Felicity D. Briggs

The union filed a grievance on behalf of a fixed-term correctional officer, alleging the employer violated the collective agreement by failing to roll over his status to classified during a restructuring transition.

The grievor claimed he should have been classified at the Toronto West Detention Centre (TWDC) based on his seniority.

The arbitrator found that under the applicable Memorandum of Agreement, the grievor was not eligible for a rollover at TWDC because he had not been employed there for the required one-year period.

Furthermore, he did not have sufficient hours to qualify for a rollover at his previous institution.

The grievance was dismissed.

The grievor, a fixed-term OAG 8 employee at the Central East Correctional Centre, filed a grievance claiming she should have been rolled over into a permanent position following a retirement in September 2008.

The Grievance Settlement Board found that the vacant OAG 8 position was not filled.

Instead, due to additional funding and operational requirements, the position was changed to an AGA 15, to which the grievor had no entitlement.

The grievance was dismissed.

Following the announcement of the closure of the Owen Sound Jail, the grievor and five others filed grievances alleging the Employer violated the Collective Agreement by improperly constituting a decommissioning team.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievances, finding no violation of the Collective Agreement or any other relevant document or statute.

The grievor, a Correctional Officer, filed grievances regarding the denial of three special leave requests to replace previously denied absences.

The grievor had nineteen occasions of denied absences where he called in shortly before his shift for non-illness reasons.

The Grievance Settlement Board found no evidence of discrimination or mishandling by the employer, noting the lack of information provided by the grievor for the absences.

The grievances were dismissed, and the grievor was advised to make a formal request for family status accommodation if needed.

The union filed a grievance alleging the employer violated the collective agreement and a memorandum of agreement regarding a jail closure by failing to pay a $2,000 benefit to the grievor.

The memorandum provided the benefit to fixed-term correctional officers willing to relocate to a specific centre.

The arbitrator dismissed the grievance, finding no violation because the grievor was not a fixed-term officer and was relocating to a different centre, noting it is not unfair for different classifications to receive different benefits.

The grievor filed a grievance alleging that the attendance support management program violated the Collective Agreement and the Human Rights Code, and that it was improperly applied to him.

The Board noted that the overarching validity of the program had already been determined, but the specific application to the grievor required further information from former employer representatives.

The Board ordered the employer to investigate further and ordered that the grievor be frozen in the attendance program pending resolution.

The union filed a grievance alleging that a nurse was entitled to be called to work an overtime shift on Thanksgiving Monday.

The grievor was already scheduled to work from 1500 to 2300 hours, while the overtime shift required coverage from 0800 to 1600 hours.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievance, finding no violation of the collective agreement or overtime protocol.

The Board held that the employer was not obligated to alter its staffing needs to accommodate the grievor, as the grievor's scheduled shift overlapped with the required overtime shift.

In a supplemental decision regarding a grievance over incorrect vacation entitlement calculations, the Union sought damages for lost opportunity to take vacation and the pay differential for vacation time that would have been earned at overtime rates.

The Employer had already adjusted the vacation days but provided calculations for the cash equivalent of the overtime differential.

The Grievance Settlement Board ordered the Employer to pay the cash equivalents for the overtime differential but declined to award additional damages for lost opportunity.

The grievor, a Correctional Officer, filed a grievance claiming entitlement to call back pay after being notified to attend a meeting regarding a WDHP complaint.

The Employer had paid the grievor for one hour at overtime rates.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievance, finding that the situation did not warrant call back pay as the grievor had been previously scheduled to work and did work those shifts prior to the meeting.

Two correctional officers filed grievances alleging that the employer's Attendance Support and Management Pilot Program violated the Collective Agreement, the Human Rights Code, and the Charter of Rights.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievances, noting that the Board had previously considered and rejected the same arguments in a prior decision, finding no violation of the Collective Agreement or any statute.

Prior to the commencement of an arbitration hearing regarding a ten-day suspension and non-disciplinary transfer for alleged sexual harassment, the union objected to the employer's intention to introduce an investigation report into evidence.

The union argued the report was hearsay, contained opinions that would usurp the Board's role, and was highly prejudicial.

The Board dismissed the objection, following previous jurisprudence that such reports are relevant to how the employer arrived at its decisions and that the Board is capable of weighing hearsay evidence appropriately.

The union filed a grievance alleging that a registered nurse was verbally assaulted by an operational manager and a member of the public, creating a poisoned work environment and violating the collective agreement, the Human Rights Code, and the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The union sought to introduce evidence of past incidents of sexist conduct and violent outbursts by the manager involving other female staff.

The employer objected to the admissibility of this evidence, arguing it was irrelevant and prejudicial.

The Grievance Settlement Board ruled that it would hear the evidence regarding the alleged past incidents but reserved its decision on admissibility and weight until final submissions.

The union filed a grievance on behalf of an employee alleging that the employer violated the collective agreement by assigning work to his classification that properly belonged to a higher classification, and sought re-classification as a remedy.

The employer raised a preliminary objection that the Grievance Settlement Board lacked jurisdiction to deal with classification grievances.

The Vice-Chair agreed with the employer and summarily dismissed the grievance for want of jurisdiction.

The grievor, a fixed-term Correctional Officer, filed a grievance alleging that the employer violated the collective agreement by failing to post all vacancies at the Walkerton Jail.

The parties had previously agreed to freeze all vacancies at the jail as of January 2011 due to restructuring and closures.

Furthermore, a subsequent memorandum of agreement provided that three fixed-term officers, including the grievor, would be rolled over to regular classified service.

The grievance was denied.

The grievor, a fixed-term Administrative Assistant, sought conversion to permanent status after working for more than 18 months.

A significant portion of this time was spent backfilling for another employee's maternity leaves.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievance, confirming that work performed while backfilling for a maternity leave does not count towards the hours required for conversion.

The grievor, a fixed-term correctional officer, filed a grievance alleging the employer failed to notify him of transfer options or job security measures prior to his decision to transfer to the Kenora Jail following the announcement of the Owen Sound Jail closure.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievance, finding that the grievor had been informed of his option to transfer to any institution, including the Central North Correctional Centre, before he initiated the transfer to Kenora.

The grievor, a correctional officer, filed a grievance alleging he was not advised of various vacancies at other institutions prior to making an election during a restructuring process.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievance, finding no entitlement under the Collective Agreement or the MERC agreement for individual employees to be told of all vacancies.

The agreement only required the employer to provide a list of vacancies to the MERC Employee Transition Committee, which was not alleged to have been violated.

The union filed a grievance on behalf of a court reporter alleging she was placed into an incorrect flexible part-time hour category under Appendix 32 of the collective agreement.

The grievor sought placement in the 1500 hour category, arguing her hours were affected by illness and preferential scheduling of others.

Upon review of the grievor's hours of work history since 1999, the parties agreed the hours were pro-rated appropriately.

The Grievance Settlement Board found the grievor was properly assigned to the 1000 hour category and dismissed the grievance.

The employer requested an adjournment of a scheduled hearing regarding several grievances, including harassment allegations, filed by an employee currently on long-term income protection (LTIP).

The union opposed the request.

The Grievance Settlement Board granted the adjournment, finding little likelihood of progress at the present time, and directed the parties to contact the Board when the grievor is fit to return to work or after four months have elapsed.

The Grievance Settlement Board ordered an external investigator to produce the entire investigation file relating to the grievor to the employer's counsel.

The employer's counsel was directed to provide copies of the produced material to the union's counsel.