Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-1052.Jalea & Green.92-05-13 ONTA RIO EMPLO YES DE LA COURONNE CROWN EMPLOYEES DE L'ONTA RIO GRIEVANCE C,OMMISSION DE SETILEMENT REGLEMENT BOARD DES GRIEFS 180 DUNDAS STREET WEST, SUITE 2100, TORONTO, ONTARtO, MSG lZ8 TELEPHONE/T~L~PHONE: (416] 326- 1388 ~0, RUE DUNDAS OUEST, BUREAU 2~, TORONTO (ONTARIO). M5G tZ8 FACSIf~/LE/T~L~COPIE : r4~6) 326-~396 1052/89, 1055/89 IN THE ~TTER OF ~ ~IT~TION Un,er ~ CRO~ ~P~EH COL~CTI~ B~INXNG aCT Before ~ GRI~CB OETT~~ BO~ BE~EN oPsEu (Ja~ea/Green) Grievor The Cro~ in ai~h~ of Ontario (Minist~ of Correctional Se~ices) Employer BEFO~: W.' ~w Vice-Chai~erson I.. Thomson Me~er D. Halpe~ Me. er FOR THE V. Reaume GRIEVOR Counsel Cavalluzzo, Hayes & Shilt0n Barristers & Solicitors FORTHE J. Benedict EMPLOYER Manager, Staff Relations and Compensations.. Ministry of Correctional Services HEARING May 24, 1991 September 4, 5, 1991 April 9, 1992 DECiSiON The Grievors, Raymond Jalea and Robert Green, are employed by the Ministry of Correctional Services at the Mimico medium-maximum security facili%y. Mr. Jalea is classified as Clerk 2, Supply and Mr. Green as Clerk 6, Supply. Both grieve that they are improperly classified and seek a Berry order. The preamble to the class standard provides as ~follows:' "These classes cover the positions of employees who · perform a Variety of Cl. erical, manual, administrative repair or purchasing functions that are co'~mon to stockkeeping operatiohs in the Provincial Government Service. If any emploYee specializes in only one of the many tasks involved inthe operation of a stockroom, the position should be classified in another series more appropriate to the type of work. For example, p~sitions concerned entirely with the clerical recording, of transactions should be allocated to the.Clerk,!IGeneral series° Positions in which purchasing is the main functions should not be classified in this seri~s. Many factors, such as!the maintenance .of the necessary ledger or other records', inventory control, establishment of minimum - maximum requirements etc., are common to all stockrooms and vary significantly only to the extlent that the size of the stockkeeping function varies. Thus, the overriding criterion in making allocations in thi'$ series is the size, as defined in this preamble !!of the stockkeeping function'rather than any variatio~ in the clerical or administrative functions associated with it. Supervisory positions covered by the classes Cl~rk 3 to Clerk 6, Supply will be assigned to one class h%gher in the series if purchasing, as defined below, is one of the function requiring a m~nimum of 20% of the workihg time. DEFINITION: Size of Operation: Because of the tremendous variatio'n in the nature and organization of stockkeeping functions [ibetween departments, the number of staff required for the operation of a particular unit is the .only p~a~tical basis of comparison for classification purposes, in all departments except Health and Reform InstitutionSl'. In the latter departments', patients or inmates are often employed in stockkeeping operations. Consequently in Ontario Hospitals, the size, in terms of bed capacity, is the criteria used. The size alone of a Reform Institution ignores the possible existence of industries, which complicate the stockkeeping function, therefore the value of annual stock turnover is used as a basis of comparison for the determination of level. Stockrooms having less than 100 different tvDes of stock are, for the purpose of this class series, considered to be equivalent to specific specialized sections of larger stockrooms, and the positions will be classified accordingly." "Supervision: Positions supervised include only those filled by temporary or permanent'Civil Servants'or by continuously employed public servants who report to the supervisor for discipline, work assignment and administrative control. This includes all clerk supply, clerk general, machine operating, clerk messenger and driver positions concerned in the overall operation of the duties assigned to the stockroom supervisor. No credit for supervision will be given for no~- continuous help, or for employees temporarily on loan- from other organiza'tions. Neither is credit given for employees who report to the supervisor purely for administrative convenience, when these employees are not involved in the operations of the stockroom or any of the auxiliary duties assigned to it." The description for Clerk 2, Supply is as follows: "CLASS DEFINITION: This class covers 'the positions of employees performing a variety of routine manual and clerical duties in stockrooms. Under general supervision, they carry out a number of the various