HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-0696.Jagger et al.90-04-03 ONTAR~IO /:MPL 0 Y~"S DE LA COURONNE
CFtOWN EMPt. 0 YEE$ DE L'ONTA RIO
GRIEVANCE C,OMMISSION DE
SETTLEMENT REGLEMENT
BOARD DES GRIEFS
180 DUNDAS STREET WEST, TORONTO, ONTARIO. M5G IZ8 - SUITE2100 TELEPHONE/T~L~PHONE
180, RUE OUNOAS OU~ST, TORONTO, fONTARfO) MSG ~Z8- BUREAU 2100 (416)598-0688
696/89
IN THE HATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARC~INING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLESENT BOARD
BE~EEN:
OPSEU (~a~er et al)
Grievor
- and -
.The Crown in Right of Ontario
(Ministry of Consumer & Commercial Relations)
Employer
BEFORE: p. Knopf~ Vice-Chairperson
J. Solberg Member
R. Scott Member
FOR THE R. Stoykewych
GRIEVOR: Counsel
Cavalluzzo, Hayes & Lennon
Barristers & Solicitors
FOR THE D. Wakely
EMPLOYER: Counsel
Winkler, Filion and Wakely
Barristers & Solicitors
L. Gottschling
Staff Relations Co-ordinator
Ministry of Consumer &
Commerical Relations
HEARING: January 26, 1990
DECISION
'~his is a classi£ication grievance invo].vinp
~os~tion o5 Senior. qlevator Inspector. Th~ 9rJevo¢ is
classified as an Executive .Officer 1 (Atypical). He works ,
wi~h the Technical S~andard3 Division of the Minis%fy o~
Consumer and Commercial R~latioas supe~vis~a9 a group of
F~eld Insoe-cto~s a~d inspectin9 elevating devices und~ abe
~_~.!~._PtV ~.~.!.~_~,~_9_n.~_._~.~'~_!_~_~i9~%· Th:a Dar ~.ias have
agreed ~o proceed wl~h this case as a represoncative case.
They agree tha~ the results of this grievance will be aDp!ie~
to fiv~ ot~er ind[v~dual, s in sim%la~ ~osit~ons. TRe parties
furtheu agreed ~o prDce.~d by way of an agree] statement o~
f ac ts,
]~he agreed facns indicate than the position
speci~icatio~ effective in January of 198'3 is an accurate
d~scrlption o~ the .duties a~nd respoQs£bii'..ni.:~.s o~ [he
gr~evor, I~ is appended ~e~e~o as Appendix ! to ~he
dec~.s~on, By way o~ [~rt%aer detail, the part~es agree that
20% of the grievor's time is taken up by the supervisory
duties as set oun in paragraph 3(2) of t~e Posicion
Specification. The inspections referred ~o therein are done
on the slEe o~ the elevasi, n9 device, Thus, the du[kes uake
him out o~ his o~f'tce for a suDs~antta~ 9ar% o.( his working
time. The part~es also note ~hat there are several ob!~er
duties tl%e 9rievor ~erforms includln9
- collecting evidence for purposes of prosecutions
- consulting with Ministry personnel as an exper%
for purposes o~ determining whether to pcosecute
- ap6)ea-~in9 as a wiLness in civil and criminal
prosecutions a.oproximaaely fi~e times per year
-.- collecting monies for a!evar, or licence fees and
answmring emergency calls (once or twice a
mo n th ) .
As me.~tione~l earlier, the grievo~ has been classi. F~i. ed at t. he
level of Executive Officer 1. The Class Standac~ fo~ that
position is ~ppe~%ded hero, to as Appendix "B:'.
The Board was askefl to r~.~msin seized with the is.~ue o~
compensation and with the issue o[ whet payment should
commence if th,a ~rievance succeeds.
