By Rick Gautschi
In Woodford County, 130 LA 843, May 12, 2012, since prior to 2004, under a collective bargaining agreement, correctional officers in Woodford County, IL were authorized up to 12 sick days in a given fiscal year. In December 2004, the Sheriff’s Department revised an existing policy (Policy) to authorize requests for medical certification from correctional officers after the officers had used five sick days in a given fiscal year. Consistent with that revision, between 2004 and 2008, the Sheriff’s Department routinely made requests for medical certification of correctional officers who reached that threshold. In addition, during the same period the employer took disciplinary action in the form of issuing letters of caution to several corrections officers who had used five or more sick days during a fiscal year. When the parties negotiated a 2008-2011 collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the union agreed to include language that would give the employer authority to request medical certification from a correctional officer if the employer suspected the officer had abused the sick leave policy. During the 2010-2011 fiscal year, the employer issued a letter of caution to an officer, who had used five days of sick leave during that year, two days of which were consecutive and the other three of which were not. The union grieved the issuance of the letter. The basis for the grievance was language in the CBA that was the subject of the amendment to which the union had agreed during the negotiations on the 2008-2011 CBA. According to the union, absent suspected sick leave abuse, a request for medical certification was authorized only if the three sick leave days were consecutive. Consequently, the issuance of the letter was an unfair labor practice in violation of the CBA.
