HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-0441.Lavoie.92-01-31, fi~'i '. :!.~! ONT,~RIO EMPLOYES D~ L.A COu~oNNE
· ,. CROWN EMPLOYE~S ~L 'ONT.4',IaJO
' ' ~" GRIEVANCE C,OMMISSION DE
SETTLEMENT REGLEMENT
BOARD DES GRIEFS
180 DLINDAS STREET WES1'. SLI;TE 21~, ~OR~O, ON~AR~ M5G ~Ze ~ELE~O~E/~E~O~E ~4~ ~-~3~
441/91
ZN THE MATTER OF ~N ~RBITRATION
Unde~
TH~ CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BAJ~GAINING ACT
Befo~e
THE GRIEV~CE SETTLEltENT BO;~RD
BETIT~EN
OPSEU ~ (Lavoie)
Grievor
The Crow~ in Right of Ontario
(Ministry of Correctional Se~rices)
Employer
BEFORE: B. Keller Vice-Chairperson
I. Thomson Member
" G. Milley. Member
FOR THE A. Ryder
GRTEVOR Counsel
Ryder, Whitaker, Wright & Chapman
Barristers & Solicitors
FOR ~ J. Ravenscroft
EMPLOYE~ Grievance Officer
Ministry of Correctional Services
HEARING Septe~er 3, 1991
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The instant decision deals with the non-renewal of a limited term
contract appointment. What makes it somewhat novel at this time
is that the employer conceded that it is not made under Group 1,
2, or 3 of s.6 of the Regulations but under Group 4 which was
added in March 1989. Section 6 of the Regulations is, as
everyone knows by now, that section which "fleshes-out" section
8 of the Public Service Act.
8.-(1) A minister or any public servant who is
designated in writing for the purpose by him may
appoint for a period of not more than one year on the
first appointment and for any period on any 'subsequent
appointment a person to a position in the unclassified
service in any'Ministry over which he presides.
6.-(1) The unclassified service consists of employees
.who are employed under individual contracts in which
the terms of employment are set out and is divided
into,
(a) Group 1, consisting of employees who are employed,
(i) on a project of a non-recurring kind,
(ii) in a professional or other special
capacity,
(iii) on a temporary work assignment arranged by
the commission in accordance with its
program for providing temporary help,
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(iv) for fewer than fourteen hours per week or
fewer than nine full days- in four
consecutive weeks or on an irregular or
on-call basis,.
(v) during their regular school, college or
university vacation period or under a co-
operative educational training program;
(b) Group 2, consisting of employees ~ho are employed
on a project of a recurring kind,
(i) for fewer than twelve consecutive months
and for fewer than,~i
(A) 36 1/4 hours .'per week where the
position, if filled by a civil servant,
would be classified as a position
requiring 36 1/4 hours of work per week,
(B) 40 hours per week where the position, if
filled by a civil servant, would be
classified as a position requiring 40
hours of woF~ per week,
(ii) for fewer than eight~consecutive weeks per
year where the contract· of the employee
provides that the employee is to work eitlher
36 1/4 hours per week or 40 hours per week;
(c) Group 3 consisting of employees appointed on a
seasonal basis for a period of at least eight
consecutive weeks but less than twelve consecutive
months to an annually recurring position where the
contract provides that the employee is to work
either 36 1/4 hours per week or 40 hours per week;
(d) Group 4, consisting of employees,
(i) who are appointed pursuant to section 8 of
the Act, whether or not the duties performed
by them are, or are similar to, duties
performed by civil servants, and
(ii) who are not employees that belong to Group 1,
2 or 3. O.Reg. 129/89, s. 1.
The grievor, a Correctional Officer, was hired to the
unclassified service at the Vanier Centre for Women. The method
of hiring was by temporary contract of which there were two. The
first ran from June 25 to September 30, 1990 and the second from
October 1, 1990 ~ntil March 31, 1991. There was no renewal of
the second contract.
