HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-3625.Seddon.19-08-01 DecisionCrown Employees
Grievance Settlement
Board
Suite 600
180 Dundas St. West
Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Z8
Tel. (416) 326-1388
Fax (416) 326-1396
Commission de
règlement des griefs
des employés de la
Couronne
Bureau 600
180, rue Dundas Ouest
Toronto (Ontario) M5G 1Z8
Tél. : (416) 326-1388
Téléc. : (416) 326-1396
GSB# 2017-3625
UNION# 2018-0234-0011
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
BETWEEN
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
(Seddon) Union
- and -
The Crown in Right of Ontario
(Ministry of the Solicitor General) Employer
BEFORE
Gail Misra
Arbitrator
FOR THE UNION
Dan Sidsworth
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
Grievance Officer
FOR THE EMPLOYER Al J. Quinn
Ministry of the Solicitor General
Senior Employee Transition Advisor
HEARING April 18 and July 19, 2019
-2-
DECISION
[1] Since the spring of 2000 the parties have been meeting regularly to address matters
of mutual interest which have arisen as the result of the Ministry of Community
Safety and Correctional Services as well as the Ministry of Children and Youth
Services restructuring initiatives around the Province. Through the MERC (Ministry
Employment Relations Committee) a subcommittee was established to deal with
issues arising from the transition process. The parties have negotiated a series of
MERC agreements setting out the process for how organizational changes will
unfold for Correctional and Youth Services staff and for non-Correctional and non-
Youth Services staff.
[2] The parties agreed that this Board would remain seized of all issues that arise
through this process and it is this agreement that provides me the jurisdiction to
resolve the outstanding matters.
[3] Over the years as some institutions and/or youth centres decommissioned or
reduced in size others were built or expanded. The parties have made efforts to
identify vacancies and positions and the procedures for the filling of those positions
as they become available.
[4] The parties have also negotiated a number of agreements that provide for the “roll-
over” of fixed term staff to regular (classified) employee status.
[5] Hundreds of grievances have been filed as the result of the many changes that have
taken place at provincial institutions. The transition subcommittee has, with the
assistance of this Board, mediated numerous disputes. Others have come before
this Board for disposition.
[6] It was determined by this Board at the outset that the process for these disputes
would be somewhat more expedient. To that end, grievances are presented by way
of statements of fact and succinct submissions. On occasion, clarification has been
sought from grievors and institutional managers at the request of the Board. This
process has served the parties well. The decisions are without prejudice but attempt
to provide guidance for future disputes.
[7] Glenn Seddon is a Utility Officer Laundry at Trilcor Industries. He filed a grievance
dated January 25, 2018 claiming that the Employer has breached various provisions
of the collective agreement and improperly calculated his Continuous Service Date
(“CSD”). The grievor is seeking to receive credit for all time he has spent in the
Ontario Public Service (“OPS”) included in the calculation of his CSD.
[8] The grievor had been a Correctional Officer at the Maplehurst Correctional Centre
beginning in September 2001. He resigned in 2005 to join the Canadian Armed
Forces. After he left the Armed Forces, on September 26, 2011 Mr. Seddon became
employed at the Ontario Legislature as a Special Constable until February 1, 2013.
-3-
On February 4, 2013 the grievor started at Trilcor Industries as a Driver, and on
December 29, 2014 he got his current position as a Utility Officer Laundry at Trilcor.
[9] Mr. Seddon has a CSD of February 4, 2013. He maintains that he should be credited
with all his past service in the OPS, which he believes also includes the time that he
worked at the Legislative Assembly.
[10] Based on the evidence before me, employment as a Special Constable at the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario does not constitute employment in the OPS.
Furthermore, no staff of the Legislative Assembly are considered part of the OPS,
and the only way that one may qualify for OPS-related entitlements, such as seniority
carry-over, would be if there was a Reciprocal Agreement that addressed seniority
carryover into the OPS from the Legislative Assembly, or vice versa. There is no
such Reciprocal Agreement. As such, the grievor’s tenure at the Legislative
Assembly is simply not deemed to be work within the OPS, and he did not rejoin the
OPS until February 4, 2013. That is the CSD that has been assigned to Mr. Seddon.
[11] With respect to Mr. Seddon’s earlier years working as a Correctional Officer, the
grievor resigned from his employment with the OPS in 2005 to join the Armed
Forces. That resulted in the termination of his service pursuant to Article 18.4 of the
collective agreement. Article 18.4 states that “Continuous service shall be deemed
to have terminated if: (a) an employee resigns or retires;…”. In accordance with
Article 18.4, the grievor’s resignation deems his continuous service up to that point
to have terminated.
[12] This issue has been determined by the Board on a number of occasions including
in the following decisions: OPSEU (Wiles) v. Ontario (MCSCS), GSB#2016-0300,
2016-0695, 2016-0696, December 6, 2016 (Briggs); OPSEU (Sutherland) v. Ontario
(MCSCS), GSB#2016-0461, September 11, 2017 (Briggs); and, OPSEU
(Bourgeois) v. Ontario (MCSCS), GSB#2017-0503, November 6, 2017 (Briggs).
Nothing on the facts before me in this case makes the grievor’s situation much
different from those cases. The resignation in 2005 caused a break in his service.
[13] Having considered the facts and the submissions of the parties, and for the reasons
outlined above, this grievance is denied.
Dated at Toronto, Ontario this 1st day of August, 2019.
“Gail Misra”
______________________
Gail Misra, Arbitrator