April 1, 1998
28.4.456
The employees grieved the fact that the Part VII, Section 7.2.2 of Type 2 & Type 3 salary calculations do not recognize Isolated Post Directive Allowances as part of base salary calculations and are also not recognized as part of Section 7.7.7 "Remuneration" calculations.
A federal airport was transferred to a municipality. The transfer was deemed to be an Alternative Delivery Initiative as defined in the Work Force Adjustment Directive. Based on the Airport Employment Transfer Policy, the employer determined the offer to be a Type 3 transitional employment arrangement.
The Bargaining Agent representative maintained that the salary calculations done by the employer do not include the Isolated post allowance as part of the base salaries and the exclusion of these allowances from the base salaries realistically places these employees into a Type 3 category. The employer has traditionally recognized these allowances as being included in the base salary, in published job posters, to attract employees to Northern or Isolated areas. The Bargaining Agent representative further argued that if the employer advertises and uses them as part of base salaries to attract employees, it goes without saying that these allowances should be recognized in the same way when the same employer is releasing those employees.
The Departmental representative maintained that the issue to be determined is whether or not the Isolated Post Allowances should be included in the base salary rate upon which the salary top-up is calculated. With respect to the impact on the calculation of Early Departure Incentive benefits, it is the Department's contention that the NJC is not the appropriate venue to decide this matter. Furthermore, the representative stated that as per Section 7.7.1, 7.7.2, 7.7.4, and 7.7.5, the employer has no authority to include the Isolated Post Allowances in the calculation of base salary and salary top-up payment for affected individuals in the airport transfer.
The Executive Committee considered and agreed with the Work Force Adjustment Committee report which concluded that the grievors were treated within the intent of the Directive as the remuneration definition under the Directive does not include Isolated Post Allowances.
The grievance was denied.