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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCase Coordinator Position 93-11-10 .05/09/2006 09: 50 FAX 90~841384.7 co IN Q M oo::!' M M ~ CANADA LAW BOOK. l$ ,.. Concerdng an arbitration Between: Homewood Sanitarium of Guelph and Ontario Nurses' Association Grievanees concerning the Case Coordinator positions Board cJ Arbitration J. W. Samuels, Chairman K. Billings, Employer Nominee M. Hart. Association Nominee For the :Parties A,~ociation S. Schachter. Arbitration Officer M. Mazurk, Employment Relations Officer G. McAnulty, Local Grievance Officer B. Allan, Local President J. Dalziel, Consultant EmplQyer B. R. Baldwin, Counsel D:~. D. L. Elliott, Service Director K. Keleher. Service Administrator Hearing in Guelph, September 20,1993 19J 002/032 1"'1 /'l~oW<j;;'- ifq ,/3 RECEIVED NOV 1 6 1993 OFfICE OF ARBITRATION - '\ , Ui)/ U~/ ':;UUO U~,; i).U rAA l:tUll 0'1.1 0)0'11 \;lU'IlUJA LAW liUUl\ I(&J UU3/U32 ~' ~ I The Employer created several positions titled Case Coordinator. The pel'sons appointed to these positions, two of whom are Registered Nurses, have not been considered to be in the Association's bargaining unit The Association asks for a declaration that, when a Case Coordinator positior is filled by a nurse, then that position must be considered to be in the bargaining unit and bargaining unit members have the rights under the collective agreement with respect to the filling of the position (for examp]I~, posting under Article 10.06(a); and seniority governs where skill, ability, experience and qualifications are relatively equal, under Article 10.06((:)). And the Associations asks for an order that dues must be paid in respecl of the incumbent nurses, pursuant to Article 5 of the collective agreerr,;:nt. Appendix 5 of the collective agreement sets out the local provisions applyiJlg to this bargaining unit, and includes the recognition provision, Article A-I. This provision says that the bargaining unit consists of "all full~tiJlle registered and graduate nurses.....employed in a nursing capacity....save and except head nurses and persons above the rank of head nurse", The issue in this case is whether or not the RNs who are Case Coordinators are "employed in a nursing capacity". Homewood Sanitarium offers care to clients with mental illnesses. The Case Coordinator positions were created after the Employer expand!;:d from its in-patient service to rake on about forty-five clients, who live in the community, and who have longwtenn mental illnesses. The goal of the :)ut-reach program is rehabilitation. The Case Coordinator is responsible for gathering information about the clknts, in particular their goals (such as, finding a more stable living enviro:lment, preparing for a job, organizing finances, probation and parole, and some medical care); assisting the clients to achieve these goals UO/UlU ';::UUb U~: 0"- l'AA IWO 1S4.L 31S47 (;ANADA LAW BUUK , ~ 004/032 ~ 2 by referring them to the appropriate services; advocating their interest when m:cessary (for example, in getting welfare or housing or proper legal represer.tation); teaching them about their health needs (medication, nutritiOJI, health maintenance). The Case Coordinator will not be involved in activ:: health care-for example, the Coordinator does not administer medications. If the client needs the services of a health professional, the Case C(lordinator will refer the client to a psychiatrist, or a family doctor, or an emergency unit at a hospital, or the home care program provided by the Victorian Order of Nurses. Tl) fill the Case Coordinator positions, the Employer has required applicants to have a degree in a course related to mental health or social science, and five years' related work experience. The three positions, which b;lve been filled so far, have been filled by: a nurse with a B.A. in Psychology and a great deal of community ex.perience; a nurse with one credit short of a diploma in social work (who has since acquired the diploma), and other university credits; and a social worker with a diploma in social work and credit towards a diploma in addiction counseling, with experierlce in community work. The two candidates for the fourth positiOD, to be filled soon, are Dot nurses. All the incumbents, after their appointment, were given training in psychiatric rehabilitation. T~le parties agree that the Case Coordinator job can be done by people 'with a variety of backgrounds. not only by a nurse. It is also agreed that, wlIl~n a nurse does the job, in perfonning a number of the tasks, the nurse w:ill draw on hisJher training and experience as a registered nurse. When a nurse is a Case Coordinator, is the nurse "employed in a nursing l:apacity"? The phrase "employed in a nursing capacity" has been interpreted in a numb€:r of cases before boards of arbitration and labor relations boards. It has g.;:neralJy been accepted as meaning that lithe position requires the UCl/ Ui:J/ &;.UUU .U,iJ ~.",.1. l'!L1.A. :1Ua Olf:~ ">0':1: I ".I\l~l\Ul\ L1\ Yl" tlUUl\ 3 person to possess the training and skills of a nurse"-see Re St. Mary's Gener.:!! Hospital and Ontario Nurses' Association (1990), 16 LAC (4th) 374 (F:Jlopf), at page 382e-f (reviewing and citing LaVerendrye General Hospitrzl (Fort Francis) Inc. and D.N.A., unreported decision of Abbott dated December 15, 1980, at page 9~ Re York Finch General Hospital and