By David Worley
When the Ashtabula County Youth Detention Center declared that it was no longer providing “transitional” positions, which were specifically detailed in the CBA, the employer was found by an arbitrator to have improperly read these provisions out of the CBA.
By Mitchel Wilson
In Orange County, Florida, 131 LA 1367 (Smith 2013) Arbitrator Harold Smith concluded that the decision to transfer a firefighter was not a disciplinary decision and therefore was permissible according to the provisions of the CBA even though an employee conflict prompted the transfer.
By Mitchel Wilson
In DuPage County Sherriff, 13 LA 1131 (Wolff 2013), the arbitrator sustained the Union’s grievance based on the assertion that the County was preventing deputies from taking vacation in violation of the CBA terms.
By David Worley
In City of Chicago, 131 LA 902 (Goldstein, 2013), the arbitrator found no violation of the CBA occurred when the Chicago Police department did not elevate a Captain to position of Commander when the current Commander was temporarily absent even though the CBA specified that an available Captain (the grievant), would be elevated to that position when it became vacant. The arbitrator found a valid exercise of management rights when the City decided it was unnecessary to fill the vacant Commander position when the vacancy was for such a short period. Although during the vacancy, officers were instructed to look to a Commander at a neighboring district for “any questions or concerns”, the arbitrator found this did not constitute actually filling the vacancy.
By David Worley
In Town of Canton, 131 LA 876 (Gnocchi 2013), the arbitrator found that because the overtime provisions of the CBA did not reference “Private Duty” work, and there was a separate provision detailing the compensation for private duty work, the grievant was not entitled to the overtime rate of pay for that private duty work. The arbitrator found the lack of applicable language in the overtime provision determinative, and considered private duty work, although assigned by the department and done in uniform, to be essentially work performed for a third party. [Read more…]
By David Worley
In a brief and straightforward decision in City of Benicia, 131 LA 1099 (Gentile, 2013), the arbitrator denied a higher rate of “educational incentive” pay to a California police officer when that rate awarded to police officers who were employed prior to a certain date, and the grievant was employed by the city prior to that date, but not as a police officer. [Read more…]
By David E. Worley
In Jackson County Sheriff’s Dep’t, 131 LA 433 (Pratte, 2013), a non-disciplinary transfer was upheld when a Sergeant who had been in the same unit for 21 years was transferred by the Sheriff and there was no change in seniority or rate of pay. Noting that this grievance involved a nondisciplinary transfer, the Arbitrator found that the Union had the burden to prove the transfer violated a specific provision in the CBA. The arbitrator held that there was no clear exception to the management rights clause in the CBA, and the restrictive language cited by the union did not apply.
By David Worley
In Ass’n of Oregon Corrections Employees v. Oregon, 194 LRRM 3250 (Or. 2013), the Oregon Supreme Court affirmed the Oregon Employment Relations Board’s (ERB) decision, and overruled the Appeals Court, when it found that a broad management rights clause does not satisfy the burden of proof to prove that the union waived its statutorily guaranteed rights to bargain on mandatory subjects. The Court found that the lower Court had applied the wrong standard in overturning the decision of the ERB.
By Kate Acheson
In Central State University, 130 LA 1351 (Bell, 2012), Arbitrator Langdon Bell was precluded from awarding monetary damages against Central State University for a violation of their collective-bargaining agreement (“CBA”) with their security officers because the union did file a written request for a specific remedy. Thus, although a violation with associated monetary damages was properly alleged, the Arbitrator could only direct the University to adhere to the CBA staffing guidelines in the future. [Read more…]
By Rick Gautschi
In Diorio v. Village of Tinley Park, No. 11 C 6724, July 6, 2012 (N.D. Ill. 2012), a K-9 officer sought overtime compensation for the off-duty time spent in the maintenance, care, training and transport of a service dog. A collective bargaining agreement provided that the employer would pay the officer the sum of $2000.00 per contract year in which he spent off-duty time maintaining, caring for, training and transporting the dog. The officer claimed that performing those services caused him to exceed a 40 hour work week. As a result, the employer’s failure to pay him overtime violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The employer contended that 29 CFR §785.23 provides an exception to the FLSA’s overtime requirement where a collective bargaining agreement contains a “reasonable agreement” regarding the compensation at issue. [Read more…]
