reference was'also made to
the situation in which the gricvor is provided with certain information and asked to
research the existing course codes to find one that meets the particular criteria. An
example cited was one in which what was sought was a pediatric nursing code number
that revealed a graded course, forty-five hours in length with an approved funding
category. The grievor claimed that completion of this task would require knowledge of a
9
number of different health discipline codes.
While I do not discount that breadth of knowledge that these tasks apparently
require the difficulty faced by the union and the grievor is that, according to the PDF, this
particular task only occupies the gfievor for 2% of her time. As the classification process
is concemed with "core functions" it would be dangerous to allow a task that is performed
relatively rarely to in effect determine the classification.
Accordingly, for the reasons indicated, I would rate this factor at level 4.
ii) Experience
The PDF stipulates that "at least one year in a customer service field, such as a
Continuing Education department at a community college" as well as "excellent
communication and interpersonal skills, keyboarding and computer skills,, excellent
working knowledge of the College -and must be a team player and well organized with a
commitment to providing quality customer service."
The College rates this factor at the benchmark level of 3, viz, more than one and
up to three years of practical experience. The union claims that it should be at level 4,
viz, more than three and up to five years of practical experience.
The basis for the union's claim is that, having regard to the expectations of both
the grievor's manager and those who seek information from her, more than 3 years of
experience is required to achieve the knowledge level that would be necessary to perform
the job adequately. By way of illustration of the range of questions she is called upon to
answer the gfievor provided a list of typical questions asked during the month of
10
September 1998. Without setting those out in detail it suffices to say that they included
such things as questions conceming course and program requirements, availability of
counseling assistance, College refund policy and whether or not tuition is tax deductible.
The grievor also noted the fact that her manager expected her to "up sell", to (in the
manager's words) "tum inquiries into registrations and registrations for one program into
registrations for more than one program.". It was the grievor's view that this could only
be done by someone with a good deal of experience with the College.
In assessing this factor it is important to remember that what is being rated is the
position and not the incumbent. The College acknowledges that the grievor is a valued
employee who does her job very well. However, my concem must be with what level of
experience is required that would allow an employee to perform the job at a level of
average competency. Essentially the main duties of the position, which account for
approximately one half (48%) of the incumbent's time are the "customer service" duties
of responding to inquiries conceming College programs etc. In that regard what the
College requires is someone with good interpersonal and communication skills which can
then be applied in the College environment. While I am in no position to know definitely
how long it would take to become familiar with this new environment so as to be in a
position to respond reasonably effectively to questions posed, it strikes me that sufficient
familiarity would come with up to 3 years of experience.
Accordingly, I would rate this factor at level 3 . 32 points.
iii) Complexity
The difference between the College and Union ratings for this factor has to do with
whether or not the position requires the performance of varied "routine" or "non-routine"
11
complex tasks involving different and unrelated processes and/or methods.
The PDF states that the incumbent "must be resourceful in accessing information
to provide customer service to the diverse customer base" and proceeds to list a number
of different examples of complexity, viz, responding to information and registration
needs, advising students of course cancellation, processing refunds, providing information
on course/program requirements. In my view all of these example speak to that aspect of
complexity which involve variety. They do not, however, assist with determining
whether the tasks are routine (as the College claims) or non-routine (as the Union claims).
In that regard the grievor advised of a number of functions which she considered to
be non-routine, insofar as they were duties which she did not perform on a daily basis;
duties with which she was less familiar. Included among these duties were:
1. Fee collection for full time Adult Training Programs when the clerk who is responsible
for that task (Mary Ann Walters) is absent for one reason or another.
2. Assisting with the collection of fee deposits and other matters conceming late
registrants to post secondary programs at the London campus.
3. Performing the duties of the Secretmy to the Manager of the Continuing Education
Department in her absence.
4. Registering students for Continuing Education programs offered at the London Campus
5. Tracking fee-deferral, special-tuition payment arrangements to ensure that fees are
eventually paid in full.
6. Assisting with registration of staff in staff development programs.
The difficulty faced by the ghevor in connection with this claim is that the duties
which she relies on cannot be said to constitute the predominant or central duties of the
'=~
12
position. While duties which are peripheral to the predominant duties are relevant
overall, they cannot become the element which determines the classification.
The ,first three of the duties rdied on by the gfievor as illustrating non-routine
functions are all comprised within those referred to in the 4 grouping of duties in the
PDF, viz, "provides back up support etc.. As indicated, they only account for 6% of the
grievor's time. As for the others the evidence is that registering London campus students
in Continuing Education courses "does not come up very often"; that there were half a
dozen fee deferrals last semester; and that assisting staff with registration "does not
happen a tot - 2 in the fail semester".
