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HomeMy WebLinkAboutChambers 18-05-31IN THE MATTER OF AN EXPEDITED CLASSIFICATION ARBITRATION BETWEEN: ONTARIO PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES UNION, Local 41 (FOR SUPPORT STAFF) (hereinafter called the "Union") -and- COLLEGE EMPLOYERS COUNCIL (FOR COLLEGES OF APPLIED ARTS and TECHNOLOGY) In the form of ALGONQUIN COLLEGE (hereinafter called the "College") -and- GRIEVANCE OF DUSTIN CHAMBERS OPSEU File No. 2016-0416-0019 (hereinafter called the "Grievor" or the "Incumbent") ARBITRATOR: REPRESENTING THE COLLEGE REPRESENTING THE UNION: Richard H. McLaren, C.Arb. Connie Powers, Manager, Compensation, Pension & 8 Andrea Barton, HR Business Dan Allaire, Manager ITS Er Device Support (by telephor Kris Greeley Supervisor ITS Group, Acting Manager Christine Kelsey, President Dustin Chambers, Grievor A HEARING IN RELATION TO THIS MATTER WAS HELD AT OTTAWA, ON 14 MAY 2018. anefits Partner d Point e) Client Care M. • 1 AWARD Dustin Chambers (the "Grievor") is the Incumbent in a position titled the Delivery Administrator in the ITS Department at Algonquin College (the "Cc position was reviewed by the College on several occasions. Both pe ultimately with the contents of the Position Description Form (the "PE December 2016. However, there is no agreement on the pointing score for leaving five factors under the Support Staff Job Evaluation Manual (ti without agreement; specifically with regard to regular and recurring Analysis and Problem Solving, Planning/Coordinating, Independence of Ac Delivery and Communication. The College evaluated the position of Application Delivery Administrator a 594 points, placing the position within Payband I. The Grievor and the C Service Employees Union (the "Union") submit that the position ought to be 727 points, placing it at the higher -rated Payband K. The Duties of the Position The Incumbent is responsible for the planning, monitoring, deployment images, and maintaining a patching lifecycle using the College's systerr tools. He is also responsible for maintaining all applications, licenses mechanisms for all corporate and student software. Application (lege"). The 'hies agreed F") dated 2 the position, e "Manual") uties under Jon, Service rated it at rio Public aluated at of software deployment and delivery The Grievor works with the various schools to provide technical advice and guidance on initial and on-going product research. The position works with management across several teams within ITS to assist with the continual improvement and reshaping of the required support scope. Subject matter experts relating to Application Delivery and license management identified technologies to be implemented are routed through PMO and completed according to the project guidelines. The Grievor researches solutions and best practices for a variety of problems using a range of sources, including but not limited to, vendor websites, technical white papers and public forums and shares the findings via the ITS collaboration site as no Application Delivery guidelines exist outside of general college policy. The Incumbent is responsible for assessing the current and future technical needs as they pertain to the College's virtual applications and environment. 2 Factors in Dispute There are five factors in dispute in this proceeding: Factor #3 — Analysis Solving; Factor #4 — Planning/Coordinating; Factor #6 — Independence of, #7 — Service Delivery and Factor #8 — Communication. Each of these 1 dealt with under separate headings below. Factor #3 - Analysis and Problem Solving: Ratings: College Level 3 + Union Level 4 This factor measures the level of complexity involved in analyzin information or problems of varying levels of difficulty; and in develo1 solutions or other actions. (i) The Union It is submitted that discovering a symptom of a problem is not the sam what the root cause of the problem may be. The Union submits that the t% examples in the PDF scored at Level 4 ought to be considered as regular because in the PDF it is indicated that the Grievor spends 40% of his tir the daily duties listed which surpasses the 25% required to be considers recurring. (ii) The College It is submitted that only the Occasional examples provided meet the thresh( 4. It was submitted that a majority of the problems have been identified and have a "patch" to be applied by the Incumbent. It is also submitted that typically arises three times a year in the early days of the semester on initi software. The Incumbent does not have to independently investigate and potential solutions. (iii) Findings The difference between Level 3 and Level 4 in the description in the ME down to analysis and investigation required to solve the problem. At Level required to do analysis to find a solution from information provided but normally used by the position. Whereas at Level 4 the analysis to fin requires the interpretation of information according to "established technic phrase has a definition in the Manual. It is defined as "an individualized v tools and following rules in doing something". I find that is very mu( Incumbent does. The patch will be provided by the vendor. However, it local knowledge as to how to implement the patch on the equipment being J Problem on; Factor )rs will be Level 4 situations, ig options, as knowing Occasional id recurring performing regular and Id of a Level Dy a vendor the problem fl use of the esearch the ual comes a person is �rhaps not a solution ies". That iy of using what the vill require sed by the 3 College. That equipment may well be of several different varieties, thus the Incumbent has to individualize the way of using the patch to solve the problem. It is this feature that makes the work a Level 4 when combined with the discussion below. The Incumbent's activities fall within the definition of "established techniquesl' as defined in the Manual. Despite the fact that the symptoms have been examined and move through end point members of IT because they cannot find a ready answer the problem does not arrive for resolution with the Incumbent. When it is turned over to the Incumbent he does not have immediate resources to implement a solution. 