HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-0043.Lynch.78-02-14CRO&N. EMPLOYEES 416/964 6426 suite 405
GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT 77 azcor street ast
TCRC3TO. Cn tcrio
E0AR0 M5S lP12.
Between:
Before:
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under The
CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before'
THE .GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
Mrs. Carol N. Lynch
and
The Ministry of Health
(Brockville Psychiatric Hospital
G. W. Adams - Chairman
G; Griffin - Member
H. Simon - Member
For the Grievor:
' Mr. N. Luczay
Ontario Public Service Employees
For the Employer:
Mr. George Kytayko
Personnel
Ministry of Health
Hearinp:
January 27th, 1978
Suite 405, 77 Bloor St. W.
Toronto, Ontario
Union
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50%
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In this grievance Mrs. C. N. Lynch grieves that she has
been improperly classified. She has been employed with the Ministry
of Health, Brockville Psychiatric Hospital since October 17th, 1963
and has occupied the position entitled Secretary to the Director of
Nursing since July 17, 1971. She is currently classified as a
Clerical Stenographer 3 (Class Code 52004) and the classification
sought by the grievor is Clerical Stenographer 4 (Class Code 52006).
The parties agreed that position specification ;05-9141-09
dated April 1, 1977 is a fair and accurate description of Mrs. Lynch's
duties. The specification reads in part:
SUMMARY OF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Performs general secretarial duties including: taking dictation in
shorthand and transcribing and typing from shorthand notes, handwritten
drafts, or dictaphone, all required correspondence, reports, memoranda,
forms, stencils, performance evaluations etc; taking and transcribing
minutes for Nursing Department meetings and acting as back-up
secretary in absence of regularly assigned secretary for major
meetings; reserving rooms for meetings, and preparing, typing and
distributing agendas of n;eetings; composing and typing routine letters
on own, by signing own signature or passing on to Director or
Nursing Administration Staff for signature; assisting in editing
sensitive and confidential correspondence for Director (i.e. responses
to enquiries from patients relatives, disciplinary letters, policy
and procedure drafts, responses to enquiries from Administrator, etc.);
initiating follow up action on correspondence, reports. etc. as
required; arranging travel finances, accommodations, registration,
etc. for seminars, conventions, etc. for Director and 01 Nursing
Staff; opening, screening and routing incoming correspondence for
the entire Nursing Department, attaching necessary files and our
previous correspondence for the appropriate situation.
2. Performs Receptionist and Clerical Duties by: screening all
telephone calls and visitors, providing necessary information using
30% tact and discretion and/or taking and relaying messages to Director
and/or other Nursing Staff; eg. in event of patient's death, all
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communications are co-ordinated through the Nursing Office i.e. nursing
assistance for coroner's autopsy, funeral arrangements (pallbearers,
transportation, flowers,, etc.); keeping informed of Directors whereabouts
to facilitate prompt contact; reporting and recording staff attendance,
following the procedure established in the Nursing Department; assisting
with the distributing of indigent patients' pin money on a weekly
basis; ensuring that newly admitted patients' personal effects are
recorded by Pin Money Clerk and receipt for same is returned to ward;
_ picking up, sorting and ,distributiny pay cheques to Nursing Staff;
initiating and maintaining files on all Nursing Staff; rzintaining
card index file to ensure all Nursing Staff are currently registered
i.e. R.N. or S.W.A; completes or ensures the proper completion of forms
re maternity leave, leaves of absence without pay, educational assistance,
staff requisitions etc; preparing expense accounts and travel advances
for Director and or Nursing staff; initiating and maintaining Nursing
Office filing system; ensuring that Nursing Policy and Procedure
Manuals (3) are maintained on current basis.
(- 3. Supervises 1 Full Time and 1 Part-time Clerical Typist by: providing
technical supervision: spot checking typing and calculation to ensure
work is performed within required standards of neatness and accuracy;
15% assigns work in accordance of priorities and incumbents respective
skills; training new staff; evaluating performance of subordinates
on regular basis; participating in the selection of staff.
4.
