The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutVandam 07-01-10 " Before: F or the Grievor: For the College: BETWEEN Ontario Public Service Employees Union and Georgian College Classification Grievance of Fern Vandam Louis }.1. Tenae.e Jill Peacock, President, Local 349, OPSEU Marina Morley, Chief Steward, Local 349, OPSEU Fern Vandam, Grievor Cathy Brown, Director, Human Resources Karen Rudachyk, Controller Hearing held in Barrie, Ontario on Monday, January 8, 2007 .t;: :? 1..;/'-1 ~ .'<':'t~?j{ ./.;'r>- {~!, ,,~.-. (I;: l },j'r\k i ...ee. L f -r/ " r f'. u tv/....,O c ,F.{). " 1 AWARD The grievor, Fern Vandam, has been employed at Georgian College on a full-time basis since October 9,2000 as Student Fees Clerk for Accounting (Accounts Receivable) where she is classified as Clerk General D at Payband 8. She had been previously employed by the College on a part-time basis for various periods since 1982 until she resigned in 1991. In 1997, she was hired again on a part-time basis until her most recent appointment in 2000. The grievor filed a grievance on April 3, 2006. She is requesting that her position be reclassified to that of Clerk General Atypical, Payband 10. The parties agree that the position description form properly defines the duties and that the job family is appropriate. The differences between the parties arise from the evaluation of the duties and the level and point rating assigned thereto. There is no dispute about the following factors and ratings: 1. Training/Technical Skills - Level 5, 91 points 2. Experience - Level 4, 45 points 5. Motor Skills - Level4D, 40 points 7. Sensory Demand - Level 4, 39 points 12. Work Environment - Levell, 10 points I shall now review and comment on the remaining factors in the order that they appear on the Arbitration Data Sheet as well as the pertinent submissions of the parties on each of these. 3. Complexity Management's rating is Level 3, 41 points~ the Union rating is Level 4, 58 points. The major arguments of the parties relates to whether or not the duties are routine. The College submits that the duties require processing payments, updating accounts as changes occur, accounting for loans to students, working with students to create payment plans for outstanding accounts, preparing deposits and replying to questions concerning these. The College sees these as generally routine in nature and that, although they may be complex, they are very repetitious. The Union submits that the work is varied and non-routine and requires an extensive knowledge of the Academic Registration/Fee process. Each student's situation has the potential for non-routine solutions and processes. The incumbent needs to understand the various programs/courses offered and each program's unique accounting/fee 2 requirements. In addition, this position is situated in the Registrar's office and not in Accounting and is, effectively, the resource person for all of the Registrar office clerks, senior officers, managers and Associate Registrar/Registrar. About 90% of the duties of this position consist of either processing and/or monitoring students payments of various sorts, including bursaries, loans, payments made through banks and third party contracts. While they are not simple in nature as they can have a serious impact on the student, they are, in my opinion, routine and repetitious and are in line with the assessment made by management. This factor is properly rated at Level 3, 41 points. 4. Judgement Management's rating for this factor is Level 3, 41 points; the Union's rating is Level 4, 58 points. As was explained to me during the course of the hearing, the incumbent of this position generally works alone and with little supervision. While problems arise quite frequently, they tend to be of a conventional and recurring nature and the incumbent is able to deal with them. The incumbent exercises significant judgement when dealing with situations that may involve over-payment or under-payment by a student or when errors are found. I believe this factor is properly rated at Level 3, 41 points. 6. Physical Demand Management rates this factor at Level 2, 16 points; the Union rates it at level 3,28 points. The duties are of a sedentary nature involving the use of a computer and calculator in a normal office environment. Thus, there is considerable sitting, keyboarding as well as answering telephone inquiries. Body positions are generally comfortable and recurring, light physical effort is involved. This factor is properly rated at Level 2, 16 points. 8. Strain from Wark Pressures/Demands/Deadlines Management submits that this factor is properly rated at Level 4, 39 points; the Union claims that it should be Level 5, 50 points. 3 After hearing the parties on this factor I am unable to conclude that this position entails continuous work pressures and unpredictable interruptions in workflow. The deadlines are generally fixed and known in advance. While it is true that priorities may shift from time-to-time, the workflow tends to be constant, notwithstanding interruptions, to the point of requiring regular overtime at certain times of the year. In my opinion, this factor is properly rated at Level 4, 39 points. 