'Instead the Incumbent uses tools and follows rules to individualize the application of the solution to the particular equipment of the College. It is for all of the above reasons that I find that the Union has established the Factor of "Analysis and Problem Solving" at a Level 4 within the Manual and its accompanying definition of "Established techniques and/or principles". Factor #4 — Planning/Coordinating: Ratings: College Level 2 This factor measures the planning and/or coordinating requirements of the position. This refers to the organizational and/or project management skills required to bring together and integrate activities and resources 'needed to complete tasks or organize events. There may be a need to perform tasks with overlapping deadlines (multi -tasking) to achieve the decided results. (i) The Union It is submitted that the activities of the position require the rigorous ti responses from users of the software. In so doing, there are deadlines met that of necessity modify the work schedules of individuals who a software. That alteration of the schedules is what justifies the rating at L Planning/Coordinating Factor. (ii) The College Typically the decision as to the version of software to be installed will not b of the Grievor's department. It will be a faculty or administrative person wl such requests for software installation. The time frames generally u Incumbent will depend many times on the startup of a particular sem( Academic calendar. Once all of that is taken account of the deadlines imp Incumbent are merely to assist the user in receiving the revised software in needed basis. tabling of t must be using the ,I 3 of the a decision will make )d by the ter of the >ed by the timely, as M (iii) Findings The Incumbent provides a service to users. The decisions to use certain c of software are made by the users. Once those decisions are implementation dates established then the deadline decisions the Incumbe merely to achieve what the client user wants given the overall dictated im time. The deadlines are to facilitate the work and need to be observed b ensure that everything is completed on time. The best fit description of wh,, is Level 2. The Grievor is making decisions that will implement the requests of the users of the department but is not altering the work schedi as is required for a Level 3 point score. I find that the Union has not mad on this Factor to alter the ranking established by the College. Therefore, t the Union is not accepted. Factor #6 — Independence of Action: Ratings: College The Manual provides that, "This factor measures the level of indeT autonomy in the position. The following elements should be considered: decisions that the position makes; what aspects of the tasks are decided b) on its own or what is decided by, or in consultation with, someone else, supervisor; the rules, procedures, past practice and guidelines that are provide guidance and direction." infigurations made and t makes are �lementation the user to t is going on Desires and es of others out a case e scoring of 0 ,enaence or the types of !,the position such as the available to (i) The Union It is submitted that: "... no Application Delivery guidelines exist outside of general college policy". That is the primary justification for rating the Factor at Level 4. Once the problem arrives at the Incumbent's desk he frequently has to decide on how best to implement the software primarily on his own. The Union submits there are over 300 software titles installed college -wide, delivered by the Application team. Both instructions and technical decisions are made by the Incumbent and he has the authority to recommend or provide direction regarding a course of action. (ii) The College It is the College's submission that there are procedures and departmenta well established practices and checklists to complete tasks. The Incumk team determine the best way to complete work required within an departmental framework with assistance from vendors as needed. It reasons that the positon is rated at Level 3. I' processes, ent and the established s for these (iii) Findings The Notes to Raters in the Manual, attempts to clarify the difference betv and 4 for this Factor. A Level 3 function requires the selection of procesE the end result, which may involve the assistance of general guid Incumbent's position has the autonomy to make decisions within these p Level 4 rating includes "position duties being completed according to sp( objectives with decisions being made according to industry prac departmental policies". Each Vendor has its own deployment packages. That is the starting Incumbent's work. The task he has is to make the deployment packages 1 configuration of equipment. That is what requires departmental p guidelines to achieve the specific objectives of the end user and the vendo I find that the Union has established this Factor as requiring a Level 4 ratin< Factor #7 — Service Delivery: Ratings: College Level 3 / Union Level 4 The Manual provides that: "This factor looks at the service relationsh assigned requirement of the position. It considers the required manner position delivers service to customers and not the incumbent's interpersom with those customers." (i) The Union In making the Union submission reference was made to the description c "the position designs services for others by obtaining a full understan( current and future needs. The information is considered in a wider cont necessary in order for the position to be able to structure service(s) that rr current stated needs and emerging needs. The position may envision sery the customer is aware of the need". The Union proffered the example of updating from Symantec Ghost ti SCCM platform and the upgrading of the VDI to be able to host more u: pools and support for Windows 10. These were examples of when th needed to anticipate and then implement the services prior to the customer of the need for same. As many students and