Brian P. Sheehan

The union filed a group grievance alleging that the employer violated Appendix COR33 of the collective agreement by failing to provide 36 hours of compensating leave for the 2018 calendar year.

The arbitrator dismissed the grievance, finding that the clear wording of the collective agreement only obligated the employer to provide compensating leave effective January 1, 2016, and January 1, 2017, with no requirement for 2018.

The Grievance Settlement Board issued a decision resolving numerous outstanding overtime grievances between the union and the employer.

The grievances were processed through an agreed-upon Med/Arb procedure designed to address overtime disputes on a regular basis at various institutions.

The Arbitrator provided a comprehensive appendix detailing the disposition of each individual grievance, with the majority being dismissed and several upheld with specific overtime hour awards.

The grievor, a Correctional Officer 2, failed to attend scheduled expedited mediation/arbitration proceedings regarding three grievances.

Despite prior notices and a specific order from another arbitrator warning that failure to attend the April 10 and 11, 2019 sessions would result in the grievances being deemed withdrawn, the grievor again failed to appear.

Consequently, the arbitrator deemed the three grievances withdrawn.

The union filed a grievance alleging that the grievor, a Records Clerk, was improperly bypassed for an overtime opportunity on May 11, 2018.

The parties resolved a separate claim for May 16, 2018.

The arbitrator found that the employer properly considered an extra shift that the grievor had accepted and then cancelled as an overtime opportunity in her favour for the purpose of equalizing overtime.

The grievance was dismissed.

The grievor, a correctional officer, was terminated for failing to intervene in an altercation between two inmates and for allegedly kicking an inmate while he was on the floor.

The arbitrator found that the grievor failed to take timely action to stop the assault, such as giving verbal commands or using pepper spray.

However, the arbitrator concluded that the grievor's contact with the inmate's leg was a minimal push to gain compliance, which was inappropriate but did not constitute an excessive use of force under the Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act.

Given the grievor's long service and clean disciplinary record, the termination was substituted with a 30-day unpaid suspension.

The employer brought a motion seeking an order to compel the grievor's attendance at the next scheduled hearing dates after the grievor failed to attend the initial hearing dates.

The arbitrator granted the motion, ordering the grievor to attend the rescheduled dates or face the potential dismissal of her grievance for failure to appear.

The union filed a grievance on behalf of a warehouse worker claiming entitlement to overtime pay for two dates.

The employer had canvassed employees for overtime opportunities on the preceding days, but the grievor was bypassed because he was absent from work due to illness.

The arbitrator found that the Memorandum of Agreement regarding overtime equalization explicitly allowed for hours to be charged to employees absent for any reason, and it was the employer's practice not to canvass sick employees for next-day overtime.

The grievance was dismissed.

The union filed a grievance on behalf of a warehouse worker claiming entitlement to 4 hours of overtime pay for a missed overtime opportunity.

The arbitrator found that while the grievor was inadvertently bypassed, he was not charged for the opportunity.

Under the collective agreement's overtime equalization process, the grievor's accumulated overtime hours were within 15 hours of the employee with the greatest number of hours at the end of the reconciliation period.

Therefore, the overtime opportunities were deemed equalized and the grievor had no claim for monetary relief.

The grievance was dismissed.

The grievor, a long-service employee, was promoted to a Volunteer Services Coordinator position and placed at Step 4 of the salary range in accordance with the collective agreement's promotion provisions.

The grievor argued this was unfair because a co-worker with less seniority was placed at a higher step (Step 6) upon promotion to the same role.

The arbitrator dismissed the grievance, finding that the Employer had strictly complied with the collective agreement's pay administration rules and that perceived unfairness compared to another employee did not constitute a violation of the agreement.

The grievor, a Records Clerk, took eight vacation days to be with her terminally ill mother-in-law and to attend to matters following her passing.

She subsequently requested that these vacation days be converted to paid special and compassionate leave under the collective agreement.

The Employer denied the request, noting it was made after the fact and that the grievor had already received the maximum three days of compassionate leave and her full bereavement leave entitlement.

The Arbitrator dismissed the grievance, finding the Employer's decision was made in good faith, free from arbitrariness and discrimination, and constituted a reasonable exercise of discretion.

The grievor applied for a Product Consultant position but was screened out at the resume stage because the Employer determined his resume did not demonstrate the minimum requirements.

