Bulletin
Arbitration Update – Annual Vacation and Sick Leave Entitlements
October 22, 2021
To: All MoveUP members at FBC-CSC
We write to let you know that we have received the arbitration decision regarding the Company’s “accredited service application” when granting member’s annual vacation and sick leave entitlement.
You may recall that the Union filed a policy grievance after learning that the Company was not providing the 4th week of annual vacation for members who reached their 8th year of service with the Company.
We also had filed a grievance when the Company used the same application in calculating a member’s sick leave entitlement.
It became apparent that the Company had been using an “accredited service calculation” as opposed to the “date of hire” as seen in language. The Company has been using a calculation that in essence reduces an employee’s time with the Company if they were temporary or part time at some point in their career.
Vacation and sick leave entitlement are based on “years” and “months” of service respectively. The interpretive dispute arises from the Employer’s administration of vacation and sick leave entitlements for part-time employees. The Employer has calculated years and months of service for part-time employees, based on what it calls an “accredited service date.” Accredited service is based on hours worked from date of hire, in proportion to full time hours, not the calendar period of “employment with the Company.” For example, a part-time or temporary employee working 50 percent of a full-time position takes two years to earn one year of accredited service.
The Union submits that the Employer’s administration of this provision is inconsistent with the plain meaning of the Collective Agreement. It says the language of the Collective Agreement is clear. There is no past practice under the Collective Agreement demonstrating a mutual intention in favour of the Employer’s interpretation.
The arbitrator agreed with the Union’s position in that service is the “date of hire” and this is the date that should be used for annual vacation and sick leave; however, he has ruled that the Union is estopped until March 31, 2022. Please note Arbitrator Saunders’s comments found at paragraph 119:
In summary, I find that the definition of service under Article 4.06 for part-time regular employees is based on the period of employment with the Employer since the date last employed. It is this period that is to be used to determine where an employee sits on the grid of sick leave entitlements and annual vacation entitlements.
I also find that the Union is estopped from enforcing this interpretation until the conclusion of bargaining for a renewal of the parties’ April 1, 2017 – March 31, 2022, Collective Agreement. This period will restore the Employer’s lost opportunity to bargain different or clarifying language, and to address consequential monetary impacts in the collective bargaining process.
What does this mean?
It means that even though we have won, we are not able to rely on the interpretation or application of this definition until the conclusion of bargaining for a renewal of April 1, 2017 – March 31, 2022 collective agreement. We will not receive the remedy we were seeking, which was to have all affected members be provided their full annual vacation entitlements and/or sick leave entitlements.
To read the arbitration decision, please find it here.
In solidarity,
Cindy A. Lee, Union Representative