The Argument
On behalf of the grievo~, iu was ar._que~ tha~
classification Dea£s little or ~o relation to abe nauu~_~ of
the duties p,~rformed by ~he g~ievor as a Senior Elevato~
Ins?ecnor. It was sakd that the core o~ h~s duties is
centered on the inspection of elevatou devices an:~ he thus
spends consideraOle time away from the o~fice. It was
stuessed [hat the grievo~ is engaged in a highly
inspect].oq ~]nction, studying .~esign submissions a~ testing
and directin9 thai tests be oerformed ia order to
public safety. It was further stressed that all his duties,
lncl. uding his supervisory duties are the execcise
technical expectise an~ the g~vln~ of technical qui<~a~ce and
direction. Thi~ J_s cont~aste~ to the administrative a~d
organizational ~utLes associated with th~ types o~ functions
which the UnLon says would be covered by tha Executive
0EElC,~ ! Class Sta~ar~. Counsel for the U~ion went through
the c!~ss definition an~J cha[acterisnic .~u~ies of ~he
Execut].ve Office~ 1 level stressing ~he number of concepts
which are not ~elaned to the grievor's work s~ecifically.
Fur%beE, i~ was stressed that the core function of an
Execugive Officer is diffe~e'nt than ~hat of the 9rievo~.
was sazd chat the work bE the 9¢ie~or is dtE'fere.qt in
and in purpose th.an ls co~l~emplated by ~h~ ,qx.~cu~iv~
O~fic~u L des~gnatiog. Further, it was sai<l tl~at the fact
than the Employer has chosen to ,Jesi. gnate this joe as
atypical '.Joes no~ assisn the Employer because of the vast
difference between the job as perEormed and tile lanou'a~e
the classification chosen. Thus, we were asked ~o declare
than the qui~vor has been improperly classJ.=ied~, and chat th
mattar be remitted back to the parties for th~ position to
reclassified. The Board was referre.:~ to i~?_¢.[~ and Ministry
..........................
o~Co.~qq.~.~y.._9~,J~_~q~.!~._~.~%~_~, unre;[3o~t.'ed decision of the
Divisional Court da~e~ March !3, 1985, ~.~...gQ~__.~.~E~
217/83 (Vet i ny), ~u55!5~. ~,]..~_~iS~s t~_.9~___~gq~.9~9.~.%9.5, GSB
File No. 1574/8~ (Gorsk~),
Boac¢~ File No. 95/99 (Ve:~it.¢) and
9( .~9~!oE~.~!gO, Board F~!e No. 10')8/95 (Wilson).
On behalf off the Employer it :~as argued than tt~ts
Boar;1 has oEten acceoted the co~%cepu_ of aR ar~ygicak
classz[ic'a~lon as being a proper m~tl~odology o~
c!asslf~cat~oa. I~ was sai:~ tha~ tn cases whet,~ ~ge ~mp ~ lo,er
has 8xercised its legi[lmate .~iscretton Eo ~coperly classify
wi~h an abyp~cal desi0na~[on, i~ ~s eot ce~u[red ~haa
"fib" be as snug as [t would be in .~ typical siEua[ioa,
the classiftcar, ton may s~kl]. De appropriate aad proper.
Thus, we were [o look to see that the fit will be genera!
nature and more "9eaeric" than one woukd expecz to find in a
typical case. I% was argued tha~ i~ the Union was to
succeod, ~t would imoly than the Class Suan.~ard must ft~ so
tightly to the posi[ion sgec~cation to make them
in~erchaageable aad this would ;]imintsh the flexibility
Lot a wo
required ~ ~kab.]:~ classi[icaaion s~stem. Like abe
Uniog, cougs~l ~ook us through ~he SoD sQecifica~toa and the
Class Standards bat, in contrast, argue~ how the two
bogethe(. It was said that tile Class S~andards could be read
generalll; enough to eacompass the kinds of
con nempla ted by the job' speci~icat[on, having regard to
fact ~hat it has 0een designated as at?pical, We
~[.v~q~., GSB File No. 47/77 (Swan) and ~e[.~9.O_gQ.Q_Q!2!~.!?/
~.[ ,[~Sq.l[~l.l.,__~q.~2~.lf9__l[~ ,'' GSB F~le No. 497/B5 (Roberts).
The Dec is ion
Due to tt~.~,~ Fact that the {)aFnies have been able no
agree that the position is accurately described in the
Position Specification, with the additional details set out
in the a~reed stater~ent o~ facts, the exercise fou this BoarJ
is to Jetermine whether those functions c-in within th.u Class
Standards of the Executi'~e Offic~=r 1 set out in Appendix
In doin~ so, we accept the proposition put to us by the
Ministry and adopte5 ~n the A..n.~_~.[SO_n- case, .s_..u_~[a.., where it
was sa id .:
· .. an employee may be Urogerly classified even
though he or she does not pe.~form all or a majority
of the duties described in a Class Standa.~d. We
acceoc, that Class Standards must, by nature,
general in scoge and there will be significant
variations in the concentrations of the duti..~s of
employees who a~e properly classified thereunder.
