FPSLREB Decisions

The grievor contested the employer’s change to the employees’ anniversary dates and its calculation method for retroactive salary adjustments following the reclassification of the employees’ positions in two bargaining units. The employer used the method for calculating pay upon promotion (“the promotion rule”). The bargaining agent argued that the employer’s unilateral change to the employees’ anniversary dates and its use of the promotion rule violated the applicable collective agreements and were an unreasonable exercise of management rights. The Board found that the collective agreements did not address the issue of the anniversary date in a reclassification; nor did they state how adjustments to pay were to be calculated when a position was reclassified upward. As a result, the employer did not violate the collective agreements. Further, in the absence of clear language in the collective agreements, the Board found that it was not unreasonable for the employer to exercise its management rights to refer to its compensation manual and to apply the promotion rule to calculate employees’ salaries upon their upward reclassification.

Grievance denied.