First Aid to the General Public Allowance

Background

The employee grieved the lack of payment of the $300 yearly allowance under the First Aid to the General Public Allowance Directive. As the grievor maintains that he is required to be available to provide first aid to members of the public who may be participating in regular visits, private family visits, or family visiting events.

Bargaining Agent Presentation

The Bargaining Agent representative submitted that the grievor should receive the allowance as he meets all four (4) eligibility criteria under Section 5.1 of the Directive and is not excluded personnel under Section 5.2.

With respect to the first eligibility criterion, the bargaining agent representative submitted that the grievor is a public service employee within meaning of the Public Service Labour Relations Act.

With respect to the second criterion, ”be formally required by the Department to be available on a regular basis to provide, in addition to their regular duties, first aid to the general public”, the Bargaining Agent representative submitted that the grievor was asked to provide first aid as needed to visitors but that such requirement did not form part of the grievor's work description in use at the time of the grievance. The Bargaining Agent representative submitted that there is in fact no mention of first aid in the key activities listed in the grievor's work description and that the grievor's regular duties pertained to the key activities listed in the work description. The requirement to perform first aid to the general public was not noted as a key activity.

With respect to the third criterion, the Bargaining Agent representative submitted that there are no emergency medical treatment facilities within a radius to 10 kilometres of the grievor's work location. The grievor's work location is located in City A and there are no hospitals, no walk-in clinics, or emergency facilities. The closest hospital is approximately 35 to 40 km from City A. The Bargaining Agent representative further submitted that although there is an ambulance station in City A, the ambulance's response time, on average, is about 40 minutes to the grievor's work location.

With respect to the fourth criterion, the Bargaining Agent representative submitted that the grievor was required by and at the expense of the department to undertake and maintain first aid certification.

With respect to the excluded personnel identified under Section 5.2 of the Directive, the Bargaining Agent representative submitted that the grievor should not be characterized as excluded personnel because the provision of first aid is not an inherent part of the duties performed by an employee occupying the grievor's position. The Bargaining Agent representative argued that if the requirement to provide first aid was in fact inherent to the duties of the grievor's position, one would assume that it would be expressly mentioned in the work description, which it is not.

For all the reasons above, the Bargaining Agent representative submitted that the grievor was not treated within the intent of the directive and requested that the grievance be upheld.

Departmental Presentation

The Departmental representative submitted that the grievor is properly excluded from receiving the allowance for the following reasons:

1. The provision of first aid is an inherent requirement of the grievor's position ;
2. Employees occupying the grievor's position are formally required to be available on a regular basis to provide first aid ” as part of their regular duties, not in addition to their regular duties”; and
3. There are emergency medical facilities within the immediate area (10 km radius) of the grievor's place of employment.

In support of its argument that the provision of first aid is an inherent requirement of the grievor's position, the Departmental representative referred to the department's National Training Standards which identifies all employees in the grievor's position as ”first aid attendants”. The National Training Standards requires that first aid attendants demonstrate first aid and CPR knowledge skills at the ”Standard” level. The Departmental representative also referred to the grievor's job requirements as set out in the Generic Statement of Qualifications in effect at the time the grievance was filed. One of the requirements listed is that they ”Must possess and be able to retain a valid First Aid certificate ”Standard Level” from St. John Ambulance or Canadian Red Cross or Emergency Medical Planning Canada (EMP) Mark III.”

The Departmental representative submitted that the Directive applies to public service employees who provide first aid to the general public and that the term ”general public” should be given a broad meaning to include employees and clients, as well as visitors to the grievor's work location.

The Departmental representative submitted that in terms of providing first aid, no distinction is made between visitors and clients. Employees in the grievor's position are trained and required to respond to medical emergencies at their work locations, regardless of who is involved. The responsibilities of employees occupying the grievor's position in the event of medical emergencies are set out in several departmental Commissioners' Directives in effect at the time the grievance was filed (i.e. Commissioner's Directive 843: Prevention, Management and Response to Suicide and Self-Injuries, Commissioner's Directive 800: Health Services, and Commissioner's Directive 567: Management of Security Incidents).

In the generic work description which currently applies to employees occupying the grievor's position, the requirement to perform first aid and CPR is referenced several times.

The Departmental representative agreed that the grievor meets the first and fourth eligibility criteria. However, the Departmental representative disagreed that the grievor met the second and third criteria. With respect to the second requirement, there is no question that acting as a first responder to any medical emergency in the grievor's work location is part of the regular duties of the grievor and not in addition to his regular duties. The Departmental representative further submitted that because of the nature of life in the grievor's work location, the provision of first aid is a core element of what the grievor does on a daily basis and it cannot be said that it is in addition to the grievor's regular duties.

With respect to the third requirement of Section 5.1, the departmental representative submitted that the term ”emergency medical treatment facility” is not defined in the Directive but that an onsite Health Services department staffed with registered nurses exists at the grievor's work location was well as an ambulance station located within 10 kilometers of the grievor's work location.

For all the reasons above, the Departmental representative submitted that the grievor was treated within the intent of the Directive and requested that the grievance be denied.

Executive Committee Decision

The Executive Committee considered and agreed with the report of the Occupational Safety and Health Committee which concluded that the grievor was treated within the intent of the First Aid Allowance Directive. The Committee agreed that the grievor did not meet all four eligibility criteria to qualify for the $300 annual allowance. Accordingly, the Executive Committee denied the grievance.