HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-0575.Sly.20-10-05 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# 2017-0575
UNION# 2016-0467-0040
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
BETWEEN
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
(Sly) 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 Michelle LaButte
Treasury Board Secretariat
Employee Relations Advisor
HEARING July 10 and September 28, 2020 (by
videoconference)
-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 (now, the Ministry of the Solicitor General) 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] Matthew Sly is a Fixed Term (“FXT”) Correctional Officer (“CO”) at the Quinte Detention
Centre (“QDC”). He filed a grievance on December 1, 2016 claiming that the Employer
had violated the collective agreement because it has not counted all of the hours that he
worked at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (“MNRF”) in the calculation of
his Continuous Service Date (“CSD”). By way of remedy, the grievor seeks to have all
hours that he worked while at the MNRF as a seasonal worker added to his service in
his position as a FXT CO.
-3-
[8] Based on the established jurisprudence and the collective agreement, FXT seniority is
calculated back to the beginning of an employee’s continuous service, or back to the first
break in employment which is greater than 13 weeks, or back to a resignation. Article
18 addresses “Seniority (Length of Continuous Service) for FXT and Regular Part Time
employees”. Under the collective agreement applicable when this grievance was filed,
the calculation was based on the actual number of full-time weeks worked by a full-time
FXT employee during his full-time employment back to the first break in employment
which was greater than 13 weeks (See Art. 18.1.1 (b)).
[9] Based on a review of the records, the Grievor worked for the MNRF as a seasonal worker
prior to getting a position as a FXT CO, but he had a break in service of greater than 13
weeks before he commenced the CO position. As such, he is not entitled to have any
hours he accumulated while working in a seasonal capacity at the MNRF counted
towards his CSD.
[10] Having considered the facts and the submissions of the parties, and for the reasons
outlined above, this grievance is dismissed.
Dated at Toronto, Ontario this 5th day of October, 2020.
“Gail Misra”
_____________________
Gail Misra, Arbitrator