5%
Performs other related duties including: participating in the performance
of duties in absence of Nursing Office typist and Nursing Office Clerk d.s
required.
However this description of her duties and responsibilities
was supplemented by the testimony of the grievor and her immediate
Supervisor, Mr. Mathias Hugel. Mrs. Lynch,speaking of the duties
sununarized in paragraph one of the position specification, told the
Board that she collected information from the different files under
her control for various reports, forms and surveys. She administers
and "sets up" all the nursinp personnel files for the 280 people who re-
port directly to the Director of Nursina. With reference to paragraph
two duties entitled Receptionist and Clerical Duties, the Board was ad-
vised that she supervises a full time typist and, until a few weeks before
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the hearing,a part-time typist as well. The typist does the more
routine clerical work and answers the "general telephone calls".
The grievor assigns work to the typist and supervises her work.
As well, the grievor prepares reports at the end of each month
that pertain to accidents and out-patient incidents. On a
periodic basis she collects signatures indicating that employees
are fami1ia.r with the hospital's disaster plan and ensures that
personal evaluations are completed for each employee and kept up
to date. She also makes certain that the medication report is
kept current.
The grievor records the coming and going of the
nursing staff. She records absences and the,related reasons and in
this regard completes attendance sheets which are sent to
the Payroll Department on a bi-weekly basis. When someone is
sick the grievor is called and she arranges for a replacement.
In conjunction with the Assistant Director of Nursing the grievor
. supervises the distribution of so called !'pin money" to indigent
patients.
The grievor is required to monitor sick time leave
for employees and reminds unit co-ordinators that medical
certificates are required for those,.employees whose absences
exceed three months. She told the Board that it was within her
power to grant time off to the typist she supervises.
When asked whether her job functions had changed
since 1972, she said that the volume and responsibility of her
work had increased. She said that more information must be
retrieved and reports prepared than ever before and she initiates
and completes many of these reports on her own. However she could
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not think of any previous responsibility of the Director which had been
delegated to her.' Her clerical duties have apparently increased since
the Department lost the services of the part-time clerk.
Mr. Hugel, the Director of Nursing confirmed the general context
of her secretarial duties. He said she keeps personal files for all
staff and keeps him "up to date". She executes the references checks
for job applicants. She answers his telephone. He advised that she
prepares a number of reports on a periodic basis. They include
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personal evaluations, registrations, complement control, budget etc.
He said that "she doles out the work that I dole out". He thought
that he demands more of her than previous directors had and that the
general freeze on hiring in the civil service meant that she and the
typist "had to pick up the slack"
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In cases of this kind the Board is limited to an assessment
of what the grievor does against 1) the relevant class standards
and/or 2) the duties performed by some other employee whose position
has been included in a more senior classification. While a
bargaining agent, once granted representative rights, may bargain
with respect to the classification and job evaluation system to be
employed by an employer, it is the exclusive function of the employer
actually to classify positions. Under section 17(Z)(a) of The crown
Employees CdleCtiVe Bargaining Act employees are given'the right
to challenge the Propriety of the resulting allocation of their position to one
classification as opposed to another. However the Board has said
on a number of occasions that a grievance filed under this provision
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cannot challenge the classification system itself or the pay assigned
to a job once classified. Rather the question before the Board
is simply whether the classification system in use was properly applied to
the position of the grievor.
As noted, in making this determination the Board looks at
two principal considerations - the documented classification standards
against which the grievor's position was classified and secondly the
application of purported applications of those standards to other
positions involving identical or nearly identical work to that
which the grievor performs. This latter consideration is relevant
because the actual classification practices of the employer may
substantially modify the documented standards relied.upon and because
the treatment accorded other employees is very often the underlying
reason for grievances of this kind.
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The grievor did adduce evidence with respect to the classification
treatment of another employee alleged to perform duties identical to her
own. But because all of the evidence reviewed thus far pertains solely
to the grievor's job duties we will first assess the propriety of her
classification against the relevant classification standards.