Thus, if I were to rely on these duties as indicative of non-routine functions, I
would be permitting a relatively small portion of the duties to "drive" the classification.
There is no question that the grievor is required to answer a wide variety of different
questions and to deal with quite different registration requirements. In that respect her
tasks are varied. There is also no question that, the way in which she may deal with them
wilt be different from one to the next. In one instance she may access the computer to
call up the course enrollment data; in another she may consult some of the literature that
is at her disposal dealing with the course and program requirements; in another she may
consult a procedures manual. In that respect she may have to use "different and
unrelated: methods to solve the problem. But neither the fact of variety nor the fact of
needing to use different methods serves to delineate the difference between a level 3 and
a level 4 rating. The relevant point of distinction lies in whether the tasks are routine or
non-routine and in my view they are routine.
Accordingly, I would rate this factor at level 3 - 41 points.
iv) Judgement
The PDF states that the incumbent must use tact and diplomacy when interacting
with irate clients while adhering to College policy and determines when it is necessary to
refer problem issues to an appropriate person for resolution. In the section dealing with
examples that illustrate how the incumbent identifies options available and determines the
best course of action the PDF lists - providing information about College course
offerings, timely and accurate refunding of student fees as required, and eliciting
information from conversation with customers that could lead to customized training
opportunities.
The difference between the ratings of the College and the Union is over whether or
not the degree oi]udgrnent required is "moderate" or "considerable" and, in particular,
over whether the problem solving involves the "identification and breakdown of the facts
and components of the problem situation" (as the College maintains) or "handling a
variety of conventional problcm$...with established analytical techniques." (as the Union
maintains).
In her brief the grievor referred to various duties relied on as supporting her claim
in respect of this factor. They were:
1. Follow up work with corporate clients for whom customized training has been
arranged. In particular, she referred to an occurrence when, during a 3 week absence of
her manager, she had to act independently to finalize the arrangements for a number of
contracted courses when the instructor became unavailable and a scheduling change was
necessary.
2. Addressing a variety of issues involving confidential College matters, viz, students
"delinquent" on their fees payments; examination of legal documents (eg. divorce papers)
14
when changing student records, reviewing personal identification of students before
releasing grades, tests or transcripts; reviewing attendance records determining
entitlement to Letter of Recognition.
3. Analyzing new course descriptions when creating course codes and looking at various
data to set correct Category codes
4. Dealing with certain security issues, eg. re: deposit of money in safe or locked cash
drawers; opening locked moms or areas; permitting contractors and other workers access
to the building . issuing keys and getting signatures as necessary.
5. "Archive" registration receipts at the end of semester and determine which old records
should be shredded
6. Audit and store attendance records for all continuing education courses each semester.
7. Administering and marking tests for courses in the Self Study Technology Leaming
Centre and discussing areas for further study with failing students without revealing
answers.
In do not consider these duties to assist the grievor..
First, it would not be appropriate for me to consider those respects in which the
gricvor is involved with confidential information as, according to the Job Evaluation
Manual, contact with confidential information is measured and weighted under the
Communications/Contacts job factor. The gricvor's position has been rated by both
parties at level 3 and it bears noting that one of the benchmarks for that level the Clerk
General D position - in a payband already higher than that in which she currently sits and
which the grievor seeks. It is thus apparent that the parties have already taken into
consideration the grievor's coming into contact with confidential material and rewarded it
accordingly. Consequently, it cannot be considered again under this factor.
With respect to duties done in the absence of the Manager, viz, finalizing contract
courses and canceling or postponing courses, and the creation of new course codes the
PDF indicates that in each case, this duty only occupies the grievor for 2% of the time.
Similarly, although there is no evidence as to the precise amount of time involved it
would appear that the archiving of registration receipts and the auditing of attendance
records is .ttn activity which occurs only once each semester. As for the security related
activities I fail to see anything in the way of "analysis". Finally, with respect to the
administering and marking of tests in the Self Study Technology Leaming Centre, it
appears, firstly that there are not a lot of students in this program and secondly that the
task is relatively straightforward involving the laying of a key or a template across the. test
and checking off the correct answers. Further, the key itself indicates clearly what advice
to give to students as to which areas require further study.