O.N.A.., unreported decision of P. Picher dated April 28, 1989, and summ.:illzed 14 CLAS 63; West Lincoln Memorial Hospital, unreported deciskn of the Ontario Labour Relations Board dated October 11, 1989); York County Hospital and O.N.A., unreported decision of Mitchnick dated Augus: 4, 1992, involving the newly-created position of Clinical Nurse Specia,list - Psychiatry, where the first qualification set by the Hospital for the pC1sition was "Registered Nurse with current Ontario Certificate of ComJ'l~tence", and the Hospital conceded that the incumbent was "employed in a nursing capacity", and thus, not surprisingly, the board of arbitration conchlc1ed that the position was within the nurses' bargaining unit; Belleville General Hospital and D.N.A., unreported decision of Kennedy dated April 21, 1983, involving the Coordinators in the Patient Referral Centre:, where the job functions had always been performed by registered nurses, and where the board accepted that, if a non-nurse were appointed to the pO!lition, the incumbent would need additional training in the area of nursin!~ skills (at page 10), and therefore, it was held, that the persons in the po!.ition were "employed in a nursing capacity"; D.N.A. and Victorian Order of Nurses, Lakehead Branch, unreported decision of the Ontario Laboul' Relations Board dated February 28, 1984, where it was determined that O:lmmunity Ccrordinator/Case Managers were employed "in a nursing capacily", given that all of the incumbents were registered nurses who were expecwd to be able to use their qualifications as a registered nurse, and that when ;;. vacancy was advertised, it was a qualification for the position that applicallts bave a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing (at pages 12 and 13); Sauge,:'n Memorial Hospital and O.N.A., unreported decision of Burkett " . If!:I U U:II U 3 2 Velf V:Uf ~.UU.U Ui7.' "-1.1.' 1"dA. ::IU" O"t.J.. ~O'll \.,AJ\lAUA L1\lY tlUUl\. . 19J UUti/UJ'2 4 dated -September 15, 1992, where the Hospital created the position of Patier t Care Special Services Coordinator, and included in the qualifi ::ations required "demonstrated evidence of ability to apply and utilize the nursing process"-given this requirement, and the facts that the position fell within the nursing organization of the hospital and that the Hospit:lI considered hiring a social workers but decided to hire a registered nurse instead, the board concluded that the incumbent was "employed in a position in which she is expected to possess the training and skills of a nurse ill order to properly carry out her work" (at pages 13 and 14); and Re Raitage Nursing Home Ltd. and O.N.A. (1992), 26 LAC (4th) 173 (Foisy.!, where it was determined that the incumbent of the position Assist.:iJ1t Director of Nursing was "employed in a nursing capacity", given that "nursing capacity" includes not only hands-on functions, but encompasses the supervision and direction of nursing care (at page 179). ,.... [11 our case, it is critical that the job can be performed by, and the Emplcyer seeks, persons with a variety of professional backgrounds. And then, whatever the background, the Employer provides a common core of training in psychiatric rehabilitation. There is no need for a nurse, who is in the position, to be a nurse. Indeed, the Service Director, Dr. D.L. Elliott, testified that, if an incumbent who was a registered nurse lost her registration, she could still perform the job. The nurse incumbents in our case a:!e in exactly the same position as was described by Arbitrator Knopf in Re W. Mary's General Hospital (referred to above), when the learned arbitrawt said (at page 383): It is true that Ms. Vlasic as an individual drew upon her nursing education and experience to perform the job at this hospital. But she did not need to perform the basic nursing skills set out in the standards of nursing practice. lhis hospital does Dot expect her to possess or use her skills "as a nurse" to perform the job of "Infection Control U'-I' Ui:I, ,"UUU \I.t]. ~J-, r'AA "U~ Olf:~ ,,)0':1: I ~~,ftUft Lftff'tlUUA If!:I UUlt U32 , - Coordinator". Instead, this hospital expects the infection control co-ordinator to use her scientific and professional background to ensure effective infection control practices in the hospital. The fact that Ms. Vlasic happened to be a nurse does not mean that the position should now be characterized as working within a nursing capacity. Everyone in the hospital is concerned with health care and infection control in general. The parties recognize that the mere fact that someone is a nurse and working in a hospital does not mean that they are covered by O.N.A.'s collective bargaining agreement where the test is whether the person works "in a nursing capacity", In order to be caught by the collective agreement, one must be working in a nursing capacity. not merely be a nurse working in the hospital. 5 UiJ/ U;J/ ",UUU U;J; ".1- .rdA' ',~U" 0'1.1- olO'l ( \Jf\l'4lUJA Li\l'l' .tlUUl\ " ~UUlS/U32' . ~ 6 ~:l1e position of Case Coordinator does not "require the person to possess the training and skills of a nurse", and this does not change when the inc'Jmbent happens to be a nurse. Therefore, in our view, a nurse incumb~nt is not "employed in a nursing capacity". I;or these reasons, we dismiss the grievances. Done .'London. Ontario. this lOll: day of ~o- L 1993. <;' A,~~,-<-f -!. M. Han, Association No "