On behalf of the grievor it is submitted, firstly, that the
grievor was improperly, appointed to the'unclassified service thus
giving the Board jurisdiction to deal with the merits of the
grievance and secondly, that the non-renewal of the griewor's
contract was a disguised discharge, the employer being without
just cause and acting in bad faith.
The employer takes the position that the grievo~ was properly
appointed to the unclassified service, his appointment falling
within Group 4 of s.6 of the Regulations. As a result, it is
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submitted, 'this Board is without jurisdiction to deal with the
merits o~_~be grievance. Lt is fur~her~ submitted-that) if the
Board finds it has.jurisdiction, the decision ~f the employer not
to renew-the grievor~s contract was a proper one.
Subsequent to the hearing in the instant case, another panel of
the Board issued a decision dealing with Group 4 appointment
[Parry, 237/91, October i6, 1991 (Low)]. The Board in that case
reviews the debate to this point and conclude~ that, inter alia,
the Beresford decision (1429/86) does~not impor~ a connotation of
temporariness when interpreting s.'8 of the Act and s.6 of the
Regulations. The Board in ~ar~¥, after analyzing the 3 Groups
found before the latest amendment concludes that:
"It is apparent from the languages of Section 6 of the
Regulation that while some types of positio~%s which
comprised the unclassified service prior to 1'98.9 were
positions of a temporary nature, there were others which
were prina ~ permanent".
The Board concludes by saying:
As we construe the provisions of section 8 of the
Statute, there is no circumscription of the power to
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appoint to the unclassified service except that:
(a) the firs~_apDointment_.must be for.a-period-of les~
than a year; and
(b) the "unclassified service" is defined by the
Regulation.
As the regulation stood at the date of Mr. Parry's
appointment, there existed a fourth group within the
unclassified service which consists of appointees
pursuant to section 8 of the Act whether or not their
duties are similar to those performed by civil servants
and who are not employees belonging to Groups 1, 2 or 3
or the Regulation. In effect, section 6 of the
Regulation creates a full circle if read together with
section 8 of the Statute, the net effect of which is to
permit the Minister to appoint any employee to the
unclassified service provided the first contract is for
less than one year. In short, the Minister may appoint
a person to the unclassified service and a person in
the unclassified service is defined as anyone appointed
by the Minister under section 8 to the unclassified
service. While the draftsmanship is not elegant, we
are unable to escape the conclusion that the intent of
the legislation is to expand the ~inister's powers of
appointment under section 8 of the Statute.
.The parties to the instant case subsequently commented on the
Parry decision. The employer submitted that the decision in
Parry was directly relevant to the decision to be made by this
Board and urged that we give it due consideration. The response
of Mr. Ryder, who has argued all the seminal cases in this area,
was fairly lengthy. Rather than trying to paraphrase it, we
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chose to reproduce the salient aspects of it below.
1. it is respectfully submitted that the majority
decision in Parrv is manifestly incorrect. There
are two main points made by the majority in ParitY.
a. First, it has interpreted s.8 of the PSA on p.8
as permitting appointments to meet permanent
staffing requirements and does not limit the
power to appoint for temporary purposes. In
short, it obliterates the difference in substance
(permanent/temporary) between the classified and
unclassified services.
b. Secondly, on pp. 9 and 10, it finds that s.6 of
the Regulation can be used to expand the
Minister's powers of' appointment under $.8 of the
statute.
1. It is submitted that Parry is wrong in overruling
the Board's jurisprudencel in Beresford, Mi~le¥,
Beresford/Mil'lev (Remedy, at pp. 5 and 6) Wa~ner,
Bresse~te (1682/87), Un,on (1480/89), B~ondin
(78/89), Union (3il/88), Ryder (3413/87), Canete and
a number of other decisions, all based on a
recognition of the difference in substance between
the unclassified and classified services. It cannot
be said that Beresfo~d and the other decisions
referred to above are manifestly incorrect. Indeed,
Bressette at p. 22 describe:Beresford as manifestly
correct. Furthermore the Beresford interpretation
was endorsed by the Divisional Court.