tasks connected with the receiving, storage, handling and distribution of a wide variety of equipment and supplies. They check incoming shipments against weigh bills for shortage and damage in transit; check quantities against .packing slips and purchase orders; contact suppliers regarding short shipments, delays, back orders etc.; place items on shelves Or bins, adjusting bin cards to keep perpetual inventory. They also maintain stock ledgers or cards showing the receipt and issue of all articles including the value of items on hand. They assemble orders for authorized requl~ltlons; tag and address shipments; contact the conveyor and complete necessary records for the transaction. ~i This is a terminal class for employees who perform in a supply area, simple clerical duties in conjunction with tasks requiring the frequent application of~considerable physical effort or the operation of mechanical equipment" The definition for Clerk 6, Supply is as follow~: "CLASS DEFINITION: This class covers the 0ositions of employees wnq, = r general supervision, ar% responsible forithe operation of a large stockroom with~five to nine subordinates. They ensure the careful checking of incoming sto~k, the shipment of stock against authorized requisitionS:and the neatness and. security~of the Stockroom. They{~ decide minimum maximum requirements; reqUisition supplies; maintain a perpetual i~ventoryand complete stoc~ ledger records; prepare reports of the operation for the supervisor. Their 'responsibilities often iinclude supervision of the departmental printing and m~il and messenger services. This class also covers! the positions of-supervisors in charge of a centralized'stockkeeping operation in,,Ontario Hospitals of over five;hundred bed capacity. This class covers the p.ositions of supervisors i~ reform institutions in charge of centralized stockkeeping operations with an annual stock turnover-value i~f more than $300,000 and less:than $900,000" Revised' October 1964 Both Grievors receive the custodial allowance .Provided for in Appendix .8 of the Collective Agreement which stipulates as follows: 4 "September 23, 1985 Mr. A. Todd Chief Negotiator Ontario Public Service Employees Union 1901 Yonge Street Toronto, Ontario M4S 2Z5. Dear M~. Todd: -Re: Appendix 8 (See also Article 5 - Pay Administration, Section 5.9 - Custodial Responsibility Allowance) This will confirm that effective January 1, 1984 a Custodial Responsibility Allowan6e of two thousand 'dollars ($2,000.00) per year is payable to employees of the Ministry of Correctional Services and employees · working in training schools operated by the Ministry of Community and Social Services, in addition to the rate of pay specified for the class of the positions to which they are assigned, provided they fulfill all of the following requirements; (a) they are not professional staff such as teachers, nurses, social workers or.psychologists; (b) the positions to which the emplOyees.are assigned are not covered by classes which already take into account responsibility for the control of inmates 'or wards, such as Correctional Officers, Industrial Officers, Supervisors of Juveniles, Observation and Detention Home Workers, Recreation officers (Correctional Services), Trade Instructors and Provincial Bailiffs; (c) (i) they are required, for the major portion of their working time, to direct inmates or wards engaged in beneficial labour; (ii) as group leaders/lead hands, they are directly responsible, for the major portion of their working time, for operations involving the control of a number of inmates or wards engaged in beneficial labour; ~ and (d) they are responsible for the custody of inmates or wards in their charge and are required to report on their conduct and lay charges where breaches of institutional regulations occur. The Custodial Responsibility Allowance Shall be paid according to the base rate of pay .for the class involved. - weekly rated classes- $3$.40/week - hourly rated classes'- ~. - 40 hour week - 96 cents/hour - 36 1/4 hour week - $1.06/hour :,' Yours truly, P. Mo0ney Senior Staff Relations Officer". It is the Grievers' ,position that duties Which they perform are not encompassed either in the job specificatio~}s or the class standards, and with respect to Mr. Green, that he is responsible for a very large sto.ckroom contemplated in theli Clerk 7 standard as opposed to a large stockroom contemplated in the Clerk 6 standard. . The evidence discloses'that Mr. Green is in chargle of the stockroom at Mimico which has o.