April 16, 2009
20.4.224
Background
The employee grieved the fact that his employer has continually and consistently denied him any additional time off to attend NOSH issues. The employee requested additional time off or paid overtime to attend NOSH issues after his shift.
Bargaining Agent Presentation
The Bargaining Agent Representative submitted that the grievor was not being given the time necessary to carry out his functions as a member of the NOSH Committee. Both the grievor's supervisor and manager had adopted an attitude towards the grievor's requests that did not respect the intent of the Committees and Representatives Directive (Chapter 2-20).
The Bargaining Agent Representative submitted that the second level response of this grievance, contradicted the actions taken by the employer a year earlier, in December 2006, when it offered to assist the grievor in getting the time he needed for NOSH duties. The Bargaining Agent Representative suggested that if the grievor was in fact getting the time he needed before this, why did the employer have to take action and talk to the manager and why did the behaviour of the supervisor towards the grievor's requests for time during work to do NOSH duties changes after the employer took action.
The Bargaining Agent Representative submitted that the obstacles faced by the grievor in getting travel authorizations, getting time during work to attend to duties, getting expense claims approved, etc. were inappropriate and although these actions were eventually corrected over one year later does not detract from the fact that for a long period the entitlements of the Directive were not being met by the employer. In particular, reliance is placed on section 20.20 of the Directive.
The Bargaining Agent Representative submitted that the grievor endured a great deal of abuse from the supervisor and that he spent a great deal of his own time dealing with NOSH issues during the extensive period of time when he was not being given the allocated time as requested. These hours of overtime were never compensated by the employer.
Departmental Presentation
The Departmental representative submitted that the employer recognized that the grievor is entitled to sufficient time to prepare for NOSH meetings and that upon a review of past requests, management determined that such time has not been withheld except in such circumstances where it was not operationally feasible, or where it was not specified by the grievor why such time was required.
The Departmental representative submitted that the burden of proof is on the grievor to provide the dates, times and specifics of any situation where management failed to adhere to Part II, section 135.1(10) and (11) of the Canada Labour Code (CLC) in not providing him with sufficient time to attend to his NOSH Committee duties. The Departmental representative submitted that the grievor has failed to do so.
The Departmental representative submitted that management recognized and respected the grievor's right to be paid time to attend to NOSH issues. The Departmental representative submitted that the grievor was paid expenses and overtime to travel to Ottawa for NOSH training in September 2006 and for expenses when he travelled to Ottawa to attend NOSH meetings in October and December 2006.
The Departmental representative submitted that the employer did not violate Part II, section 135.1(10) and (11) of the CLC.
Executive Committee Decision
The Executive Committee considered and agreed with the Occupational Health and Safety Committee. While it was agreed that per the Committees and Representatives Directive, it is important for employees to be provided with sufficient time to attend to NOSH committee issues, the Executive Committee concluded that there was no evidence in the case at hand to support the grievors allegations. As such, the grievance was denied.