2. Also the difference in Substance between the
services is reinforced by the different treatment
accorded to civi.1, servants (Classified) in the PSA.
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3. It is also important to observe that the difference
in substance is confirmed by the difference in the
manner o~ appointment.
4. Further confirmation is provided by the fact that
the Collective Agreement has been negotiated on the
' basis of the temporary/permanent distinction between
the two services. For example, Article ¢ assumes
that all permanent positions will be appointed under
it. It was surely never intended that Article 4
would be by-passed by a parallel permanent service
appointed under s.8. Similarly, unclassified
employees receive reduced benefits and job security '
under the' Collective Agreement in some twenty-seven
different instances.. This can be justified only if
the unclassified consists of temporary employees
because %heir employment claims are not as great as
permanent employees. They do not. look to the
employer for the.full range of their economic
benefits. The justification for treating the
unclassified differently than the classified
disappears if both services are used to fill
permanent positions.
5. Accordingly, it simply cannot be said (ad does
Parry) that the only difference between the two
services relates to the manner of appointment.
THE REGULATION CAN BE USED TO EXPAND THE MINISTER'S
POWERS OF APPOINTMENT UNDER S.$ OF THE STATUTE
Underlying the Parry decision on this point is the
notion that the scope of the appointment power under
s.8 of the Act is defined by the Regulations. For
example p. 6 of the Parry decision states that the
Beresford interpretation of s.8 is "found at s.6 of
the Regulation". Again at p. 9, ~arrv sates that
"no where else is there a definition of unclassified
service" ... except in s.6 of the Regulation.
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2. Dressette confirms the law. that the power to appoint
to the unclassified service comes from s.8 of the
Act. At pages 17 and 18 the.Board stated:
"the authority of the DePuty Minister to appoint
to the unclassified service exists in the Public
Service Act, s.8. The Bergsford panel found, that
it is not an unlimited power.., the limitation
therefore appears to find its source in s.8 of the
Public Service Act itself. The regulation appears
only to flesh out the.! terms 0of that limited
power... Only the legislature can change the
Public Service Act". ,
3. The Board in Beresford and Miller.also referred to
the original, groups in Regulation 6 as ~an
interpretive guide to the mganing of s.8. In ~~
at p. 11, the Board stated:
"the Board concluded that s.6 of Regulation 881
which the Government had. found it appropriate to
pass, thus served to inform as to the intent and
purpose of s.$ of the Act ..."
4. The original Groups (1, 2. and 3) had a temporary
flavour about them and therefore indicated that even
the Civil Service Commission recognized that. the
intention of the legislature, in creating the
unclassified service, Was to meet temporary
employment requirements. As noted, the Board made
it clear that its reference to the groups was. for
the purpose of interpreting the intention of the
legislature when it drafted, the Act. The Board has
never said that the score of s.8 of the Act can be
enlarged by the Regulations. As noted above,
~ressette confirms that only the legislature can
change the Act. Rather, what the Board has said, is
that the Government itself, by regulation, can limit
the exercise of the s.8 power. Through Groups I,. 2
and 3, the Government did in fact restrict the
exercise of its s.8 powers because it is possible to
make temporary appointments within the meaning of
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s.8 and still not fall within one of these groups.
In Milley, the Board found that the Government is
bound by_its own_Regulation,_even though, a private
citizen may not be in that the Regulation may be
LL~ v_~ the Act.
5. Accordingly, it is submitted that the definition of
the un'classified service comes from the Board's
interpretation of s.8 of the statute and that the
Regulation was only used as an interpretive guide.
In addition, as noted, the Regulation creates a
further limitation by dividing the s.8 appointees
into narrowly defined groups, but this does not mean --
that the Regulation can be used to expand the
definition of s.8.
