OGSB 2009

The employer disciplined approximately 140 correctional officers at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre following an IT forensics investigation that revealed significant improper use of workplace computers, including accessing inappropriate and sexually explicit material.

The union filed 121 grievances challenging the level of discipline.

The Grievance Settlement Board upheld the employer's zero-tolerance policy for abuse of IT resources, noting that the behaviour was wrong and warranted discipline.

The Board modified the level of discipline in some individual cases and ordered the employer to restrict internet access for correctional officers at the facility until January 2011.

The grievor, a cook at a detention centre, grieved a 20-day disciplinary suspension.

The union argued the discipline was excessive, while the employer maintained it had just cause based on the grievor's behaviour and prior record.

Following an expedited mediation/arbitration hearing, the Vice-Chair granted the grievance in part, substituting a 15-day suspension and ordering the employer to reimburse the grievor for 5 days' pay.

The grievor, an Employment Training Consultant, filed a grievance alleging the employer contravened the collective agreement by denying 8 days of his 33-day summer vacation request.

The employer denied the 8 days because they overlapped with the vacation request of the only other bilingual consultant in the office, raising concerns about maintaining adequate client service.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievance, finding that the manager's decision was not based on a rigid policy but was a genuine exercise of discretion that reasonably balanced the operational needs of the office with the employees' interests.

A correctional officer grieved that the employer wrongly distributed overtime and failed to follow the HPRO 3 protocol when a shift was given to another officer as overtime before the grievor had received her 40 hours as an unclassified officer.

The matter was referred to expedited mediation/arbitration.

The Grievance Settlement Board found no violation of the collective agreement and denied the grievance without written reasons.

The union filed a grievance on behalf of a fixed-term employee seeking conversion to a full-time position in the regular service pursuant to the collective agreement.

The employer did not dispute that the grievor met the requirements.

Following an expedited mediation/arbitration hearing, the arbitrator granted the grievance in part, ordering the employer to review the grievor's work history and hours to determine her entitlement to conversion and, if eligible, to place her in a full-time regular position.

The grievor, a Youth Service Officer, grieved the Employer's denial of her request for a lateral transfer to the Sudbury Jail following organizational changes.

The union argued that all positions resulting from the disentanglement agreement should have been filled by lateral transfer.

The arbitrator found that four of the seven positions were filled by roll-overs, and the remaining three were filled by lateral transfers of employees with more seniority than the grievor.

The grievance was dismissed.

A correctional officer grieved that the employer wrongly denied him the right to work on three dates in 2008.

The parties referred the grievance to mediation/arbitration under the collective agreement and requested a decision without written reasons.

The arbitrator granted the grievance and ordered the employer to pay the grievor for 36 hours at his standard rate of pay.

The union filed a grievance alleging improper discipline against the grievor.

The matter proceeded under an Expedited Mediation-Arbitration Protocol.

The Vice-Chair upheld the grievance in part, ordering that the discipline be removed from the grievor's file on August 6, 2010.

Two Correctional Officers filed grievances alleging a violation of the collective agreement because they were not paid overtime rates for training, unlike some of their colleagues.

The Grievance Settlement Board, issuing a decision without reasons pursuant to an expedited mediation-arbitration protocol, found that the grievors had received sufficient notice of a schedule change to avoid the payment of overtime rates.

The grievances were denied.

The union filed a grievance alleging discrimination on behalf of the grievor.

The matter proceeded under an Expedited Mediation-Arbitration Protocol.

Following a review of the submissions and the collective agreement, the Vice-Chair upheld the grievance in part and ordered the employer to pay the grievor $250.00 in damages.

The union filed a grievance on behalf of a correctional officer alleging that the employer violated the collective agreement through its administration of the Resource Position Management Program.

The matter proceeded through an expedited mediation-arbitration process.

The arbitrator found no evidence of bad faith and held that the employer had the right to assign work in a manner consistent with the collective agreement.

The grievance was dismissed.

The grievor, a correctional officer, alleged that he was not offered employment with the Ontario Public Service at the same time as other employees during the transition of a private jail back into the public service.

The grievor sought lost compensation for the delay.

The Grievance Settlement Board found that the process for litigating disputes regarding job offers during the transition had been completed for some time.

The grievance was dismissed as out of time.

The grievor, an unclassified correctional officer, grieved that she was denied the opportunity to apply for a posted competition and alleged the employer deliberately delayed her transfer.

The parties referred the grievance to mediation/arbitration.

The arbitrator found no violation of the collective agreement and dismissed the grievance without written reasons, as requested by the parties.

The union filed grievances alleging that the employer filled an Intake Worker position without holding a competition, in violation of the collective agreement.

The parties agreed to proceed via mediation/arbitration and agreed on the facts that the position should have been posted.

The arbitrator allowed the grievances and ordered the employer to post a vacancy for an Intake Worker restricted to certain employees, with back pay awarded if one of the grievors is successful.

The union filed grievances on behalf of several employees who were unsuccessful in a job competition for Intake Worker positions.

The employer acknowledged that some written tests were incorrectly marked and rescored them.

Following a review of the amended scores, the parties agreed that four grievors should have been awarded permanent positions.

The arbitrator ordered the employer to place those four grievors in the positions with full back pay, and dismissed the remaining three grievances.

The union filed a grievance on behalf of a correctional officer alleging that her treatment during the restructuring and closure of provincial correctional institutions was threatening, unfair, and unreasonable.

The Grievance Settlement Board reviewed the employee's history of moving into various positions as a result of transitional changes.

The Board found no evidence of bad faith and no proof of a violation of the Collective Agreement.

The grievance was dismissed.

The grievor, a correctional officer, filed a grievance after the employer requested a medical certificate verifying an illness.

The request was made after the grievor refused to work overtime due to an unforeseen emergency situation at the conclusion of his shift and went home.

The matter proceeded through an expedited mediation-arbitration process.

The Grievance Settlement Board denied the grievance without issuing formal reasons, in accordance with the negotiated protocol.

The Union filed grievances on behalf of correctional officers alleging the Employer improperly calculated their continuous service dates by not accumulating service credits for weeks when unclassified employees worked less than 40 hours.

The arbitrator found the facts and submissions were identical to a previous Grievance Settlement Board decision which upheld the '40 hour rule' agreed to in the collective agreement.

The grievances were dismissed.

The Grievance Settlement Board ordered the Employer to place the grievor on full salary at his current rate of pay pending his appointment as a Transportation Officer 2 with the Ministry of Transportation.

The grievor was obliged to accept any reasonable work assignment until the appointment took effect.

The Vice-Chair remained seized of the matter regarding implementation.

The union filed grievances on behalf of correctional officers alleging that the employer violated the collective agreement, resulting in improper merit pay calculations.

The parties participated in an expedited mediation-arbitration process.

The arbitrator denied the grievances without reasons, in accordance with the negotiated protocol for the expedited process.