Gail Misra

The union filed a grievance on behalf of a correctional officer claiming the employer failed to properly calculate his Continuous Service Date.

The union argued his service should date back to his initial start in the public service in 2010, despite taking a new position in 2017.

The employer provided an email showing the employee resigned from his previous position effective December 18, 2017, before starting his new fixed-term role.

The Arbitrator dismissed the grievance, finding that under Article 18.4 of the collective agreement, the employee's resignation deemed his continuous service up to that point to have terminated.

The grievor, a former Correctional Services Officer, filed a grievance six years after her facility closed and she accepted a severance package.

She alleged she was not informed of the option to take a fixed-term position instead of severance.

The Employer argued the grievance was extremely untimely and that no full-time staff were offered fixed-term status as an option.

The Arbitrator dismissed the grievance, finding it was filed far beyond the 30-day time limit in the collective agreement, causing extreme prejudice to the Employer, and that the grievor had been presented with the same agreed-upon options as other displaced employees.

The union filed a grievance on behalf of a correctional officer alleging that the employer incorrectly calculated his Continuous Service Date (CSD) in the HR system, causing him to miss a career development opportunity.

The Grievance Settlement Board found that the CSD was correctly calculated based on the number of full-time weeks the grievor worked prior to rolling over from a fixed-term contract to a permanent full-time position.

The grievance was denied.

The grievor, a Correctional Officer, filed a grievance alleging the Employer incorrectly calculated his Continuous Service Date (CSD), causing him to lose five years of continuous service.

He claimed his hours worked as a fixed-term employee and while on WSIB should have been counted as 40-hour weeks.

The Arbitrator found the grievor failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove his claim for the five years.

However, based on the parties' review of the hours, the Arbitrator found an error in the calculation and directed the Employer to add 10 weeks to the grievor's CSD.

The union filed grievances on behalf of drivers at the Toronto South Detention Centre, claiming they were unfairly denied the custodial responsibility allowance (CRA).

The employer argued that pursuant to a prior arbitration decision, Motor Vehicle Operators are not entitled to the CRA, and it had moved to regularize the practice province-wide.

The arbitrator agreed with the employer, finding that drivers are not responsible for the custody of inmates in their charge as required by the collective agreement, and dismissed the grievances.

The union filed a grievance alleging that the employer breached the grievor's right to privacy and confidentiality by discussing his medical leave and absence from work with his spouse, who was also an employee at the same facility.

The matter proceeded via mediation-arbitration.

The arbitrator found that a member of management did meet with the grievor's spouse to inquire about his health, which constituted a breach of the grievor's privacy and confidentiality regarding medical leave.

The grievance was upheld, and the employer was ordered to pay $250 in damages to the grievor.

The Grievor, who had a workplace accommodation for a shoulder injury, filed a grievance alleging that a manager treated her in a demeaning and disrespectful manner when questioning her ability to work overtime in posts other than her accommodated assignment.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievance, finding that the Employer was entitled to inquire about the Grievor's ability to work other posts within her medical restrictions, and that the evidence did not establish that the manager yelled at or harassed the Grievor during their meeting.

The Employer brought motions to dismiss several grievances without a hearing, strike paragraphs from the Union's particulars, and preclude the Union from adducing medical evidence due to delayed and redacted disclosure.

The Arbitrator dismissed some grievances for lack of particulars or lack of jurisdiction over free-standing management rights claims, but allowed others to proceed where sufficient particulars were pled.

Several paragraphs of the Union's particulars were struck for irrelevance or being outside the scope of the grievances.

The Arbitrator declined to dismiss all grievances or preclude medical evidence entirely, but ordered the Union to provide complete, unredacted medical disclosure by specified deadlines, failing which they would be barred from adducing medical evidence.

The grievor failed to attend a scheduled two-day mediation-arbitration session without providing a reasonable explanation.

The arbitrator directed the grievor to attend the next scheduled session, warning that failure to do so could result in the union proceeding in his absence or the grievances being deemed withdrawn.

The grievor, a Correctional Officer with 29 years of unblemished service, was given a two-day suspension for using profane and derogatory language towards a Deputy Superintendent during a dispute over staffing and safety in the Psychiatric Unit.

The arbitrator found that while the grievor's conduct breached the Employer's Code of Conduct and Professionalism Policy, the grievor's long service, clean disciplinary record, and forthright admission of the misconduct served as significant mitigating factors.

The grievance was allowed in part, and the two-day suspension was reduced to a one-day suspension with compensation for lost wages and benefits.

Three Inmate Records Clerks grieved that the Employer violated the collective agreement by assigning overtime work on a statutory holiday to a Senior Inmate Records Clerk instead of them.

The Arbitrator found that the work performed—preparing inmate transfer files—was regularly performed by Inmate Records Clerks, and the Senior Clerk's role was primarily to oversee and check that work.

