HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-0344.Sutherland.92-12-15
ONTARIO EMPLOYES DE LA COURONNE
CROWN EMPLOYEES DE L'ONTARIO
1111 GRIEVANCE COMMISSION DE
..
SETTLEMENT REGLEMENT
BOARD DES GRIEFS
180 DUNDAS STREET WEST SUITE 2100 TORONTO ONTARIO. M5G 1Z8 TELEPHONE/TELEPHONE {4161 326-1388
180, RUE DUNDAS OUEST BUREAU 2100 TORONTO (ONTARIO) M5G lZ8 FACSIMilE TElECOPIE (416) 326-1396
344/92
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
BETWEEN
OPSEU (Sutherland)
Grievor
- and -
The Crown in Right of Ontario
(Ministry of Correctional Services)
Employer
BEFORE M Watters Vice-Chairperson
FOR THE L Yearwood
GRIEVOR Grievance Officer
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
FOR THE A Pruchnicki
EMPLOYER Grievance Administration Officer
Ministry of Correctional Services
HEARING November 26, 1992
The Agreed Statement of Facts provided by the parties is
appended to this Award This statement was supplemented at the
hearing by the viva voce evidence of the grievor and Mr Carter,
the Deputy Superintendent of Millbrook Correctional Centre
It was the position of the Union that the grievor should
have been granted 12 hours of special leave, rather than the 4
hours as referred to in paragraph number 10 of the Agreed
Statement of Facts I was urged to conclude that the Employer
had failed to prqperly exercise its discretion under article 55 1
of the collective agreement The award in LeQer and LeQacy,
0506,0507/87 (Dissanayake) was relied on in support of this
submission In response, it was the position of the Employer
that its discretion was reasonably and properly exercised in this
case
After reviewing all of the evidence and argument, I
determine that the grievance must fail In my judgment the
Employer, through Mr Maher and Mr Carter, considered the
individual circumstances affecting Mr Sutherland The Employer
assessed the following matters in reaching its decision (i) the
location of the grievor's residence and its proximity to the
facility, (ii) the location of the residences of those
Correctional Officers who made it into work and the proximity of
such residences to the work site, (iii) the impact of the storm
on conditions in Peterborough and the outlying areas, (iv) road
1
conditions during the evening of January 14, 1992, (v) the fact
the grievor owned a 4-wheel drive vehicle, and (vi) information
received from the local radio station concerning weather
conditions I am satisfied from all of the evidence that what
occurred here was a genuine exercise of discretionary power~ in
contrast to a rigid adherence to policy Further, I have been
persuaded that proper attention was given to all of the relevant
factors pertaining to the grievor's request
Article 55 1 speaks to the grant of a paid leave of absence
for not more than three (3) days in a year This language
provides for a maximum period of l~ave It does not fetter the
Employer's ability to grant a leave measured in hours, as opposed
to days
For all of these reasons, the grievance is denied
Dated at Windsor, Ontario this 15th day of December, 1992
/YYJV lJalJ.QIt
M V Watters
2
GSB FILE NO 344/92
AGREED STATEMENT OF FACTS
IN THE MATTER OF A GRIEVANCE
BETWEEN
o P S E U
(Kirk Sutherland) Grievor
- AND -
THE CROWN IN RIGHT OF ONTARIO
(Ministry of Correctional Services) Employer
1 Mr Sutherland is employed at the Millbrook
Correctional Centre as a Correctional Officer 2 since
1978
.
2 The Correctional Officers at Millbrook C C work a 12
hour shift schedule on a rotational basis of 3 shifts
0645 hours - 1915 hours
1845 hours - 0715 hours
0845 hours - 2115 hours
3 The grievor was scheduled to work the 1845 hrs to 07~5
hours shift commencing January 14th 1992 and ending
January 15th 1992
4 The grievor resides in Peterborough approximately 17
miles away from the Millbrook facility Under normal
conditions he takes approximately 25 minutes to travel
to work
5 On January 14th 1992 the Peterborough area was lashed
and paralysed by a severe snow storm (appendix 1 Local
News Article)
6 Due to the severe inclemency of the storm on January
14th all "non essential staff at the facility ie
Treatment, office, Industrial and Professional staff,
were given permission to go home from approximately
1130 hours until the last of that staff exited around
1330 hours
/2
(2)
7 The grievor called the Institution at approximately
1600 hours on January 14th and spoke to the Control
Module Officer The grievor informed the officer that
he was unable to report for duty because of the
severity of the storm He also advised the officer
that he had contacted the 0 P P detachment in
Peterborough and was advised not to drive
8 Five (5) other Correctional Officers, who were
scheduled to work on the same shift as the grievor on
January 14th, could not report for their shift They
subsequently requested and were granted 12 hours
Special Leave
The 5 officers were
Officer RESIDENCE APPROX.
DISTANCE
J Hendricks (CO2) Hastings 36 miles
M Williams (CO2) Bobcaygeon 60 miles
D Money (CO2) Woodville 50 miles
D Carruthers (CO2) Warsaw 35 miles
B Patrick (S02) Norward 40 miles
9 There were a total of seven (7) officers who reported
to work on the same shift as the grievor on January
14th, who lived in Peterborough Two (2) of these
officers were regularly scheduled and five (5 ) were
replacements for those unable to report for duty
The 7 officers were
T Campbell (CO2) C White (CO2)
B Frost (CO2) R Beardsmol;"e (CO2)
D Hann (CO2) S Elmhirst ( CO 1 )
M. O'Brien (CO2)
10 The grievor applied for special leave as per Article
55 1 of the Collective Agreement on January 15th 1992
and was granted four (4) hours