Doctor's letter required for minor illnesses
A point-based attendance system that required employees to produce doctor’s notes for every absence was unfair, grieved a union.
Kawneer Company Canada in Lethbridge, Alta., instituted a lateness policy after numerous attempts to craft one in tandem with the union fell short.
The issue was first addressed in 2009 but despite multiple meetings and discussions, both sides couldn’t agree on one policy.
So, in 2015, it implemented its own system in an attempt to address a continuing problem with its workforce being late too many times.
The aluminum extrusion plant operated two eight-hours–per-day shifts and each Wednesday, managers met to plan the following week’s production schedule. When workers called in sick, personnel had to be shifted around to account for the absent staff members. If accommodations couldn’t be properly handled, the plant was in danger of shutting down for the day, which could have cost the company $30,000 in lost production, according to Kawneer.
It argued the plant attendance record was often spotty, especially on Fridays before long weekends. But in 2009 and 2010, Unifor grieved the attendance documenting system: “The union demands that the company produce an absenteeism or attendance policy that’s fair and equal to all members of Local 99.”
The company then came up with a points-based system that would give points to employees based on whether or not their missing days were properly explained via doctor’s note for sickness, or police reports if a vehicle accident was the cause of absenteeism. It also gave points to workers who punched in late or failed to provide enough lead time for absences.
In 2010, the union again grieved the policy and both sides promised to keep working toward a unified policy.
Finally, in 2013, the company put forward a new policy that would call for progressive discipline to begin once a worker had amassed seven points all the way up to dismissal at 19 points. Points were automatically given for any lateness or absences, with the onus falling on the employees to convince the company to remove any assessed points.
Again, in 2014, the union grieved the attendance system. A simplified points policy was issued in 2015 and this led to the latest grievance.
The current system uses an automated phone-in system, Morningstar, which is tied into its Kronos swipe-card punch clock system. Absences are tracked via a phone-in system and punctuality with the punch-clock method.
The union argued the Morningstar system automatically assumed an absence was inexcusable and it logged the employee as accumulating penalty points.
The requirement that even for small sicknesses, which did not require a doctor’s treatment, would necessitate the worker to obtain a note explaining the absence would tax an already-overloaded Canadian medical system, it said.
“The CMA believes such an absence does not require physician confirmation of illness and represents an inefficient use of scarce health-care resources,” the union submitted from the Canadian Medical Association’s policy on short-term illness certificates.
The grievance was upheld by arbitrator Andrew Sims. “The reasons given above lead me to conclude that this policy is sufficiently flawed to be unreasonable and needs to be replaced. Its chosen reverse-onus mechanism is the antithesis of a just cause system.”
“Unjustified absenteeism affects productivity and it is productivity that gives a unionized workforce its power and credibility in negotiations. Because of that, abuse by a few can serve to disadvantage everyone in the bargaining unit. Notwithstanding that concern, this policy contains too many flaws and is, as a whole, unreasonable, and therefore contrary to (the agreement),” said Sims.
Reference: Kawneer Company Canada and Unifor, Local 99. Andrew Sims — arbitrator. William Armstrong, Patricia MacIver for the employer. Yvon Seveny for the employees. Nov. 1, 2016.