We also accept the concept tlnat an any~ical classi[ica~.~on
ty?e of designation is necessary, in the classification schema
of the Government Seer ices. There are far too many jogs
involving a wide ~a~[ety of duties and responsibilities loc
one to ~xpact or hope for acl. ass Jeflnltion fo~ each
pos~nlon~ The Class Snandauds must be general in nature and
muse be generally enough drafta~d in be.Jet to cover ~he
appropria=e numOer of positions. This was recognize4 im the
Kg.~Z dec,.s/on, 9~L7i~, where in was said~
I am oE the ogin~on that while ~he B~,.,r_.[y. decision
may not have invalidated atypical class ica t ions ,
this Board ~iven its c~ea~ manJate to direcL thar~ a
new classificauion be establishe,~ when it is
satisfied that a ~rlevor is impuoperly classi..=.ted
musk insist that an atypical classification no~
vary wldeiy in its core features from the archetype
of the c] ass if £cation.
Thus, while we .accepn th~a concept of an atypical
classification, and we accept_ the i~oorcance of generalized
Class Standards, we m~]st ensure that the~e not be a wide
variation in the posit~o~ in question from t!]e "core feat~res''
of the "archetype" of the classification. One of the most
im~o~tan~ tests o~ that ~s that a~ticulate~ in .D_.u..n_n_~n_.q, su_~r_a..,
where ~n was sa~d:
I cannot conclu.ge that becaus~.~ the bulk of. the
9rievor~ duties and res3onsib%iit[~,s ~a!_l wit'.] the
class stan~ard means that he ~s properly
classified. What is import-ant is that he "could be
called ,]pon at any time by [the] employer to
perform [the] functi, ons" beyond those covered
the class standard.
With all these concepts in mind, we t,.~rn to the Job
Specification as amplified in the evidence in the Class
Standards of this case. In doing so, we are looking to the
core duttes and ~e3pons~bil~ties as well as co tile essencia~
nature and purpose of the pos iroions as specified in the two
documents. Once a careful analysis of this is performe~], it
must be conclude~ that the 9rievor~s core duties and
responsibilities are fundamentally difF~erent than those
descri.oed in ~he class definition of the Execur_i. ve Officer 1.
The na~:~re and function of the 9rievor~s responsibility .~s co
act as aa in$lpecnor fo~.r elevating devices, The vast bulk of
his t~me is spent on site, eithe~ inspectin~ or directing the
inspection of elevati~9 devices and doing everything
necessary to ensure their proper operation un~e~ the
.~._l_~.y.a..,~.t. in_g._._D~v_~qe_.:~._~c_'t'. A ..oara of his time, agree'] to be 20%,
is s~oen~ in givtng technical supervision to Eie. ld
Buz again, nhis involves technical skill and experz~se, His
day.-to-day work, his responsibilisies an~] the skills and
knowledge he requires all relate to highly technical
abilities and knowledge. In contrast, the Class StandarJ
an Executive Officer I contemplates a function which, in
esse[%ce, involves administration and office management
functions and ces[0onsib[]tJ, ties, The phrase "adminlsnrat[v.%
au~hos[ny or office managoment" appears throuqhoun the cJass
definition. Th~ duties and the p~rpose of Such a
classlficat~on seem to cont-~mp[ate o~ganizaCioaal skills aod
repo~a[ng functions. Wher~ there is o~;er!ap, th~3 o~erlap
canno~ O~ a~triDun~d to any of the nature or co$~ of wha~ one
would expect of an Executive Office~. For example, it is
tsue nhat thc Class Standard calls for "the frequent
application o[ indep~n. Jent judgment an:] initiati, ve within
defined limits" and the ability ~o "~leveiop
required to implemen5 leqislation and regulations" anJ
"p~epa~in~ reports" But these phras~s, while they c,3rtainiy
apply to the 9rievor, are so Qeneral ~n nat:~ue that they must
be ~ead in co~text with the entire Class Snanda~.~ an~] seem
be exercised in cot%junction wl~h the administrative
office management duties associated with that kind of
position. However, those l~tLer duties are not part o)]
9rievor~s work.