Thus, I find little in the examples cited by the gfievor to support her claim for a
higher rating for the judgement factor. More importantly, when one has regard to the
core duties performed by the grie¥or, viz, the answering of inquiries at the desk, it
appears clear that there is little "analysis" involved. To .borrow from some of the
examples of typical questions addressed to the gricvor - she is presented with a question
or a problem, i:gr will the co-op part of my Tool and Die program run in the summer? Or
What does the Technical Theatre program costs? Or Do you have a Welding course? .
and she provides an answer as best she can from the literature she has available including
the College Manual or from her own knowledge and where she is unable to provide the
answer she consults with other members of her team or the Manager. In my view this
kind of problem solving is better captured by the language "breakdown of the facts and
components of a problem" (level 3) than by that found in level 4, viz, "handling problems
16
with. . established analytical techniques."
Further support for a rating of 3 comes from a comparison of this position with the
benchmark positions in which this factor has been given a rating of 4 for Judgment. The
typical duties of a Secretary C include "researching material to provide supervisors with
background information for policy and planning meetings" and "ensuring that matters
requiring immediate attention are routed to the appropriate Officials for action." The
typical duties of an Early Childhood Education Worker include scheduling, conducting
and monitoring activity programs for young children. The typical duties of a Nurse
include coordinating nursing services in the college or satellite campuses and establishing
and evaluating the college's Health Centre services. In my view the level otSudgment
required to carry out those tasks exceeds that required of the grievor.
Accordingly, for the reasons given, I would rate this factor at level3-48 points.
v) Sensory Demand
The PDF simply states that visual and auditory strain is required when dealing
with customers and that attention to detail is required when registering students. Visual
concentration is estimated to be required 40% of the time and auditory concentration for
75% of the time.
The union submits that this factor should be rated at level 4, in particular
"considerable" visual, auditory, or sensory demand on mental energy and "frequent"
careful attention to detail and accuracy. The College has rated it at level 3 on the basis
that, while the demand on mental energy is considerable, the only time that careful
attention to detail is required is when the grievor is registering students and that as this is
only for 35% of the time (according to the PDF) the need for careful attention to detail
and accuracy can only be said to be "occasional".
In her brief the grievor referred extensively to a number of respects in which the
multiple demands placed on her (eg. to attend to one or more people at the counter while
at the same time handling telephone calls) creates "sensory pressure on mental energy".
In my opinion this element of the job is what is measured by the Strain from Work
Pressures/Demands/Deadlines factor and ought not to be taken into account for the
purpose of raising the rating for the Sensory Demand factor. The parties are agreed that
the grievor's rating of 3 for the Strain factor is appropriate. I would add that this appears
to be correct since level 3 awards points where an incumbent is faced with "regular (albeit
predictable) "interruptions, changing deadlines and multiple demands." - which clearly
position occupied by gfievor.
describes
the
the
I am in agreement with the College rating and its reasons therefore and would,
accordingly, rate this-factor at level 3 , 28 points.
3. Summary and Conclusion
Thus, based on the core point ratings which I fund to be appropriate the position
occupied by the grievor warrants a total point rating of 467 points. Accordingly, the
position remains in Pay band 7 and the grievance is dismissed.
18
Dated at LONDON, Ont. mis'7_.( day of ~--~~ 1 9 9 s
8o1
~
· Grego e Arbitrator
ARBITRATION DATA SHEET , SUPPORT STAFF CLASSIFICATION
"5ant '~lassifl~ab'~o~': ~'~ L. E~:=,j_~ /~:_~r--y~ ~ and Present Payband: _
Job Family and Payband Requested by Gdevor:
1. Position 'Description Form Attached
2 '~,, r'] The parties agree on the contents of tha attached Position Description Form
' ~ :OR
'~] The Union disagrees with tha contents of the attached Position Description Form. The specific details of this
disagreement are as follows:
(use reverse s~de ~f necessary)
FACTORS NLANAGEMENT UN)ON
Level Pelnta Level Pelntl
1. Training/Technical Skills
2. Experience
=,~ Complexitv
Judsement
,l 5 . Motor Skills ,,
6. Physical Demand
· 7 Sensory Demand
8. Strain from Work Pressures/Demands/Deadlines
9. independent Action
10. Communications/Contacts
11. Responsibility for Decisions/Actions
12. Work Environment
JOB CLASSIFICATION (~ L e ~ ~e
A-I-FACHED WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS: r"] The Union r"J The College
FOR THE UNION FOR MANAGEMENT
~Gr~evo¢[ .... [bate) (College Repcesantat~ve) (Date)
{0~on Hepresenta~,ve! (Date]
(Arbitiator'~/o~u~u.,:~/ (Date of Hearing) (Olte of Award)
e3-I 2.09 b:det~sheet.doc