faculty expect to have "tr greatest" the systems have to be ready to deliver when the technolo n Levels 3 to achieve nes. The ameters. A goals or and/or )int for the the college ctices and Therefore, l that is an a which the relationship Level 4 as ig of their :t, which is et both the B(s) before Microsoft's rs, desktop Incumbent being aware latest and v becomes available. (ii) The College The College submitted that it is firmly of the view that decision making with respect to technology and software resides with the Faculty based on budget and learning outcomes. The College submits the Incumbent is not responsible for advance thought 6 and/or discussion of events and trends in advance of conditions arising, nor is he responsible for visioning or anticipating future needs. (iii) Findings I accept the College submission when it states that the Incumbent has n'lo role in the decision making in respect to the required technology and software. Tholse decisions are indeed made based on budgets and learning outcomes or administrative needs. However, the Incumbent in implementing these decisions does have to, on occasion as the example illustrates, anticipate possible future uses of new software and act efficiently by configuring for those possible changes while determining how to implement the stated needs and requests. This aspect of the delivery of the Incumbent's services does justify the Level 4 rating submitted by the Union.11 Therefore, the rating ought to be changed to Level 4 with the accompanying points. Factor #8 — Communication: Ratings: College Level 3 / Union Level 4 Thefactor measures the communication skills required by the position IIb�oth verbal and written and includes: -communication to provide advice, guidance, information or training; interaction to manage necessary transactions; and interpersonal skills to obtain and maintain commitment and influence the actions of others. (i) The Union The Application Delivery team works with a range of people daily in order to produce a final product that can be installed on lab machines. Each user has a different set of preferences, be it system set up that easily allows troubleshooting when issues arise or systems locked down to protect data and the network. These parameters mean installing more software than is necessary and is a time consuming process''. In order to achieve a final product the Delivery team must obtain cooperation of all parties. (ii) The College It was submitted by the College that the Incumbent is not instructing or training. The College submits the Incumbent is communicating with others to assist in their understanding of the issues. (iii) Findings I find that the Incumbent does not have authority to implement decisions related to the end user. Furthermore, there is little in the way of instruction to the end users, rather it is setting out options and constraints of the overall equipment and College systems that may require the Incumbent to set out for the users various impacts of what they are requesting and where their needs may not be met or require adjustment. That process requires narrowing down the demands of users to find a final image that satisfies most 7 of the professors and facilitates everyone coming to the same point of view. In other words they facilitate a collaborative resolution without having any authority to dictate that resolution. Therefore, I find the better fit to be the Level 3 rating and I confirm the point rating of the College. The Union failed to establish a higher rating at Level 4. CONCLUSION Based on all of the above adjustments, the total points assigned for the position is to be 671. That point score places the position in Payband J on the Schedule inti the Manual. As a result, the Grievor is to have his pay adjusted from the date of the grievance, being 15 March 2016 up until the present. The retroactive payment under this Award is to be paid by the College no later than two pay cycles after the date herein. The parties are hereby directed to take the necessary steps in order to decision. If there are any disputes as to the implementation of my jurisdiction to resolve those disputes and issue a Supplementary Award process of ensuring that the remedy is complete and the Grievor is mai extent that may be required. lent this I retain Mete the le to the I will remain seized of this matter with jurisdiction to complete the remedy in, this Award for a period of 45 days from the date herein. Either party may, on written request to the Arbitrator, ask me to reconvene the Hearing for the purposes of determining the remedial aspects of this Award. If no written request is received within the stipulated time frame, I will no longer retain jurisdiction over the implementation of the remedy arising from this Award. DATED at London, Ontario this 31st day of May 2018. Richard HI McLaren, C.Arb. II' Arbitrator Arbitration Data Sheet - Support Staff Classification College: Algonquin College Incumbent: Dustin Chambers Supervisor: Dan Allaire Current Payband: l Payband Requested by Grievor: 1 1. Concerning the attached Position Description Form: ® The parties agreed on the contents ❑ The Union disagrees with the contents and the specific details are attached. 2. The attached Written Submission is from:® The Union ❑The College g Factor 1A. Education Management .Union Arbi6afior Regular/ Recurring Oorasional Regular/ Recurring Occasional Regular/ Recurring Occasional Level Points Level Points Level 5 21 9 _.. _. Points 35 Level Poirrts Level Points Level Points 3 1 O . i13. Education 21 9 2. Experience 3. Analysis and Problem Solving 8 - ' 110 4. Planning/Coordinating 2 6 3 5. Guiding/Advising Others 3 29 3 29 coq 6. Independence of Action 3 78 4 110 i 7. Service Delivery 3 51 4 733 8. Communication 3 784 110 9. Physical Effort 10. Audio/Visual Effort 2 26 0 8 F(b)9 2 2 26 0 �© 11. Working Environment 2 8 `fig Subtotals (a)585 (a) 727 (b)0 (a) Total Points (a) + (b) 5QA 727 Resulting Payband I K Si grimres; 2d —5,-, — - 5clo a Grievor)(Date) College Representative) (Date) (U ion ep se tiv (Date) lay 14, 2018 May 31, 2018