The Union grieved, arguing the grievor was qualified, as evidenced by him winning the same position six months later with a similarly substantive resume.

The Arbitrator found that while the resume was poorly formatted, it did establish the minimum qualifications required by the job posting.

The Employer breached the collective agreement by not advancing the grievor in the competition.

The grievance was allowed and the grievor was ordered to be made whole.

The grievor, a Maintenance Foreman, alleged that his personal vehicle was damaged in the employer's parking lot by a stone discharged from a lawnmower operated by another employee.

The union argued this violated the health and safety provisions of the collective agreement.

The employer objected that the grievance was not arbitrable.

The arbitrator held that the essential character of the dispute related to a claim of negligence regarding personal property, not health and safety, and lacked a sufficient nexus to the collective agreement.

The grievance was dismissed.

The grievor, a Psychologist 1, filed a grievance alleging that the Employer violated the collective agreement by refusing to credit her prior work experience when setting her starting salary, while later granting such credit to a newly hired employee.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievance, finding that the grievor's starting salary was in accordance with the collective agreement and the Employer's policy at the time of her hire.

The Employer's subsequent policy change to allow discretionary salary adjustments for new hires due to recruitment concerns did not violate the collective agreement.

The union filed a grievance alleging the employer violated the collective agreement by failing to offer an overtime opportunity to maintenance staff to cut locks off staff lockers during a locker reassignment process.

The employer had assigned an operational manager to cut the locks in the presence of union executive members.

The arbitrator dismissed the grievance, finding no collective agreement provision restricted the employer's inherent right to assign the work, and noting that past practice involved security staff, rather than maintenance staff, cutting locks when lockers needed to be emptied.

The grievor, a Correctional Officer, failed to sign in and out for his shift, resulting in an automated deduction from his pay.

After he notified the Employer, he was reimbursed.

The grievor sought a credited vacation day for the effort expended to correct the error.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievance, finding no violation of the collective agreement, as the issue arose from the grievor's own failure to follow protocol and the Employer acted quickly to rectify the situation.

A correctional officer grieved the Employer's response to an incident where an inmate threatened to rape his wife and physically harm him.

While the Employer took some steps, including transferring the inmate to another unit and offering EAP services, it failed to contact the police.

The Grievance Settlement Board found that the Employer's failure to contact the police violated the Threats Against Staff Memorandum, the Threats Against Correctional Services Employees Policy, and Article 9 of the collective agreement.

A declaration was issued, but no damages were awarded as the failure was deemed an error in judgment rather than bad faith.

The Union filed grievances alleging the Employer failed to implement a Memorandum of Settlement.

The settlement required the Employer to change the term 'not qualified' to 'deferred or ineligible' in its HPRO software for employees with medical restrictions affecting overtime.

The Employer had not implemented the change nine months after the agreed date, citing unexpected difficulties.

The Grievance Settlement Board ordered the Employer to fully implement the change within 30 days, warning that failure to do so would result in an award of damages.

The grievor, a Fixed-Term Correctional Officer, claimed entitlement to overtime pay for working in excess of 40 hours during a week that included Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

The grievor was paid at two times his basic hourly rate for the hours worked on the holidays.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievance, finding that while the grievor worked more than 40 hours, the hours that triggered the overtime entitlement were worked on Boxing Day.

Because the collective agreement expressly forbids the pyramiding of premium payments, the grievor could not claim overtime pay for the same hours he was already receiving holiday premium pay.

The grievor received a one-day suspension for yelling and swearing at his manager and coworkers out of frustration over an unresolved health and safety issue involving falling bottles.

The union grieved the discipline.

The arbitrator found that while the employer had cause to discipline the grievor for the outburst, a one-day suspension was excessive given the grievor's length of service and the circumstances.

The grievance was upheld, and the penalty was reduced to a written reprimand with compensation for the lost day's pay.

The grievor, a Classified Correctional Officer, was inadvertently paid for four days of unpaid leave.

The Employer recovered the overpayment by deducting the full amount from the grievor's subsequent pay without notice or a repayment schedule.

The Union grieved, arguing the unannounced deduction caused financial strain and was an unreasonable exercise of management rights.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievance, finding no violation of the collective agreement, as the Employer was entitled to recover the overpayment and did so expeditiously.