~er 400 stock items, in p~rpetual inventory in four warehouses. Mr. Green is Mr. Jalea's sup~risor, and it appears that the two of them are the stockroom cler~ staff. The bulk of the heavy physical labour is performed by inmat'es. Mr. Green and Mr. Jalea are responsible for escorting the four to six inmates who are to work under their supervision to and from their duties. Between the two of th~m, the Grievers' 'Show thei:inmates what they are to do in the stockroom and how to do'it. They report 6 misconduct and, on occasion, take part in 'strip searches of inmates. In addition to the inmate helpers, Mr. Green has had a summer student in 1989 under his charge and, on occasion, one or two periodic helpers from the project 1000 program whom he trained in stores work. As part of the supervisory and training, aspects of · his work, Mr. Green is required from time to time to provide a written assessment of those working under his supervision. Mr. Green aiso has day-to-day de facto supervision of the canteen clerk, although the canteen clerk is notofficially assigned as one of his subordinates. Additionally, Mr. Green was assigned for a short period in 1988 to train the accounts payable clerk and to do the movable assets inventory. In th~ result, however, Mr. Green was not actually required.to carry out this inventory function although he did co-ordinate the distribution of movable assets stored by Mimico for other facilities. Both. Grievors are required to be acquainted with first aid and occupational health and safety matters and both are peace officers. Mr. Jalea was referred to as Mr. Green's second-in- command and filled in for Mr. Green when he was on vacation. Mr. Jalea also filled in for the canteen clerk when necessary. Mr. Jalea also exorcised his judcfl~tent in the place of Mr. Greeh in the ordinary conduct of stockroom activities when Mr. Greenliwas not immediately available. On the foregoing factual matters, there was little in contention. Somewhat more problematic was the question'of ~the size of the stockroom. Classification of supply clerks is deter~ined in reform institutions to a large degree by the value of annual stock turnover. Mr. Gre'en testified that he believed the annual stock turnover to be $2 million. The employer called Mr. Roy Chart and Mr'. Ronald Brett who, referring to the" stock turnover ~eports, 'testified that the stock turnover for the fiscal year ending 1989 was $1,228,424.00~2 It was $1,316,250.00 the pre~ious ye~ir. Mr. Chan testified also that all material processed by Mr. Green was accounted for in the stock turnover report, and there, is no evidence to dislodge this testimony. I do not accept-Mr.:iGreen's evidence as to the value of the stock turnover asli it is unsubstantiated and appeared to be an approximation mader by Mr. Green without reference to any 15urchasing records. As w~ll, his .! testimony as to the $2 million figure was for the year 1990-1991 which post-dates the grievance. 'I accept the evidence of Mrl Chan · and of Mr. Brett as to the annual stock turnover values for the relevant periods of time. .The second ~ssue is whether the Stock turnover figures shown in the class standards must be indexed to account for inflation, and if so, by what factor. It was urged upon us by the Union that no indexing should be allowed on the stock turnover figures, and,that we must apply .the class standards as we find them. - As the turnover amount clearly exceeds even the Clerk 7 standard, this would automatically take Mr. Green out of the Clerk 6 standard and over the threshold into the Clerk 7 standard, subject' to the argument that the class as a whole is not appropriate at' all. This appears to lead, howeger, to a result which the draftsmen in my view cannot have intended. If one were to give effect to the Union's argument, then. supply clerks, otherwise properly classified, would suddenly become improperlyclassified simplyby reason of'the effects of inflation without any change to their duties or functions. Likewise, in a 'deflationary period, a similar result would occur to the effect that a supply clerk would come to merit a lower rating, again without any change in his actual duties. This strikes me as an untenable manner of construing the class standard, and in my view ought not to be adopted. Indexing of the values for stock turnover should be done and the factor used should be uniform and reflect the change in the value of stock attributable to increases or decreases in the consumer price index. The employer has computed the 1988 and 1989 equivalents to the 1964 values set out. in the class standard. The consumer price index base year used is 1981 which is assigned a value of 100. The 1964 equivalent was computed as 33.2 and the 1988 equivalent lis 143.8. The 1989 equivalent is 151. The reSulting multiplier for 1988 vis-a-vis'1964 is therefore 4.331 and the 1989 multiplier is 4.548. The Clerk 7 threshold is therefore $3,897,000.00 for 19881 and $4,093,200.00 for 1989. 