The grievor does not contest the fact that her job was
placed within the Clerical Stenographer Series. This series has 5 classes
and its preamble reads:
This series covers positions which require shorthand
(or speed-writing) md/or'dictaphone and typing to Civil Service
Conmission standards in combination with a siqnificant element of
clerical work. Allocation to the various levels within the series
is based on the complexity of the clerical work and degree of
responsibility assigned to. the incuirbent. Normal1 y, the fourth and
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fifth levels cover supervisory positions, and the third level
cover.s group leader positions; however, non-supervisory positions
can also be incl.uded at any of these levels. The clerical duties
involved in these positions vary widely in both type and level.
Although individual clerical duties may be comparable in level
to those found in positions in corresponding Clerk, General
classes I the total clerical function is generally somewhat lower.
A small proportion of the employee's time may be spent in operating
office appliances.
From this general statement of purpose it can be seen that
differences in the classifications within this series relate to
complexity in clerical work, responsibility and supervisory duties.
But this statement alone sheds little light on the grievance.
It's necessary to consider the specific class standards. The
class standard for the grievor's present classification -
Clerical Stenographer 3 - appears as follows:
This class covets positions of employees who teke
dictation in shorthand or speed-writing and/or dictaphone and
transcribe letters, memoranda, reports and other material and
perform varied semi-routine clerical tasks according to
approved procedures or special instructions. They are responsible
for independent completion of somewhat complex clerical work
performed according to established precedents involving contact
with other departments or the public through correspondence
composed by themselves. They are, however, required to refer
doubtful matters not covered by precedents to their superiors.
In .some positions. they train and supervise a small subordinate
staff in.~routine clerical, stenographic and typing duties.
Much of the work of employees in these positions is
reviewed only periodically, principally for adherence to policy
and procedures. Zrrors in their work could result in loss of
time, duplication of effort.and sane inconvenience to the public.
They are responsible for maintaining good working relationships
in all contacts with other employees and the public.
They prepare reports, simple statements and memoranda
requiring judgement in the selection and presentation of data.
They, being responsible for following up errors or omissions,
review and verify a variety of docuwnts to ensure confortity
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with established regulations and practices. In other positions, they
periodically summarize and balance entries to original records, in-
vestigating discrepancies and making needed corrections.
SKILLS dND KNOWLEDGE:
Initiative in organizing and completing work assimnents; good
knowledge of statutes, and regulations pertaining to work assignments;
ability to direct the work of others.
This standard on its face seems well suited to the grievor's
actual job duties. TO varying degrees she performs all or most of
the duties outlined in the standard and none of her job duties would
appear to fall clearly outside this documented standard.
Clerical Stenographer 4,the jab classification to which she
aspires,reads:
This class covers positions of employees who take
dictati;on in shorthand or speed-writing, and/or dictaphone,
but are mainly involved in the performance of various clerical
or administrative tasks of a responsible nature requiring
considerable knowledge of the operations and procedures of the
organizational unit. They make decisions which entail~the
exercise of some independent judgement based on a good understanding
of specific statutes atid regulatiofis.
These employees initiate correspondence concerning their
work and may interpret the general instructions of their superiors
into detailed procedures -to be followed. ,
dlthouyh they refer questions involving interpretation
of policy to their superiors, these employees normally receive
specific instruction only in unusual or special problems. Most
of the work is performed under cczditions which permit little
opportunity for direct supervision by others.
In most cases, these are supervisory positions with
responsibility for organizing the work flow of a number of
clerical, clerical typing or clerical stenographic positions.
In such positions, these employees have some responsibility
for selection of staff, assignment of duties, and discipline.
In other cases, employees in these positions prepare
or evaluate, assess and correct a variety of statements,
applications, records and material by checking for co&eteness,
and conformity with specific statutes, rules, regulations, ed-
ministrative orders and practices. They may authorize
adjustments, determine eligibility and rrake recommendations
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regarding the financial payment or other appropriate action. Discovery
of errors in their work would lead to the embarrassment of superiors
and could result in monetary loss.
SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE:
Good knowledge of statutes and regulations related to the work;
ability to supervise the work of subordinates; good knowledge of office
methods and procedures.