6. it is trite law that the regulation power cannot be
used to expand the powers given by the legislature
in a statute (E. v. Slater Steel Industries [1971] 1
O.R. 760). 'In the particular case of the PSA, the
power to pass regulations in s.30(1) does not
purport to give that power. It is submitted that it
would be very unusual for a legislature to create an
unclassified service in s.8 of the PSA and then give
the Civil Service Commission the right to enlarge on
the definition which'the legislature enacted. For
such a power to exist it would have to be given in
the most explicit terms. An example of such a power
in the PSA is provided by s.13(2) which expressly
delegates to the regulation power under s.30(1)(u)
the right to designate the positions captured by
· this section of the Act. A similar power does not
exist in
7. It is submitted that Management's argument that the
Regulations can be used to expand the Act is similar
to an earlier argument that was made in ~icks. As
the Board knows, when the PSA was first enacted,
there was no CE'CBA or Collective Agreement. The
Regulations to the PSA provided the terms and
conditions of employment for public servants.
However with the enactment of CECBA a collective
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bargaining regime was catv'ed out for a portion of
the public service. Accordingly, in many ways the
Collective Agreement displaced the-Regulations and
therefore s.30(3) was added to the PSA to ensure
that, in a conflict, the. Collective Agreement
prevailed over the Regulations.
8. In Hicks, Management argued that because the
Collective Agreement appeared to recognize the
existence of non-temporary unclassified
appointments, then it must follow that s.8
authorized such appointment~. Bres~ette deals with
this fully at p. 18 where the Board stated:
"However, the panel in Hicks in fact .used
subsection 30(3) to "read', Regulation 881 in such
a way as to substantially change the appointment
power in s.8 of the Act as it had been defined by
the Beresford Panel. Obviously, ss. 30(3) cannot
be used to expand the appointment, power beyond the
statutory mandate in the PSA. The Beresford
language defines the statutorv power to appoint to
the unclassified service as something
~'distinguished ... from the "normal" "permanent"
position of the classified service" ... there is
no legal authority for the. Boa. rd to use ss. 30(3)
to expand the statutory authority of the Deputy
Minister. Furthermore, I add that the bargaining
parties Cannot through th'e Collective Agreement
expand those statutory powers, of appointment.
Only the legislature can change the PSA".
THE PROPER SCOPE OF GROUP 4
1. Group 4 did not exist at thel time of the originally
Beresford decision. Before Group 4 the origilnal
groups (Groups 1, 2 and 3) were so narrowly defined
that it was possible to be appointed for a temporary
purpose and therefore be within the scope of s.8 of
the Act but still not fall within any of the groups.
Accordingly Group 4 can be interpreted as an attempt
to regularize appointments to the unclassified
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service which do not fit into. Group 1, 2 and 3. It
is submitted therefore that Group 4 should be
interpr__e._ted .in_ this _~ay_~hecause_ such. an
interpretation does not conflict with s' 8 of the
Act.
After a careful analysis of the Act, and Regulations, the
previous Board decision of BeresfQr~, supra and B~essette
(1687/87), the parrv, supra, decision as well as the submission
of the parties we find that we must respectfully disagree with
the conclusion reached in
The power to appoint to the unclassified service comes from
Section 8 of the Act. Section 6 of the Regulation can do nothing
more than flesh out the Act - it can not expand the statutory
provision. In our view the proper approach to take is the one
that was taken in Bressette, supra. In that decision the Board
says, in part:
The second issue is a broader and more serious one than
that of interpreting the collective agreement. The
authority of the deputy minister to appoint to the
unclassified service exists in the Public Service Act_
section 8. The Berg~ord panel found that it is not an
unlimited power. At page 14 it interprets section 8:
"That wording would, therefore, tend to support Mr.
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Ryder's agrument that, in order to fall within the
contemplation of the Legislature as to what
constitut~s_a "proper'ka~Dpintmen~
term basis, there must be something, about the job in
its initial conception which distinguishes it from
the normal "permanent" position in the unclassified
source."