The grievor s job must be so~n to be. a classic
situation wheue h~s duties racy widely in nheir co~e feature, s
from ~he type o~ classification one would exp.gct to b~
co~]ered ~y the Ex3cucive OfS ice~ 1. ~o~ can the duties be
said [o oe af~a[ogous because of th8 si..Qni(icaRt dif~.erenc.3s
benweea adm~nistCative and ocgan~zational type of duties
responsibilities as opposed to the technical
requi¢~d in the gr~evoc:s posinion. Finally, the grie~o¢ is
called u~oa to perform maa.? .functions be~on-J those covered by
the Class
Under'aL.l the clrcumst.~,gc.~s~ we :~eclar~ than
9rievo~ has .~aen improperly classi~Le,~ and w.~ direct
Mlnisnry to create a proper class~r_'ica~[o~ ~=or hLm, Furr_'.~r,
~%e Emi3!oycr shal. 1 complete this reclassi~i, cat.toa withia a
reasonably expeditious period of time. The Boa~J retains
jurisdictxo~ pendin~ the impl-=mentation of this decisxon
incl~dia~ any ~ssue of re~roactivitv and i~,~.~su shoul~:] the
paraies re~uir~ o~.lc furthe~ assista[~ce.
DAZED ac ?oronCo, OnCarzo, this 3rd Jay oE April,
1993.
"I dissent" (Dissent attached)
............ - ~:~---F~ND I X A ..........
Position Specification & C~ass AIiocatlomC$C
(Refer to back of form for ~ompletion instructions)
sam~s,:Sen~or [nspecco= [ ~7-6004-O~ Executive OJfice~ [ (A~ypical
Consult & Co~e~cia~ Relac~on~ Technical Standards ~ivision
e,~¢{~evtces ~o,i~. 33~ ~loor Street ~est J 69~0
Shtpp Cen~re,~es~ To. er, 3rd
To ~upervl~e 8 group of field inspectors in a region under che ~ener81 direction of a
Regional ~ager and ~o inspect elevacln8 devices under the Elevating Devices Act and Regule-
C~ons am~ aEop~ sC~dmrds Co ensure as closely es is ~ractEcable t~t an elevetimg device
confo~s wt~h the kc~, Regulations and applied codes. ~fle..or in ~he c~ny of an
.~'~~e.and c~plm~mca tn~o[v~g .these ,devices, If ne~e~.
[) Tnepects ney tne[a[~at~on9 and ~or aZce~aCtons Co ~[ e[evettnK devices as de~ne~
che '~S Devices AcC, [980, end perfome periodic end fo~[ov-up ~nspect~ons ~n
-studyin8 r~tetered dest~n su~ieslonm of elevating devices, electrical, mechanical and
construction details; ex~ining site controllers, sectors, overhead supports, access, meams
of suspensl~, elec~rical syste~, conductors, weldi~and general workmanship;
-direc[in8 feat of ape~, capacity and application of safety de-ices, tripping governors,
limits of [tavel, door interlocks, levelling devices, [op-of-car operating device, running
currem~ end voltage, ~or amd circuit overload protection, door groundin~, (installed,
adjusted and ~es[ed by a registered contractor);
-checking operation of ~chanicat and electrical systems during ~esta, measuring dimensional
requirements, i.e., stopping distances, ~chine room, runway, buffer, stroke, tail rope pull
out:
-recordinS ~esu~ts of ~ests, operation of safe~[ devices and measurements;
-vrLc~n~ clear, concise reports on all Xnspections ~de, ~ecording info~atio~ on standard
report fo~s, i.e., directions Co o~ers ~r contractors re: violations found:
-discussing such vialaC~ons end atC~ptina to obtain compliance on a voluntary basis
clos~n~ d~ equi~ent where unsafe condi~ions exist and/or installation does not conform to
registered d~n submission
- supervising the acttv~y of a grOuP of field ia~'t~' e~rE ~-fficien't and economical
service co the p~blic ~ maxtatze ~he safety atamdard;
- s~r~eyin~ ~he dls~ricts of a rest~ [o ensure equal dis~ributio~ of workload;
- ~int8lnln8 awareness of each district inspector throu8h visits end telephone con:act;
(...comC'd.