This class standard contains a number of duties that are somewhat
less reflective of what the grievor does but it cannot be said that are
clearly inapposite or inapplicable.. Fine gradations within a series
f relating to aeneral clerical and stenographic skills are bound to create
demarcation problems at the margin of contiguous job classes. This case
is no exception
The class standard (#4) stipulates that the positions of this
class are mainly involved in the performance ofvarious clerical
or administrative tasks of a responsible nature requiring considerable
knowledge of the operations and the procedures of the organizational
unit. Cnfortunately the grievor's position specification uses the
term "secretarial" in paragraph one and on the evidence of the
grievor and her supervisor includes duties,for example the preparation
i of reports, that could also be referred to as administrative duties, Thus
in determining what the position "mainly involves" the percentage
values beside each paragraph are not as helpful as they might, at
.first glance, seem to be. An additional complicating factor is the fact
that the grievor'allocates the more routine clerical work to her full
time typist which leaves her (the orievor) with the more comolicated
and responsible clerical functions in the deoartnent. This is also the
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case w ‘1
genera 1
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th respect to the receptionist duties. The typist handles the
telephone calls and the grievor answers the Director's telephone.
The also standard notes that most of the work is performed under
conditions which permit little opportunity for clerical supervision by
others". In this regard we would have preferred more evidence from both
parties on what we have before us particularly with respect to the duties
of the Assistant Director of Nursing but we could not say the griever's
duties fail to meet this requirement.
The grievor does not supervise ~a number of other positions but she
does supervise one other employee and for a substantial period of time
supervised two employees. Moreover the nursing office is an important
centre for organizing a flow of information that pertains to the personnel
arrangements of the nursing Department. However any deficiencies of
the position in these respects is not of great significance but as the
task paragraph notes the supervisory requirement is not a mandatory feature
of the class. An equally important complex of duties may, alternatively,
relate to the preparation and evaluation of a variety of records, statements,
etc. and the grievor's report of preparation duties fall within this
paragraph. It might also be observed that the last sentence of the
last paragraph of the class standard is not particularly helpful because
it contains permissive language.
Accordingly when only the class standards are examined we are
of the opinion the grievor's job might be appropriately classified within
either the third or fourth classification. This overlap in standard
is unlikely to have been intended but in our opinion the result flows
from the very fine gradations:found in the series and
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the .failure to use comparable terminology in the position specification.
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The parties advised the Board that all other department
heads in the hospital supervised an employee classified as a Clerical
Stenographer 3 but all of these departments are considerably smaller than
the Nursing Department and other more senior administrators in the
hospital were assisted by employees classified above grade 3 and one
or two of the people may even occupy senior positions falling within
the secretarial series. However all the evidence with respect to similar
jobs within the hospital was very incomplete and therefore of no
assistance to the Board. Accordingly with the burden of proof in cases
of this kind residing with the grievor, we would have dismissed the grievance
had no further evidence been tendered. This is because, to this point,
all the grievor has established is that either class in question is
appropriate or proper and not that grade 3 was and is improper.
However the grievor called Mrs. Beverley Alexander employed
at the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital as a witness. Mrs. Alexander is the,
secretary to the Director of Nursing at that hospital and she is
classified as a:' Clerical Stenographer 4 and has been since 1972. The
complement of nurses at the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital totals 324.
She, like the grievor, supervises one other employee classified as a
Clerical Stenographer 2 and she assigns work to that person. Mrs.
' Alexander's position specification was entered into evidence and it
appears as follows:
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Previous Position Title
secretary Clerical Stenographer 4 52006 05-9832-30
Director of Nursing
05-9832-01
Health Direct Services
Psychiatric Hospital Nursing Whitby Psychiatric Hospital
Semi ces Box 613
Whitby, Ontario
To provide Secretarial services for the Director of Nursing and supervise
subordinate clerical/stenographic staff.
SVMMARY OF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
I 1.5%
80%
20%
5%
1. Supervises subordinate staff by: - orienting and training in
relevant procedures - outlining specific job requirements -
assigning duties - approving time off and arranging vacations -
maintaining attendance records - reviewing performence and
writing appropriate evaluation and reports - takes disciplinery
action - assists in
selection of staff.
