FPSLREB Decisions

The employer prepared the “2022 Summer Action Plan” (“the Plan”) to deal with an expected surge in international travel. The Plan was released along with a “Playbook for Managers”, and it outlined a number of steps that managers could take to maintain service standards during the summer period. The bargaining agent filed a policy grievance against the Plan, alleging that it spelled out measures that if implemented, would violate the collective agreement in several ways, including with respect to scheduling, overtime, and leave. There was no evidence of any adverse impact on bargaining unit members. The Board stated that the employer could unilaterally impose workplace policies and rules but that the exercise of its management rights must be reasonable and consistent with the collective agreement. The Board found that the Plan was not inconsistent with the collective agreement. The Plan contemplated one-off shift changes to fill gaps in a schedule as a last resort and did not contemplate amending any variable shift schedule arrangement. The Plan did not purport to authorize excessive fluctuations in hours and did not become invalid in anticipation that it would be applied that way. Nor were there any inconsistencies with the employer’s obligation under the collective agreement to make every reasonable effort to return employees to their original shifts after one-off shift changes. Under the collective agreement, the employer was required to make every reasonable effort to avoid excessive overtime and to offer overtime on an equitable basis. The Board found that the collective agreement did not prohibit mandatory overtime and that mandatory overtime would not automatically be excessive or inequitable. With respect to vacation leave and religious observances, the Board was not persuaded that the Plan, when read along with the “Playbook for Managers”, was inconsistent with the collective agreement. The Board applied the “balancing of interests” approach and found that the Plan struck a reasonable balance between the interests of the employer and those of the employees.

Grievance denied.