GSB#2014-3626

UNION#2014-0999-0138

IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION

Under

THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT

Before

THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD

BETWEEN

Ontario Public Service Employees Union (Union)

Union

• and -

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

Employer

BEFORE

Ian Anderson

Arbitrator

FOR THE UNION

David Wright Ryder Wright Blair & Holmes LLP Counsel

FOR THE EMPLOYER

Felix Lau Treasury Board Secretariat Legal Services Branch Counsel

HEARING

August 18, 2017

Decision

1Article 22.16 of the collective agreement applies to this matter. Proceedings are to be expedited and decisions are to be brief and need not contain reasons.

2On January 17, 2017, the parties entered into a Memorandum of Settlement (“MOS”) with respect to this matter. Paragraph 1 provides:

The Employer will provide three (3) days (7.25 hours per day) to the lieu bank for staff who are currently employed by the Ministry [of Community and Social Services] and were in the role of Caseworker (CW) at any point between January 2014 and December 2015 to acknowledge the "challenges faced by the employees during the transition to SAMS." These three lieu days must be used by no later than March 31, 2019, or they will expire without being paid out.

3The Employer provided the three lieu days by creating a “lieu bank” for each of the affected employees in WIN. This was not accomplished until August 8, 2017. In the result, the Union alleges that the Employer has breached paragraph 1 of the MOS. By way of remedy it seeks an extension of the deadline by which employees must use their lieu days to March 31, 2020; an increase in the number of lieu days from three to six; and an increase in the value of each lieu day from 7.25 hours to 8.32.

4Having considered the representations of the parties, I make the following directions to address the adverse effect of the delay:

(a) Each employee entitled to lieu days pursuant to paragraph 1 of the MOS may ask that those lieu days be applied in whole or in part to any unpaid leave days taken by that employee since January 17, 2017. If an employee makes such a request, and still has days in his or her lieu bank, the lieu days will be so applied.

(b) An employee who is unable to use all of his or her lieu days by March 31, 2019 due to exceptional circumstances beyond his or her control will be permitted a reasonable extension of the period in which the lieu days must be used.

5In addition, there is a dispute about whether employees who were on temporary assignment or secondment as of January 17, 2017 should be considered to have been “currently” employed by the Ministry for the purposes of paragraph 1 of the MOS.

6Having considered the representations of the parties, I direct that an employee who

(i) as of January 17, 2017 had a home position in the Ministry of Community and Social Services but was seconded or on temporary assignment to another Ministry, and

(ii) returns to a position within the Ministry on or before December 31, 2018

will be considered an employee “currently employed by the Ministry” for the purposes of paragraph 1 of the MOS.

7I am seized for the purposes of resolving any disputes arising from these directions.