The limitation therefore appears to find its source, in
section 8 of the Public Service Ac9 itself. The
Regulation appears only'to flesh out the terms of that
limited power. There does not seem to be any open-
ended residue of power of appointment remaining in
section 8. The existing regulation at the time of
Beresford appears to exhauts the general scope of the.
appointment power. However, the panel in Hicks in fact
used subsection 30(3) to "read" Regulation 881 in such
a way as to substantially change the appointment power
in section 8 of the Act as it had been defined by the
Beresford panel. Obviously, subsection 30(3) cannot be
used to. expand the appointment power beyond the
statutory mandate in the Public Service Act. The
Beresford language' defines the statutory power to
appoint to the unclassified service as something
"distingu~ihed · · · from the ,'normal" "permanent"
position in.the classified source." Apart from the
question of the propel techniques for "reading down" of
statutes o'r regulations - a constitutional law
doctrine, - there is n~o legal authority for the Board.
to use subsection 30(3) to expand the statutory
authority of the deputy minister. Furthermore, I add
that the bargaining parties cannot through the
collective agreement expand those statutory powers of
appointmemt. Only the Legislature can change the
Public Service Act.
Flowing from the above, we must conclude that in both Beresford
and Bressette the Board was saying that an appointment to the
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unclassified service must be of the type that distinguishes it
from the "normal" "P.9.rman__ent" .positions-in the classified~
service. In our view Group 4 aDpointments, even though wider in
nature than those in Group 1, 2, or 3 nevertheless are equally
restricted and the addition of the Group can not, of itself,
expand the meaning, of Section 6 of the Act. It can create a new
category of appointments which must continue to be, as stated in,
Beresford "distinguished ... from the "normal" "permanent"
position in the classified source". The Board in Bressette
stated that the parties could not in the collective agreement
expand the statutory powers of appointment. The same holds~ true
for the employer. It can not expand the statutory powers of
appointment indirectly through the Regulation. The latter must
· conform to the Act and not vice-versa. ~hus it is our conclusion
that Group 4 does nothing more than expand on the types of
appointments that may be made to the unclassified service but can
not be said to negate the previous decisions of the Board that
have defined the scope of s.~8 of the Act. The end result, then,
is that an inquiry must still be made to determine the nature of
the appointment as that will determine whether it is properly a
s.8 appointment or not
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In th~ ins~9~._¢ase neither_of_~Lhe gDievor's appointment-fall
properly within s.8 of the Act in that he was not employed or
appointed to meet temporary staffing requirements. He was, as
submitted by the union, "used to meet the continuous,.ongoing
staffing requirements of the institUtion. Some of his hours may
have been irregular and for some weeks he may have worked less'-
than full time hours, but throughout his employment he was
meeting permanent.employment requirements not temporary ones".
As a result we have the reqUisite ju~isdictio'n, to inquire into
the merits of the g~i'evance.
According to the evidence of the employer, the grievor's contract
was not renewed because he had been~involved in three incidents
which were viewed as "serious". According to Mr. D.M. Oliver the
Deputy Superintendent of Operations who made the decision not to
renew the contract, one of the reasons persons are employed on
contract is to ascertain if they are suitable for full-time
employment. As a result of the three incidents he had concerns
about the suitability of the grievor to adequately perform the
work and decided not to.renew the con'tracts.
The first incident de_a~_t._.with_an_allegation-made-by--eome inmates
of the Centre that the grievor didn't like two classified
officers. The grievor met with the two officers and told them he
had never made any such remarks. Thd grievor never received
anything in writing about the matter nor was he ever counselled
or verbally reprimanded. -.
Some time later the grievor made an inappropriate comment to a
young offender. He was counselled for it and a note put in his
fact file,
On December 24, 1990 a female inmate made certain allegations'
against the grievor. She complained that the grievor entered her
'bedroom, sat on the edge of her bed and engaged in a conversation
that involved personal information. The grievor testified that
he was doing his rounds when he came to a bedroom door that was
closed, contrary to the regulations. He opened it, startling the
inmate. A brief conversation then took place. Among other
subjects discussed was the grievor's wife. The griev0r stated
that he never entered the bedroom.
