Ontario Public Service Employees Union (Trott et al) v. The Crown in Right of Ontario (Ministry of Community and Social Services), 2009 CanLII 66575

GSB#2007-2947, 2007-2948, 2007-2949, 2007-2950, 2007-2951, 2007-2952, 2007-2953

UNION#2006-0542-0018, 2006-0542-0019, 2006-0542-0020, 2006-0542-0021, 2006-0542-0022,

2006-0542-0023, 2006-0542-0024

IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION

Under

THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT

Before

THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD

BETWEEN

Ontario Public Service Employees Union (Trott et al)

Union

• and -

The Crown in Right of Ontario (Ministry of Community and Social Services)

Employer

BEFORE

Reva Devins

Vice-Chair

FOR THE UNION

Peggy Smith, Peggy E. Smith Law Offices Barristers and Solicitors

FOR THE EMPLOYER

Lisa Amin Ministry of Government Services Counsel

HEARING

October 21, 2009.

Decision

1The parties agreed that these matters would proceed as a mediation/arbitration under Article 22.16 of the collective agreement and that the decision will be without prejudice or precedent.

2On July 31, 2006, the Employer posted vacancies for 31 permanent positions in the Family Responsibilities Office (FRO). All of the positions were Intake Workers rated at an OAG 8 classification. Several other positions were subsequently added to the competition. Three positions were filled by direct assignment; a job competition, which included a written test, was held to fill the remaining vacancies. The successful candidates commenced in their new positions on October 1, 2006.

3None of the grievors were successful¹ and all grieved the outcome of the job competition. The grievances allege that the selection process was unfair, particularly, the marking of the written test. Upon subsequent review of the marks, the Employer agreed that some of the written tests were incorrectly marked and it rescored the tests, issuing a corrected score sheet to the Union.

4After a full review of the grievors’ amended scores and rankings, the Union and the Employer agreed that Melanie Da Silva, Ihsaan Khan, Brenda Leachay and Belinda Trott should have been awarded permanent positions. The Employer also indicated that it wanted to remedy the situation as soon as possible, subject only to immediate operational considerations.

5Having heard the submissions of the parties, I Order that:

1. Melanie Da Silva, Ihsaan Khan, Brenda Leachay and Belinda Trott will all be awarded positions as Intake Worker with FRO, at the OAG 8 classification and will be compensated with full back pay to October 1, 2006;

2. The Employer will place the grievors in these positions within 30 days.

6The grievances of Sarah Ordonez, Darina Liska and Sandra Ferdinandusz are dismissed.

7I will remain seized in the event that issues arise with respect to the implementation of this Award.

Footnotes

1. 1Grievor Darina Liska did not actually compete for the position but nonetheless grieved what she alleged was the unfairness of the competition process.