Ontario Public Service Employees Union (White et al., Group Grievance) v. The Crown in Right of Ontario (Ministry of Natural Resources), 2001 CanLII 25752

White et al -GSB # 1926/95 and Alton et al -GSB # 1327/96

The Grievors are unclassified employees who were hired as members of the MNR fire crews. They have grieved the Employer’s decision to force them to take their scheduled days off and call in non-MNR crews instead of allowing them to work the shifts and be paid overtime.

As unclassified employees the grievors are not governed by the same overtime provisions of the collective agreement that govern classified employees. In any event, the Employer has the right to determine how it will schedule overtime so long as the scheduling is consistent with the terms of the collective agreement and it is done in a manner that is not unreasonable or in bad faith.

In the instant case, it was not unreasonable for the Employer to schedule the overtime hours in a manner that would avoid unnecessary overtime payments. There was no suggestion that the Employer had any ulterior motives for its decision and therefore it cannot be said that it was made in bad faith.

For these reasons the grievances are denied.

Dated at Toronto, this 17th day of April, 2001.