Employees paid company for training
In Air Canada's pre-employment agreements with its rouge flight attendants, employees were required to reimburse Air Canada for the cost of certain training. After this training was completed and employment began, the employer deducted these fees from the flight attendants’ paycheques.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the exclusive bargaining agent for the employees, filed a grievance. The union argued it did not authorize the deductions and the deductions were not negotiated. Arbitrator William Kaplan agreed with the union in his June 13, 2014, ruling.
According to Kaplan, any deductions from pay must be negotiated with the exclusive bargaining agent. The ongoing deduction from negotiated wages went to the heart of the employment relationship, he said, and it requires the agreement of the bargaining agent. He found the employer could not collect on the training debt in this fashion absent the union’s agreement. Kaplan ordered the employer to cease the practice immediately and any monies deducted from flight attendants for this purpose were to be returned within 60 days to all current and former employees.
After the award was issued, the employer approached the union to discuss alternative repayment arrangements. The union, however, took the position that the pre-employment agreement was now void. Kaplan was once again seized to address the dispute.
The employer submitted a request for two issues that needed to be addressed. First, it needed to be determined whether an arbitrator under the collective agreement had jurisdiction to deal with the enforcement of pre-employment contracts. Secondly, it needed to be determined whether it had been the intention of the award to render the preemployment training debt void and unenforceable in any forum.
The employer argued Kaplan’s award did not invalidate the pre-employment contract. The award simply prevented the employer from collecting the debt through payroll deductions. The union, however, argued the case was much more straightforward. An award was issued, directing the employer to return monies it had improperly collected from flight attendants. The employer fully complied with the order.
Kaplan’s jurisdiction was only retained for the purposes of implementing that order.
With the award implemented, the union argued, there was no jurisdiction remaining and therefore no basis for the employer’s request.
The union said the issue should be dismissed.
Kaplan agreed and dismissed the employer’s request.
“In these circumstances,” Kaplan said, “my jurisdiction on that particular dispute is exhausted as my award has been fully complied with.”
Kaplan said there was no basis in the circumstances of the case to revisit a “clear and straightforward award” that the employer fully complied with.
The request was dismissed.
Reference: Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Air Canada Component. William Kaplan
— chief arbitrator. Ian M. Campbell for the employer, Megan Reid for the union. April 1, 2015.
