March 24, 2021
21.4.1130
Background
The grievors were on assignments as Staff Training Officers. The grievors had travelled to City A, Province G from City B, Province H for a course which took place from October 21 to December 12, 2019. During this time, the grievors were staying in shared accommodations and were provided breakfast, lunch, and dinner at specific times of the day.
The grievors submitted their travel expense reports and were not reimbursed meals during the dates that they were taking the course. It was explained to the grievors that meals would be reimbursed for the dates they were travelling to and from the course; however, they would not be reimbursed meals on the dates they were partaking in the course as meals were provided.
The grievors submitted their grievances on December 27, 2019.
Grievance
The employees are grieving the following:
- I travelled to City A, Province G for a course which took place from 2019-10-21 to 2019-12-12, including the travel dates.
- The welcome package that I received did not mention that I would be staying in shared accommodations.
- My hours of work were 0800-1600 Hrs, Monday to Friday. I did not receive overtime or any other form of compensation for my time before 0800-1600 Hrs, Monday to Friday.
- I did not receive overtime or any other form of compensation for my time on weekends and statutory holidays.
- I was expected to eat breakfast (before 0800 Hrs) lunch, and dinner (after 1600 Hrs) at specific times, at a specific location (mess hall where recruits eat).
- I was expected to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the same mess hall, at specific times on weekends and statutory holidays.
- I was not given a choice in meals, except for a choice between hot or cold meal. I was not allowed to get the food “to go” to be consumed at a later time.
- The welcome package indicated that I would be getting a snack bag from the mess hall. The mess hall staff confirmed that no such thing existed.
- The quality of food provided was extremely poor and sizes of the portions were small, resulting in me eating away from the mess hall on daily basis. This resulted in major out-of-pocket expenses for me.
- I was not placed on Travel Status. Every employee, except for those on this training, and every prior candidate to attend the same training was placed on Travel Status for the duration of the course.
- Department X violated its Values Statement by not treating me with fairness. Department X treated its employees in same situations differently than one another.
Bargaining Agent Presentation
The Bargaining Agent representative indicated that most of the issues of contention of the grievance are covered under the collective agreement, except for two (2) aspects which fall under the Travel Directive, the first being the supplementation of the grievor’s provided meals.
The representative argued that the grievors are entitled to supplement their meals dependent on the quality of the meals provided. They indicated that there was effectively no choice of meal, and the quality of the food was lacking. Therefore, even though meals were provided the grievors had to supplement their meals as there was only one hot meal option. Furthermore, the representative indicated that the hours of the evening meal were restrictive and inconvenient, given that the dinner was served at 4:00 p.m.
The second aspect in which the Bargaining Agent representative indicated that the grievors were not treated within the intent of the Directive was their accommodations. The representative declared that the grievors were housed in a university dormitory-style location, had to share a bathroom with three (3) other individuals, and stated that it is not unreasonable to expect to have one’s own bathroom. Moreover, the representative stated that the grievors were not provided with the usual toiletry items, nor did they benefit from housekeeping services for the duration of their stay.
The representative also indicated that previous trainees were treated differently in that they were provided a single room in a hotel and received their meal allowances. They stated that the grievors had relied upon information provided by previous candidates in terms of what to expect during the training. They specified that the grievors have advised that they are able to provide receipts and credit card statements to support their out-of-pocket expenses. The representative was unable to confirm if the grievors had previously submitted the request for reimbursement based upon expenses incurred to supplement the provided meals and accommodations.
Therefore, the Bargaining Agent representative requested that the grievance be upheld.
Departmental Presentation
The Employer representative advised that the grievors were placed in individual rooms but did in fact share a bathroom. They acknowledged that towels and toiletries were not available at first, however indicated that they were purchased by the site manager when they became aware of the omission. Furthermore, according to the information they received, housekeeping was provided daily. They explained that the grievors had to remove their garbage from their individual rooms and place it in a main garbage container that was emptied on a daily basis. The representative was unable to provide specifics regarding the bed linen. The representative stated that the Directive provides for a single room in a safe environment and comfortably equipped, however bathrooms are not mentioned.
As far as the assertion that the grievors were treated differently from other attendees, the representative stated that the employees who were given accommodations elsewhere were the trainers who were posted at the location for six (6) months or longer.
Regarding the supplementing of meals, the representative indicated that the grievors were not reimbursed for supplementing the meals as they did not submit receipts for those expenses.
The representative indicated that the meals were provided in a window of time, meaning that the trainees could get their meal any time between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. for the evening meal, and advised that they confirmed with the training director that the training sessions were completed by 4:00 p.m. Additionally, while the grievors were not allowed to take items from the cafeteria to their rooms, there was no such restriction on food items purchased elsewhere. They further explained that in addition to the menu, there was a salad and sandwich bar available during mealtimes.
The representative admitted that the welcome package received by the grievors was for a different facility than the one attended by the grievors, which was an oversight on the part of the Employer, and therefore did not accurately reflect the reality at the new facility. They went on to clarify that this was the first training session at the new location.
Therefore, the representative requested that the grievances be denied.
Executive Committee Decision
The Executive Committee considered the report of the Government Travel Committee and noted that it could not reach a consensus on whether the grievors were treated within the intent of the Travel Directive. The Executive Committee was unable to reach a consensus on this issue either. As such, the Executive Committee reached an impasse.
Notwithstanding, the Executive Committee noted that expenses incurred to supplement meals could be reimbursed up to the applicable meal allowance upon presentation of receipts.