Skills end kn~ r~uir~ to ~ofm job It fuji working fl~t. (leVitate man.tory cr~lntillt ~ licencit, if
H~bersh~p In O,A,C.E.T.T. ac C.~.T. leve~; kno~edBe o~ cu~en~ ~nd pas~ ~ndus~taZ
reBa~d~n8 construction. ~nsca~lec~on and p~eve~Cac~ve ma~ncen~ce and replacement ~
devtce~. Sound knovled~e o[ ~he e~eva~n8 g~v~ces Acc and R~sula~ion5 an~ appl~oct
f (...conc'd. ~ase
S~ture ~V M~m Year ~ ; ~ I O~v Manta
I , vl
~x,c.c~v, 0~cer ~ (~cyp&ca~) f 0352x [ ?-or mI 0~ I 8s
Pos~cton ~e responsible for ~nspec~on ne~ Sn~ca~ec~ons a~d ~or ~cerac$on~ co
e~ev~n~ dev~ces as deC,ned ~n cbs E~evac~ng Devices Acc and per~orm~n~
~ns~cc~on~ co ensure compliance ~h che Acc, Re~ul3c~ofls ~nd app~od
P~sicion is responsible for organizifla, asst~ning a~d supervisin~ the ~ctivil:~. o[ n
of field inspectors amd loc providi.~ th~ w~th technical guidamce end am.~Jstance ~o ensure,
that safety standards ere met.
Post~ion ~s responsible for discussing violations with owners and contractors and
comptinnce ~her om a vo]u~tmry basis o~ by closi.g d~ equipment where u.~al~
exist mnd/o~nsta~]m~ionm dm nor ~nfofm ~ r.~.i,~,r~,d dmsi~tn
~i~alq,t- ,,~ ~,.~3~4,1 '~n.,,.,,,v '-- ' ' "D~4u ;', :'- ..~A~;~';,'" · ...... ' ....
~ITIO# SPECIFICATION & CLASS ALLOCATION Page 2
~ ~NZOR INSPECTO~
.~.*- Duties and related :aska...cont*d.
; 2) -studytn8 registered design submissions o£ elevating devices co be installed
in the supervised area;
: -editing the tnapector*s weekly inspection reports, running sh~ecs
attendance registers; audi: inspectorz' expense accounts.
20% -re'aging the statistical data from inspection reports to the Regional ~na~er:
-assisting the Regional Manager in the training o~ new inspectors end advis~r~g
on the need for retraining o~ inspectors, when deemed necessary:
-accompanying distr~ct 2napectors, to {nspect and report on problem
-providing assistance to inspectors, owners and registered contractors.
·
I -~onitoring and maintaining records on contractors' performance (maintenance,
~ alteration,co, spearers);
-monitoring o~er-contractor performance.
~) Performs other related tasks such aa:-attendi~ ¢on~era~c. ec and scn~.nar~, ~:cc~i~ up
date on latest development9 in field; ..
-inspection of amusement devices, ss required.
~. Skills end kno~ledRe required.,.cont'd.
Ability to coa~unicate both oral[~ and ~n ,riCing ~ith registered elevating
dev$ce contractors, project managers and engineers. ~b$~tty to supervise the
activities of a group of field ~nspectors. Several years as an e:evacot
inspector. Administrative ability.
elevat~n$ ~evlces as defined in the Elevating Devices Ac~ and performing
' ~nspec~ons to ensure compliance rich the Act, Regulations and epplte~ codes.
a. Position la responsible [or organizing, assigning and supervisin8 the activity of a group
of field iaapectors and for providing them ~th technical 8uidance and assistance :o ensure
that safety standards are
¢.
co~plience~theton a voluntary basis or bf closing do~ equipment where unsafe condt:ion$ /
e~ist ~nd/o,t,.~Lnstsllati~s do not co~otm to reaist~rc~ design submiss~ons.
APPENDIX B
o3'~2.a
CL~$ DEFINITION:
=ion of in~ependen:..ju~en: ~ initiative
~her~ direc~ supe~is~ re=~o~ib~i:ies are no: a major feature of
the wark, the e~l~ee v~l d~vrlop ~t~ure~ re~ir~ to ~l~en: lezi~-
la:ion ~d re~la:ions, ~d ~ exercise ~u~ aa~{s:ra~ive authcri~ a~
his chief may delegate. ~e ~y m~e ad~cra:ive's~diez, 'org~i:ational :..
review~ ~d ca~ out v~iou~ ~si~neat~ of ~ cogitative, ~vescizacin~
~r confiden:~ nacre. ..
