Time spent getting ready for shift not enough to warrant extra pay: Board
A group of Quebec workers are not entitled to be paid for the time they spend getting ready for work, the Canadian Public Service Labour Relations Board has ruled.
The workers, inspectors with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), worked at four meat processing plants in Saint-Cuthbert, Que., Berthierville, Que., Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover, Que., and Vallée Jonction, Que. The CFIA required inspectors to be on time and ready to get to work right at the start of their shift. Though there was no requirement on how long before their shift they had to arrive, they had to put on a helmet, boots, earplugs, shirt, pants, lab coat, hairnet, beard net (if necessary) and plastic gloves.
Inspectors at red meat plants also had to equip themselves with knives, a sharpening stone, hammer and hook. Other duties included washing hands, sharpening knives, and other preparations before they went to their workstation.
Seventeen inspectors filed grievances in February 2005, claiming they should be paid for the time they spent getting ready for their shift, since they were required to be at their workstation when it started. They claimed it took about 15 minutes to get ready. Since they were paid overtime in 15-minute blocks twice a week to perform pre-inspection and washing of the equipment and occasionally post-inspection, the inspectors argued they should be paid for the 15-minute block of pre-shift preparation.
The board timed an employee on putting on his work clothing and found it took just under three minutes. It also heard in testimony from some of the inspectors that they spent closer to five or six minutes getting ready for a shift.
The collective agreement required at least 15 minutes of extra work to be performed before an employee received overtime and it was paid in 15 minute blocks from there. The agreement also defined overtime as “authorized work in excess of the employee’s scheduled hours of work.”
The board found a typical employee took much less than 15 minutes to get ready for her shift, so it didn’t meet the collective agreement’s threshold for overtime. It also found getting ready for work didn’t constitute work.
“The time employees take to get out of their cars in the parking lot, go to the plan, put on their uniforms and protective equipment, gather up their tools, wash their hands, head to their posts and adjust their platforms on the production line does not constitute work. Employees are required to be present at their posts on the plant’s production line,” said the board.