The Centre invest~.g~t~%h__e~ci~ent, add_ ~e_ ~h~_ results._krLQwn_
to the grievor on February 1, 1991. The letter to him upheld the
allegation, admitted by him, that he had talked with the inmate
about deter, is of his personal life. It found no support for the
claim he had sat on the bed. It concluded no dimciplinary action
was warranted.
A further incident took place this time regarding t~e grievor's
pay. In mid-December 1990 a pay cheque was short of hours. He
went and talked to the secretary Who informed him it would be
rectified on the next cheque. It wasn't and he was informed by
the secretary that because it was Christmas time only scheduled
hours and not overtime would be.pald on the cheque~. The
grievor, who was experiencing financial difficulties, arranged to
postpone the payment of his rent until his next pay. When it
arrived it was short even more than the previous ones. He then
proceeded through the chain of command to see if the matter could
be straightened out. He was told"by the office Director, the
Deputy Superintendent of Operations:and the Superintendent of the
Centre that nothing could be done,
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He went to see the ~oc~] Union. Pnasident.--Three-days.:l~ter--he
was given an advance cheque by his superv.isor. 'Shortly after
that he-was called to Oliver's office. He was told that he had
not been successful in a competition he had entered. According
to the grievor Oliver also told him to watch who he was speaking "
to and that certain people in the union like to use casuals. He
was also told, he testified, that because there were too many
casuals some would have to be laid-off including him.
Oliver denied making any comment about the contract renewal. He
testified that he told the grievor he should seek advice from
management as well as the union. He agreed that he had been
asked for his held as had other members of management.
The grievor had two Performance Planning and Reviews (PPR)
conducted. The first, covering the period June 25, 1990 to
September 1, 1990 was prepared by Mr.' Linton - OM16 Supervisor.
Linton supervises about eight employees and has been doing PPRs
since .1986. He rated the grievor as satisfactory in all areas
except Offender Supervision (needs improvement) and Dress and
Deportment (commendable). His written comments were positive.
The grievor testified Linton showed him his next appraisal
covering the period to December 31, 1990 on December 23. He was
asked to review it and sign it, wh!ich he did. All ratings were
satisfactory, except one commendable.
In January he was called into Linton's office and told that
Oliver was not impressed with Lint°n's PPR of him. Linton said
that he would not change the PPR but would append a letter to it
reg&rdinH the incidents ~referred to above in this 4ecision. The
grievor stated that Linton told him he was an asset to the
institution and recommended him for 'full-time employment.
The grievor never saw the second PPR again. He was called to
Oliver's office on February 14, 1991 and shown a PPR covering the
period September 30, 1990 - January 31, 1991. It rated the
grievor as satisfactory in all areas except Counselling and
Control of Offenders and Offender Supervision in whiclh he was
rated "needs improvement". The three incidents were again
discussed and he was told his cont'ract would not be renewed.
Oliver also told the grievor that Linton hadn't been aware of the
incidents ~nd that was why the ratinqs were chanqed. ~he gr~evor
responded that Linton had known of the incidents because they had
d~scussed them previouslY.
Oliver testified Linton hadn't reviewed the second appraisal with
him and that when he saw that the incidents weren't mentioned he
contacted Linton who said he hadn't been aware of them, He told
Lin'ton to go to the fact file, review the documents on it and
re-write the PPR. The fac% file is used to store letters and
other notations to be used in preparing the PPR. The third
appraisal followed.
Linton did not testify.
It was Oliver's evidence that he decided not to renew the
employment of the grievor because of the three incidents. His
concern with the first incident was that a meeting had to take
place and the concerns expressed by the two officers. Me did not
know the statements that were allegedly made or if the inmates
were questioned. He agreed that if the allegations were
sustained a counselling letter would have followed.
Oliver acknowledged that the gr'ievor was counselled, not
disciplined over the second incident.
In assessing the last incident Oliwer testified that he relied
heavily on the inmate's statement. He stated initially that the
allegation about the grievor sitting on the bed affected his
decision although he later changed his evidence to say he didn't
consider it. He agreed that a l~t of what was alleged and.
considered by him was stated too be unfounded in the Centre's
investigation of the incident.
