HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-2953.Peters.93-08-03
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ONTARIO EMPLOYES DE LA COURONNE
:s; -'" CROWN EMPLOYEES DE L'ON TA RIO
1111 GRIEVANCE COMMISSION DE
SETTLEMENT .
REGlEMENT
BOARD DES GRIEFS
180 DUNDAS STREET WEST SUITE 2100, TORONTO, ONTARIO. M5G IZ8 TELEPHONE/TELEPHONE (416) 326-1388
180 RUE DUNDAS OUEST BUREAU 2100 TORONTO (ONTARIO) M5G 128 FACSIMILE'TELE-COPIE (476) 326-1396
2953/92
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
BETWEEN
OPSEU (Peters)
Grievor
-and -
The Crown in Right of ontario
(Ministry of Correctional Services)
Employer
BEFORE J. Devlin Vice~Chairperson
FOR THE K Lawrence
GRIEVOR Grievance Officer
ontario Public Service Employees Union
FOR THE 'M Mously
EMPLOYER Grievance Negotiations Officer
Ministry of Correctional Services
HEARING July 19, ~993
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The Grievor is a Correctional Officer at the Windsor
Jail On September 22, 1992, she was scheduled to work from 7 00
P m. to 7 00 a m and was assigned to single escort duty at the
hospital In other words, she was assigned alone to supervise a
low risk inmate who had been admitted to hospital. The Grievor
arrived at the hospital at 7:30 p.m. and was not relieved for a
period of approximately 6 hours which the union claims was
improper.
Although the Union initially suggested that Employer's
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failure to relieve the Grievor until approximately 1:30 a m. was
inconsistent with its past practice of providing relief to
Correctional Officers on single escort duty after 4 hours, the
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Employer took the position that its practice is to provide relief
at the mid-point of the shift. In this regard, the Employer
explained that prior to 1990, all Correctional Officers worked 8
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hour shifts and, as a result, relief was provided after 4 hours.
In 1990~ however, the parties agreed upon a compress~d work week
which involves Officers rotating through 8 hour, 10 hour and 12
hour shifts. Accordingly, in/circumstances where a Correctional
Officer on single escort duty works a 12 hour shift, it is the
Employer's practice to provide relief after 6 hours (where a
request for relief is made at the outset of the assignment) In
any event, the Employer further indicated that where staffing
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levels permit, relief may pe provided after shorter periods of
time.
While there was some dispute between the parties
concerning the extent to which the Employer continues to provide
relief after 4 hours rather than 6 hours where Correctional
Officers work 12 hour shifts, in my view" the Employer's past
practice cannot support the Grievor's claim in this case.
Moreover, although the collective agreement provides that the present
practice with respect to rest periods shall be maintained (as
does the agreement implementing the compressed work week), l
cannot conclude that this necessarily requires the Employer to -
prQvide relief to Correctional Officers on single escort duty
after 4 hours, given that the parties agreed to extend the length
of some shifts from 8 to 10 or 12 hours. Nevertheless, in my
view, this provision must be interpreted to require that the
Employer provide rest periods lat reasonable intervals during the
shift. Accord-ingly, I find that to require a Correctional
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Officer on single escort duty at the hospital to work for 6 hours
without a rest period is excessive. This is particularly so
where it is not clear that adequate arrangements have been made
to provide the Offic~r with an opportunity to use a washroom
other than the one located in the hospital room.
To this extent, therefore, the grievance is allowed
Apart from the requirement to providEf'~rest peridds or meals
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breaks, however, there is no provision which would entitle the
Grievor to ipsist tha~ she be relieved of a hospital assignment
after a specified number of hours. Nevertheless, I encourage the \
parties to continue their discussions with the respect 'to the
provision of relief for Correctional Officers on single escort
duty at the hospital with a view to resolving this issue in
manner acceptable to both parties. I shall re~ain seised for
purposes of implementation of this award
DATED AT TORONTO, this 3rd day of August t 1993.
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Vice chairperson
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