'rn the job specification for Clerk 6, Supply, however, 'the employer shows an equivalency of $1,438,950.00 for the year 1986-87 which is not consistent! with the equivalency arrived at using the multi, pliers of 4.33i for 1988 and 4.548 f'°r 1989 (assuming a slight rather than a gross increase in the consumer price index between 1986-87 and 1987-88). However,~ even if 6ne uses the lower equivalenc~ of $1,438,950.00 for -1986-87, thd actual stock turnover of $1,248,260.00. in 1986-87 did not exceed the ~quivalent:. nor did the actuai' turnover for each of ithe two succeeding years. I find therefore that on the basis 6f stock turnover, Mr. Green is.not improperly classified The threshold test in a classification grievance is whether or not the core duties of; the griever fall within the class standard. If the griever's.core duties are not contemplated in the class standard~ then a finding ?ay be made that he is improperly classified and belongs in a different class, or alternatively that he is improperly classified and no existing class Properly contemplates the substance of his functions and. therefor,e a new class must be created. At the outset, it should be recognized that 10 neither the class-standards nor the job specifications will attempt to.be an encyclopedic description of the activities carried out by the Ministry's employees. The question is not therefore whether or not there exist duties and activities performed by the grievor which are not mentioned in the class standard, but rather, is the substanceor core of the grievor's duties so at variance.with that set out in the class standard that the'standard'cannot fairly'be said to describe the grievor's role in the organization.. ~Applying this criterion~ and taking into account the provisions of the custodial allowance at Appendix 8 of the Collective Agreement, I am not able to conclude that the Grievors' activities are not comprehended by the term "variety of clerical, manual, administrative, repair or purchasing functions that are common to stockkeeping operations..." as expanded by ~he duties and activities- contemplated by .the custodial allowance found at Appendix'8. The language of Appendix 8 expressly requires the employee to be one who directs inmates engaged in beneficial labour, is responsible for the control of a number of inmates, and is responsible for the custody of inmates in his charge. These grievances rely chiefly on duties carried out in relation to inmates, which duties, being covered by Appendix 8, I do not find support the claim for reclassification. Insofar as the grievances rely on duties which are not expressed in the class standard and are not dealt with in Appendix 8, I am not able to accede to the proposition that they so'change the core d'.Uties of each of the Grievors that the standards' do not properly classify them. In the case of Mr. Green', I find the stock, turnover to be within the Clerk 6 parameters and the activities of adminlistering the moveable assets, procuremen~ of supplies for.the sign~hop and 'laundry, and supervision 'and training, of the' occasiona~ summer - student or periodic helper to b9 within the contemplatio~ of the range of duties to be expected Of a person who is responsi~ble for the operation Of a large store room with five to nine subordinates. : As for Mr. Jalea, reference is made to the :IClerk 4 classification in respect of his role as "second in command". However, when one looks to the Clerk 4 standard,, the description continues as follows: ' "This class also covers .positions of employees ilwho are second in charge of a large stockroom where the organization is not broken down into recognized ~nits as above. To qualify for this classification positibns must have continuous responsibility for the efficiency of the operations, work assignments and solution of da~ to day problems and would assume supervisory charge, of the stockroom during the supervisors absence." There was no evidence before us that Mr, Jalea Performed all of the functions referred to!in the foregoing part oft.he Clerk 4 standard. In any case, the question is not whether the Grlevor's 'duties resemble in some instances those described in a different class standard, but whether or not the class standard to Which he ' is assigned properly describes 'his functions. On the ~vidence before us, I do not find that it can properly be said that these 12 Grievors are improperly classified 'once Appendix 8 of the Collective Agreement is taken into account. The 'grievances will therefore be dismissed. Dated at Toronto, Ontario this 13th~day of ray, 1992.