He agreed that Linton would know what was supposed to be in a
fact file, would know to review it before preparing a PPR and so
should have known of ~he incidents when preparing his appraisal.
On reviewing the above evidence it.is our determination that
there was not just cause to terminate the grievor as wa:~ done.
He had never been disciplined. He iwas counselled only once.
Linton, the person preparing his appraisal, rated him fairly
- 22 ~
highly in the P~Rs. Oliver's decision was, according to his own
testimogy, ba3e~ o_gn alleg~t~on~ a~d i~cidents.~hat a~te=
investigation by his own staff were determined to not warrant
discipline.- His decision was not based on any sustainable
rationa~.e. This, combined with the pay cheque incident leads us
to conclude that Oliver's decision was not a reasonable one and
that the grievor was unjustly dismissed.
In the instant case we have found that the grievor's position was
an ongoing one with the work being p.erformed the same as that
performed by classified employees. What is to be done with the
grievor. A whole raft of decisions have dealt with this issue
over the last few years. (See, for example, W. aqoer 351/89,
Canete, 2192/90). As was stated in ~anete, the remedy to be
fashioned must be remedial and not punitive, we are satisfied
that the grievor was improperly in the unclassified service as
the position was a continuing one. Accordingly we are prepared
to exercise our jurisdiction to force the appointment'~ of the
grievor to the classified service, our reasoning is quite
simple: the grievor Was appointed to a position .that was
improperly designated as part of the unclassified service. While
in that position he was rated satisfactorily and, before Linton
by Linton that he was recommending him for full-time employment.
We can assume, on the balance of probabilities that, but for the
unlawful act of the employer this would have taken ~,lace. The
only question is when. It is not unreasonable to take the
position that he would have been renewed for a further six month
period. Given Linton's statement" to the grievor he then would
have been entitled to seek full-time employment. Accordingly we
order:
1) The grievor is to be appointed to the classified
service effective September 30, 1991.
2) The grievor is to De entitled to compensation, as a
contract employee, from April 1, 1991 to September
30, 1991, the whole with interest..
3) The grievor is to be placedlon the surplus list with
~n effective seniority date of September ~0 19!)1
Nepean,~ this 3tsc day of January,
Mi Brian Keller, Vice-'Chair
~Jhomson, Union Nominee
G. Mill,y, Employer Nominee
LAVOIE 441/91
DISSENT
I have read the majority award and] with respect, I am unable to
agree with the co~clusioas of my colleagues. I am of the opinion
that the addition of Group 4 appointments to the regulations
adds a new dimension to the Beresford line of cases that cannot
lightly be dismissed.
The majority award (pl4) bases its conclusions on two proposit-
ions said to flow from Beresford and Bressette:
1. That an appointment to the unclassified service must be of the
type that distinguishes it from the "normal" "permanent" positions
in the classified service; and
2. That the civil service Commission ca'not expand the statutory
powers of appointment indirectly through the Regulatioas. :
With respect, an analysis of Beresfor~ and Brissette will nob,
in my view, support either of those pro~ositions. The main reason
the board in Beresford said the grievor was improperly appointed
to the unclassified service was b~ause the wordin~ of section 6
of the Regulations restricted the appointment of unclassified
employees %o Groups I,~, and 3 as described in ~hat Section of
the Regulations. The ~rlevor, the Board said, did not fall into
-any of these categories and, thus, the appointment was improper.
Bissette followed the same reasoning.
This is borne out by Beresford (DI~):
"Yet,as discussed, we are compelled to conclude
that section 6 of the regulations, by its very
terms, requires the appointment to the unclass-
ified service under section 8 to fall within
one of the categories set out in the regulations"
"... Accordingly, we must find on the evidence that
we do have that the position to which the grievor
was appointed was not one which falls within any
page
of the various situations encompassed by the 3 groups
set out in the regulations, and as contemplated
by section 8 of the Pubi~c Service Act. We find,
therefore, that the purported appointment of the
griever to the "unclassified" as opposed to the
"classified" service was improper."