~here ~upe~ision i~ the decisive fac:or ~n :he uork, the individual
for :he de:aile~ interpretatxon of poli~ ~d
t:~:a]ly ~ubject only :o :cheryl ~upe~'i~icn,
a: :~e~ be specific .~d dcta}le~. .[
CH L~.~CTERI~TIC DUTI~:
%s ~ssi~tant to the h~ad of a hr~nch or ins:i~tion, carries out a~sizned
r~earch studies, pr~pare~ reruns end info~ationa! r~terial ~d h~dle~
!e~,-~ated a~tn~strarive de:ail~ suck. a~ the pre~ra:io~ and a~iaistratiec
~t ~ffice or institutional re~la:icn~ ~ p~c~ures. >:a>' act f~r thc
?r'.':~ he~ in his absence.
,:~-:-.es, ' ouc field inve~:igat~on~ in gepa~e~t~ opera:in~ district offices.
~n order co ensure that effective Co~rrol~ by Head Office are bein~ exer-
r.n..,-r~ tnt: agreements with :he ~ubtic
· :cvernment for the p~curin~ of ]eases, righKs of ray, prope~i~s and ~n-
· ~c~ as ~ecutive ~ecre:a~ to a~inistratLv~ boa~s and co~i~ees..
·~ :~f[ce ~anagsr or chief clerk ~f a
~.l~.n~. assigns ~d reviews the work of e~ployees engaged in the collection
~f r.:venu,, the assig~ent of pensions, or the provi~;n~ cf
c~cntiat :;~rvices as prescribed ~v legislation
~..r:a~ other related work as
=.~ecutiee
CUALIFICATIO.NS:
1. Senior
dele' f~ a ~iv~rsi~ of ~co~i=ed s~~ o~ c~p~ble
professicn~ trig. A ~hn~h ~l~ge of office orwi~=io. ..
good jud~en:. ..
DISSENT OF J.P. SCOTT
In adopting the test for an acceptable atypical allocation
enunciated by previous panels of the Grievance Settlement
Board, the Chair of this Panel perpetuates what in my view
is a fundamental misunderstanding of what constitutes an
atypical allocation.
Those earlier panels, and the Chair of this Panel have
acknowledged the right of the employer to classify positions,
including the designation of an atypical allocation, and
they also acknowledge that atypical allocation is necessary
For this employer. As the Chair of this Panel so aptly puts
it - "There are far too many jobs involving a wide variety
of duties and responsibilities for one to expect or hope for
a class definition for each position."
However, having accepted the employer's right to use, and
the need for atypical allocations, some of those earlier
decisions have so circumscribed the latitude of the employer
that the effective use of such allocations is seriously, if
not fatally, impaired.
The Webster Reference Dictionary defines 'atypical' as: not
conforming to type; irregular; abnormal.
The government's Manual of Administration, the pertinent
page of which was submitted by counsel For the employer,
defines atypical allocation as follows:
The allocation to a ctass of a position
that in general fits that class better
· than any other, but is significantly
different from other positions in the
class with respect to the:
- function(s) carried; or
- skills and knowledge required
(emphasis added)
In the face of such an explicit definition of a process
which gave the employer the flexibility it needed in
classifying such a large and variable assortment of jobs,
the earlier panels established, or adopted, a much different
test ss to what constitutes an acceptable atypical alloca-
tion. This test suggests that there must not be a wide
variation in the position in question from the "core
features" of the "archtype" of the classification to which
the position is assigned.
- 2 -
While it may be late in the day for this observation, I feel
compelled to say that if a position encompasses, or does not
vary widely from the "core Features" of a class to which it
is assigned, it properly belongs to that class and is not an
atypical allocation under any reasonable definition of the
word "atypical"
In the employer's classification system, and in some others
as well, job classes are developed and positions are
assigned to different levels in class series in order that
employees may be appropriately compensated for the degree of
difficulty and level of responsibility of their job duties.
Where there is a need to assign a position on an atypical
basis, the employer attempts to find a class where the
duties and responsibilities are such that they have
attracted a salarylevel which would appropriately compensate
the employees in the position being assigned, even though
the functions they carry out may be significantly different.