Therefore, an Inmate Records Clerk should have been offered the overtime.

Applying the local overtime protocol, the Arbitrator determined that the most senior classified grievor with the fewest overtime hours was entitled to the opportunity.

The grievance of that employee was upheld and she was awarded 7.25 hours of holiday pay, while the other two grievances were dismissed.

The union filed a grievance on behalf of a correctional officer alleging she was penalized for performing a developmental position and denied an opportunity for a rollover position, claiming gender discrimination.

The Grievance Settlement Board found that the grievor had voluntarily taken a short-term contract as a discharge planner and was therefore not a fixed-term correctional officer at the time of the posting, making her ineligible for the rollover position.

The Board also found no evidence of gender discrimination, as the discharge planner position was open to all qualified applicants.

The grievance was denied.

The union filed a grievance on behalf of a correctional officer, claiming that the employer incorrectly calculated his Continuous Service Date (CSD) when he was rolled over from a fixed-term to a permanent employee.

The employer calculated the CSD as January 19, 2015, while the grievor claimed it should be his original hire date of December 15, 2014.

The arbitrator found that the grievor had worked less than 40 hours per week for five weeks during his fixed-term employment.

Under the collective agreement, only full-time weeks worked count towards the CSD.

Therefore, the employer's calculation was correct, and the grievance was denied.

The grievor, a Utility Officer Laundry, filed a grievance claiming his Continuous Service Date (CSD) was improperly calculated.

He sought credit for prior service as a Correctional Officer and as a Special Constable at the Legislative Assembly.

The arbitrator found that employment at the Legislative Assembly is not part of the Ontario Public Service (OPS) and there is no reciprocal agreement for seniority carryover.

Furthermore, the grievor's prior service as a Correctional Officer was terminated when he resigned in 2005 to join the Armed Forces, causing a break in service under the collective agreement.

The grievance was denied.

The grievor, a Correctional Officer, filed a grievance claiming he had not qualified for benefits or sick time after rolling over to full-time status.

The collective agreement required an employee to work 20 consecutive days without a break to qualify.

The grievance was filed before the grievor had met this requirement.

The arbitrator dismissed the grievance as premature, noting that the grievor received his entitlements as soon as the 20-day requirement was met.

The grievor, a Cook 4 at the Toronto Jail, filed grievances alleging that the Employer improperly changed his schedule to give him statutory holidays off, depriving him of the opportunity to work and earn premium pay.

The Employer argued that the schedule changes were made in accordance with the collective agreement, which entitles employees to have statutory holidays off.

The arbitrator found no evidence of a local agreement overriding the collective agreement and noted prior Grievance Settlement Board jurisprudence confirming that the Employer is not required to schedule workers on statutory holidays unless their services are needed.

The grievances were denied.

The grievor, a Fixed Term Correctional Officer, filed a grievance claiming his hours worked at the Toronto South Detention Centre were not counted when calculating his total hours for permanent position ranking at the Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre.

The parties had previously agreed to count his hours and he was rolled over into a permanent position with an adjusted Continuous Service Date.

The grievor sought additional compensation including recalculation of vacation time, overtime, and a merit increase.

The Arbitrator found that because the grievor and the institution circumvented the agreed-upon transition process, and since the employer had already recognized his prior hours and rolled him over, the grievance was resolved and the claims for additional compensation were denied.

The union filed a group grievance on behalf of correctional officers at the Ontario Correctional Institute, alleging the employer breached a Memorandum of Agreement by failing to collapse Resource Position Management (RPM) schedules into the main schedule.

The grievors claimed damages for lost backfill opportunities at regular and overtime rates.

The arbitrator reviewed the relevant agreements and concluded that no one was disadvantaged at the time.

The grievance was dismissed.

The grievor, a Correctional Officer, filed a grievance claiming his vacation credits and continuous service date should be calculated from March 9, 2009.

The arbitrator found that the issue had already been decided in a previous grievance between the same parties.

The grievor had resigned from his previous position on October 3, 2014, to take a fixed-term position, which constituted a break in service under the collective agreement.

The grievance was denied.

The grievor, a fixed-term Correctional Officer rolled over to permanent status, filed a grievance claiming his Continuous Service Date (CSD) was incorrectly calculated.

He argued he should have been credited with 40 hours per week during an 18-month paid suspension and a five-year period where he worked 36 hours per week, allegedly as a family status accommodation.

The Arbitrator found no evidence supporting the family status accommodation claim and noted the grievor had previously agreed not to grieve the paid suspension period.

The Arbitrator also rejected the union's argument that the calculation method for fixed-term employees on paid suspension was discriminatory.

However, based on a recalculation by the parties, the grievance was upheld in part, and the employer was directed to amend the grievor's CSD to January 4, 2015.