The Board's reason for its decision is crystallized in the above
excerpts from its award. I do not see how it can be ignored.
What would have happened if the griev0r's appointment to the
unclassified position had been a proper one~? The Beresfo~
board answers this question on page 5. After guoting Section
8(1) of The Act the board continued:
"And then, 'section 9, the key to the employer's pos-
ition, expressly provides:
A pe~son who is appointed.to a posit{on in the
public service for ~ specified period ceases
to be a public servant at the expiration of
that period.
Thus, if one assumes that a minister or other designated
person acting within his or her authority to appoint
an individual to a fixed-term employment contract
in the "unclassified service", that person by
· operation of the Statute ceases to be employed (or
ceases to be a"public servant?) upon the expiration
of the period of the contract. There is, in other
words, in the language of the Board's lengthy juris-
prudence dealing with this point, no "dismissal".
In the instant case, therefore, thel evidence is that the griever
(Lavoie) was properly appointed to a fixed term employment
contract in the "unclassifie~"service.
As stated, the second proposition .~ the majority award relies
on is that the Civil service Commis'~sion cannot expand the stat-
utory powers of appointment indirectly through the regulations.
page 3
However, a review of Beresford and Bressette fails to reveal
evidence to support this proposition. Nor does the majority
in the instant case itself cite any jurisprudence to support
it. On page 14, the award says:
"The Board in Bressette stated that the parties
could not in the collective agreement expand
the statutory powers of appointment. The same
holds true for the employer."
In the broad sense, this implies that because the Government '
is also the employer it is debarred from making regulations
under section 30 of the Act
"(w) Respecting any matter necessary or advisable to
carry on effectively the intent and purpose of
(the) Act"
If the government is so restricted, then what process is
available to make regulations under section 30 of the act?
In fact, there would appear to be no limitation in section 30
to make changes in the regulations proveded there is no conflict
between the regulations and section 8 of the Act. On this
matter, Bressette says (pS):
"In the decision of the Divisional Court, which
relates to Beresford and the subsequent'Board decision
in Milley and Ministry of revenue (GSB 1972/87) which
followed Beresford, Mr. Justice Osler for the Court
wrote:
?The attack upon the Board has been made on
the basis that section 6 of ontario Regulation
881 of the Public S~rvice Actis in conflict
with section 8 thereof.
It was submitted that these two enactments
are in conflict. That is not the view of this
court and we see Regulation 6 as elaborating
upon and, perhaps defining the unclassified
service to which section 8 refers. As no
conflict exists, we see no error in the finding
of the Board or in the methods by which they
proceeded and, accordingly, both applications
will be dismissed"
pat_re 4
This matter was also reviewed in Parry 237/91 (p9):
" It seems to be common qround that an appointment
made by the Minister under section 8 of the statute
can only be properly made provided that it is also
in compliance with section 6 of the Re~ulatic2n
since nowhere else is there a definition of
"unclassified service". The issue then is whether
section 6 (1) (d) of the regulation is contradictory
to or inconsistent with s'ection 8 of the statute.
As we construe the provis, i~ns of section 8 of the
Statute, there is no circumscription of the power
to appoint to the unclassified service except that:
(a) the first appointment must be for a
period of less than a year; and
(b) the "unclassified service" is defined by
the Regulation."
It would appear, therefore, that section 6(1)(d) of 'bhe Regul-
ation is not contradictory or inconsistent with section 8 of
the Statute in the same sense that the establishment of groups
1,2 a~d 3 is not c~ntradictor¥ o'r inconsistent. Thus, if section
6 can serve to establish groups 1, 2, and 3 to flesh out the Act,
why can it not serve to establish group 4 to flesh it out
further?
On the basis of the evidence, I would conclude that the appoint-
ment of the grievor (Lavoie) to ithe unclassified service is
valid and proper and the Board i's without jurisdictiun to hear
the merits of the case.
Respectfully submitte~L%
~eorge ~ f~ey-~ /
Board Member