In the instant case, the level of responsibility and the
complexity of duties covered by the class standards for
Executive Officer 1 appear to be appropriate For the
position of Senior Inspector.
For example, in the position specification for Senior
Inspector, the purpose of the position reads, in part, as
follows:
To supervise a group of field
Inspectors in a region under the
general direction of a Regional
Manager and to inspect elevating
devices under the Elevating Devices
Act and Regulations and adopted
standards to ensure as closely as
possible that an elevating device
conforms with the Act, Regulations
and applied Codes."
It was agreed by the Parties that 20% of the Senior
Inspector's time is spent on the supervision of field
inspectors.
The class standard for Executive Officer 1 stipulates that
the class covers positions in which supervisory respon-
sibilities are not a major feature of the work but also
covers positions where supervision is the decisive factor in
the work.
Lb-
Where supervision is a decisive factor, the individuaJ is
responsible for the organization, assignment and supervision
of tasks of a number of clerks or technical employees in a
section of a branch and for the detailed interpretation of
policy and legislation. His work is subject only to general
supervision,
(emphasis added)
When an individual spends 20% of his or her time supervising
the work of others, this has to be considered an important
part of the job and it makes little or no difference whether
the people being supervised are technical or administrative
employees.
In other words, this significant part of the Senior
Inspector's job fits well in the class definition for
Executive Officer 1.
(Counsel For the union referred to these supervisory duties
as "largely incidental" and "largely technical direction"
Since these terms would only serve to downgrade the value of
the grievors' jobs, I have to think he would not be unhappy
if the Board chose to ignore this part of his argument.)
When the Senior Inspector is not supervising the work of
others his work is related to the inspection of elevating
devices and includes inspections, writing reports on
violations, discussing violations with owners or eon-
tractors, editing the inspector's weekly inspection reports,
running sheets and attendance records, audit inspectors
expense accounts.
While it is acknowledged that the actual function of
inspecting elevating devices does not appear in the
class definition of Executive Officer 1, all of the other
duties in the above paragraph can be said to be administra-
tive in nature and are covered in the class definition.
Paragraph 1 of the class definition of Executive Officer 1
calls for the frequent application of independent judgement
and initiative within defined limits and it was agreed by
the parties that paragraph 1 does apply to the Senior
Inspector's job.
Wtb respect to skills and knowledge r~quired, the Senior
Inspector's job requires a knowledge of elevating devices.
This specific knowledge requirement does not appear int he
class definition for Executive Officer 1 but since the
educational requirements are "senior matriculation standing
or the equivalent, preferably with a degree from a universi%y
of recognized standing or comparable professional training't,
one could reasonably assume that the knowledge requirements
are at least the equivalent of those for the Senior
Inspector.
Other skill requirements for the Senior Inspector's job are
the ability to communicate both orally and in writing,
ability to supervise others and adminstrative ability.
These clearly fit within item 3 of the qualifications
required for an Executive Officer I which reads as follows:
"Administrative and supervisory ability;
ability to interpret legislationand
regulations and to amplify, develop and
apply policy in practical operation without
direct supervision; ability to maintain
harmonious relationships amongst employees
and with the general public; facility of
expression in speech and writing, initiative;
integrity; alertness; tact and good judgement"
In short, while the duties are different, the complexity of
the assignments and the level of responsibility assumed ~y
positions, assigned to the Executive -O~fficer 1. class would
appear to be a reasonable' match, by way of atypical
allocation, for the position of Senior Inspector.
The atypical allocation was effected in 198~ and appears to
have been acceptable to the grievors for a numbe~ of years.
Now i~ is alleged that the allocation is wrong although
there was no evidence that either the Executive Officer 1
standards or the position of Senior Inspector has changed.
This suggests to me that the allocation was, and is correct
and that the grievors must persue other avenues if they wish
to increase their compensation level.
The majority decision stipulates that the Board retains
jurisdiction pending the implementation of this decision,
including any issue of retroactivity and interest. It is
trite to observe that if a new class is established, it
doesn't necessarily follo~ that the new class will provide a
higher level of salary than the atypical allocation.
For all of the reasons cited above, I think the grievance
shouJd have been dismissed.
..1, R, Scott
Hember