Dear Friends, Spring is just around the corner and with the changing of the season, what better time for us to welcome our second edition of College Update! Hicks Morley’s College Practice Group is pleased to periodically provide our College clients with specific information relevant to your particular interests. In this edition we discuss labour…
Tag: Arbitration
Employer’s Use of Video Surveillance in Fire Station Reasonable When Addressing a Serious Safety Concern
Arbitrator Sheehan has affirmed that an employer may install and operate video surveillance in a workplace where it has legitimate and serious concerns about safety issues. In this arbitration, a firefighters’ Association grieved the installation of cameras at two fire stations. It argued, among other things, that the requirement that the employees be subject to…
Altering Vested Retiree Benefits Found to be Unlawful by Arbitrator
A recent arbitration decision serves as an important reminder that if an employer wishes to negotiate changes to retiree benefit entitlements in a unionized workplace for employees who have already retired, it can only do so where the applicable collective agreement contains clear and unambiguous language allowing for such changes. In this case, the employer…
Can Hospitals Impose a Dress Code that Prohibits Large Tattoos and Excessive Body Piercings in a Unionized Environment?
Apparently not, according to Arbitrator Slotnick’s recent award in Ottawa Hospital v CUPE. This award concluded that a hospital’s dress code policy was unenforceable as it required employees to cover up large tattoos and prohibited “visible, excessive body piercings.” The hospital argued that the dress code was minimally intrusive and its goal was to improve…
Worker Receiving WSIB Benefits Cannot Claim Monetary Relief under Collective Agreement
A recent arbitration decision considered the historic trade-off made through the enactment of workers’ compensation legislation in Ontario almost 100 years ago, when, in general terms, a worker was barred from suing his or her employer for a workplace accident or occupational disease, in exchange for which the worker would receive benefits from the (now)…
Arbitrator has no Jurisdiction Under OECTA MOU in Absence of Renewal Collective Agreement
On November 23, 2012, Arbitrator Kevin Burkett issued a significant award in which he found he had no jurisdiction to determine a grievance under the Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) entered into by the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (“OECTA”) and the Ministry of Education in July 2012. The grievance was brought by OECTA against the…
Arbitrator Uses Proportionality Approach in Determining Discipline of Multiple Employees
A recent arbitration decision provides useful insight for employers about the nuance that an arbitrator may apply to review a penalty decision and as well serves as a reminder that employers ought to be careful to consider all factors when imposing discipline, especially when there are multiple employees involved. In Bell Technical Solutions v. Communications,…
Jurisdiction of an Arbitrator to Examine Procedures Issued by the Chief of Police
In two recent decisions involving the Toronto Police Services Board (“TPSB”) and the Toronto Police Association (“TPA”), Arbitrator Paula Knopf held that she lacked jurisdiction to hear grievances that challenged certain Procedures issued by the Chief of Police. In both cases, the TPSB raised successful preliminary objections and argued that the arbitrator lacked jurisdiction as…
Alan Freedman Quoted in Canadian Lawyer Magazine
Hicks Morley’s Alan Freedman was quoted in the December edition of Canadian Lawyer Magazine. In an article entitled “Supreme Court favours arbitrator’s decision,” Alan comments on a recent case in which the Supreme Court of Canada, quashing a decision of the Manitoba Court of Appeal, gives room for labour arbitrators to be creative in fashioning…
School Board Update
IN THIS ISSUE Arbitrator Provides Helpful Award in Ontario’s First TPA Discharge Arbitration Divisional Court Re-Affirms the Importance of Time Limits Pay Equity Remains a Priority Legal Issue for School Boards Accommodating Scent Sensitivities in the Workplace Ontario Human Rights Tribunal Endorses Employer Control Over Accommodation Process Integrated Accessibility Standards under the AODA OMERS Omissions…