9. Independent Action Management rates this factor at Level 3, 33 points; the Union rates it at Level 4, 46 points. The incumbent of this position really works alone and must deal with the various problems and situations as they arise. The parties agreed that the occasions when the incumbent might seek assistance or advice from the supervisor were rare indeed. For example, the incumbent's responsibilities include deciding whether or not to send matters to a collection agency when students' payments are delinquent, and this without reference to a supervisor. Management submitted that the incumbent performed the duties in accordance "within the processes and procedures defined by the Accounting Department". However, what was actually revealed was that there really were no usefill existing procedures. What did exist was badly out of date. Effectively, then, the incumbent simply had to know what to do from experience and past practice and to be able to adapt and modify these to meet particular situations and/or problems. In view of these considerations and the fact that the incumbent works with little supervision, I must conclude that Management's rating for this factor is inappropriate. I believe this factor should be rated at Level 4, 46 points. 10. Communications/Contacts Management rated this factor at Level 3, 88 points; the Union rated it at Level 4, 124 points. The incumbent deals with confidential and sensitive information for the purpose of providing advice, explanations or influencing others(mostly students) to reach agreement on a daily basis. The Union submitted that the incumbent had to use "sophisticated influential or persuasive techniques" to perform the duties of this position. I was not convinced that there was any such special requirement in terms of the duties. This factor is appropriately rated at Level 3, 88 points. 4 11. Responsibility for Decisions and Actions Management rated this factor at Level 3, 44 points; the Union rated it at Level 4, 62 points. The College acknowledges that this position has a great impact on individual students but claims that the impact on the College as a whole is minor. Errors do not cause considerable disruption and delay. Yet the College wants the incumbent "to handle students in a caring and professional manner". I fully understand the distinction that the College is making, but, perhaps, it is a little narrow in its expression. While it is true that the College may recover lost monies through various means, the negative impact of not properly handling this process must, I believe, be more than "moderate" or "minor". It was clear from the discussion of the parties that verification for errors involving refunds or assessments was really the responsibility of the incumbent, other than for some various audits after the fact. In view of the above considerations, I believe this factor should be rated at Level 4, 62 points. In view of the preceding, the Levels and Point Ratings for this position should be revised to reflect the conclusions reached above. Adding the points as revised results in a new total of 583 points. This would situate the position at pay band 9 (571-630 points). Applying the new 583 points total to the Payband/Classification Matrix results in this position being classified as Clerk General Atypical, Payband 9. The arbitration Data Sheet is attached. The grievance is granted and the Position Description From and Core Point Rating should be altered as necessary to reflect this decision. I wish to thank the representatives of the parties for their co-operation during the course ofthe hearing. Signed in Ottawa, this 10th day of January, 2007 . ouis M. Tenace (arbitrator) . . ARBITRATION DATA SHEET. SUPPORT STAFF CLASSIFiCATION CQJlege: ~ lA-~~ncumbent: ~rJ VA-A> ~""D AM Supervisor: ha. e N ~ 00 ft c..\-\ 'l "" Present Classification: C-' L- ~ 6<-k... G-e J.J G! R.f\ L ~ and Present Payband: $ Jcb Family and Payband Requested by Grievor: C.(....ft-~StFI c..~\ ol,) tJ tOf(l.)CTW IV -p~'-l~ \ 0 .1-. Position Description Form Attached 2. ~ The parties agree on the contents of the attached Position Description Form . OR D The Union disagrees with the contents of the attached Position Description Form. The specific details of this disagreement are as follows: (use reverse side if necessary) AWARD FACTORS UNION Poil'lts ARBITRATOR · level .' Points' 1. TraininglTechnical Skills 2. Experience 3. Complexity 4. Judgement 5. Motor Skills 6. Physical Demand 7~ Sensory Demand 8. Strain from Work Pressures/Demands/Dead,lines 9. Independent Action 10. Cqmmunications/Contacts 11. RE;!sponsibility for Decisions/Actions 12. Work Environment PA YBAND/TOT Al POINtS JOB CLASSIFICATION -~ ATTACHED WRllTEN SUBMISSIONS: D The Union o The College ~,~?fNA~ (College ~entatiVe) ~.~(~7 fJ7 {)1