2. Performs secretarial duties for Director of Nursing by:-
taking dictation and typing correspondence, memos and
reports, etc. - composing correspondence as required -
screening and distributing mail - obtaining background
information on items requiring supervisor's specific
attention - receiving and relaying messages, making
appointments, preparing outgoing mail - taking and
preparing minutes for various nursing committees -
receiving visitors and answering inquiries.
3. Performs general administrative duties by: - determining
work procedures and priorities - establishing and
maintaining appropriate filing and record systems -
reviewing effectiveness of office methods and implementing
required changes - maintaining familiarity with personnel,
hospital and nursing directives.
4. Performs other related duties, as :equired
Recommend allocation to Clerical Stenographer 4 (52006)
.
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Grade 12 education and four years clerical stenographic experience.
Ability to supervise staff and maintain effective office procedures.
Department of C.S.C. standards in shorthand and typing.
D. Kidd - Director of Nursing Ken Sheehan - Eospital Administrator
Clerical Stenographer 4 52006 GS - 6h
Primarily involved in clerical and administrative tasks of a responsible
nature.
Initiates correspondence concerning her work.
Mrs. Alexander testified that she drafted the wording of this
document. She testified that her secretarial duties were more in the order
( of 50% of her total job duties, with her administrative duties making up
30%. But be this as it may, what is interesting about her specification
is their use of the word "administrative" to identify the report preparative
duties that she performs. However when the actual content of these duties
are examined it-will be seen that most if not all of the duties were
described by the grievor as being part of her secretarial duties. Also of
note is the fact that Mrs. Alexander is not "mainly involved in the
performance of various clerical and administrative tasks of a responsible
nature" as the standards of Clerical Stenographer 4 require. Rather 50%
of her work is secretarial as is so for the grievor's position.
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Mrs. Alexander testified that she determines the work procedures
in the Nursing Office and establishes priorities. We take the grievor's
evidence and Mr. Hugel's comment that she "doles out" what he "doles
out" to mean substantially the same thing. On her own initiative Mrs.
Alexander revised a form reporting nursing staff illnesses and
she gave this as the only example of how she reviewed the
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effectiveness of office methods. However the grievor would appear to have
the same responsibility although no specific examples were given to show
how this responsibility was exercised. The grievor and Mrs. Alexander
have identical responsibilities with respect to the preparation of
reports relating to the nursing staff and accidents. Mrs. Alexander performs
no general receptionist duties, answering the telephone only for the
Director. But while the grievor's position specifications indicates she
performs receptionist duties, in fact the employee under her supervision
does this and the grievor only answers the Director's telephone.
( Mrs. Alexander indicated that she sometimes assigns nursing
staff in emergencies but when this duty was reviewed in detail it appears
to consist of on an occasional basis, reporting a personal need from one
head nurse to another who can respond to it. Mrs. Alexander told the
Board she co-ordinates fire drills in the sense that she receives the
reports which document their execution. However this responsibility seems
quite.similar to the griever's "disaster plan" duties. One difference in
job duties is that Mrs. Alexander has no responsibility for nursing
staff personal files although it is unclear what percentage of the
c grievor's duties is taken up dealing with this responsibility.
Having reviewed this evidence in considerable detail, we
have come to the conclusion that Mrs. Alexander and the grievor perform
almost identical job,~duties. This evidence therefore supports the
grievor's claim that she has been improperly classified. In our view
this evidence shifted the evidential onus to the employer to establish
affirmatively that, having regard to different organizational structures
of the two hospitals or to the different management styles of the directors
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( involved, the difference in classification between the grievor and
Elrs. Alexander is supportable. The employer, in our view, failed to do
this and therefore the grievance must succeed. The grievor is to be
paid any difference in earnings from the date the grievance was filed.
The Board retains jurisdiction with respect to compensation and should
the parties be unable to determine the precise monies owing, will entertain
a request from either party to determine the issue.
Dated at Toronto this 14th day of February 1978.
G. W. Adams
Chairman
I concur
G. Griffin
Member
I concur
H. Simon
Member
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