The senior applicant to a posting was not successful. The arbitrator agreed with the employer that the applicant's experience did not meet the minimum requirements for the job.
A labourer employed in a municipality’s Works and Transportation department applied for the permanent position of Meter Maintenance Person. When his application for the internal posting was rejected, the union grieved.
Before starting with the employer in 1997, J.D. acquired basic mechanical and financial skills working as an aircraft wing assembler and later as a self-employed renovator/contractor.
With the city, J.D. worked at a number of different jobs including sidewalk repair, painting and ice rink maintenance. With the move to Works and Transportation, J.D. worked at repairing signs and fixing broken traffic gates. He also did some work maintaining, repairing and reinstalling mechanical parking meters.
In July 2011, J.D. responded to an internal posting for the position of permanent Meter Maintenance Person.
Included in the minimum qualifications for the position was the requirement for at least one year of related experience. Among the key duties, the successful candidate was expected to use a scanner to perform daily inspections on the new electronic parking meters and to be available to fill in for parking lot attendants.
J.D. did not get the job. The union grieved, arguing J.D.’s total job history, including his time before starting with the city, along with his experience repairing meters added up to at least the minimum requirements for the position. As the most senior candidate, J.D. should have been hired and provided with any necessary training, the union said.
Joint job evaluation process
The employer said the relevance of J.D.’s previous experience or the reasonableness of his application were not the issue. The parties had established the qualifications, including a minimum of one year’s experience, in a joint job evaluation process.
Meter Maintenance Person was a skilled job and not an entry-level position, the employer said. The parking lot attendant component of the job required experience in customer service, familiarity with an electronic cash register and the demonstrated ability to handle and reconcile cash sales.
As well, new electronic meters were replacing the old mechanical parking meters and an entirely different skill set was required to maintain and troubleshoot the new units. J.D.’s qualifications were not appropriate for the position, the employer said.
The Arbitrator agreed.
It was not necessary for J.D. to have experience with the exact type of parking meter or scanner or to have been a parking lot attendant. However, the candidate was required to establish that he or she had at least one year of related experience.
Technical experience with electronics and computerized diagnostics and customer service — including experience with handling cash — were key elements of the required experience, the Arbitrator said. J.D. did not have that experience.
“The evidence is clear that the grievor has no experience with the inspection, maintenance, and repair of electronic components or in the use of computers to diagnose problems with electronic parts,” the Arbitrator said.
J.D. did gain some experience working with mechanical meters but different skills were required to work with the electronic meters.
Lack of experience with core duties
Similarly, his incidental experience in working for clients did not necessarily adequately prepare J.D. for customer service.
“[T]he evidence falls far short of overcoming the grievor’s complete lack of experience with the core duties of the position respecting the inspection, maintenance, diagnostic and repair of electronic components or devices, the operation of computerized cash registers and the performance of cash transaction and reconciliation procedures,” the Arbitrator said
The ability of the employer to provide on-the-job training did not diminish the requirement that candidates meet the standards of experience agreed upon by the parties, the Arbitrator said.
“While a successful candidate no doubt receives some orientation on the various duties of the position and training from the manufacturer on the specific devices utilized in parking meter operations, the employer is, nevertheless, entitled to require that a candidate for this skilled position demonstrate that he or she possesses the necessary skills, knowledge and related experience before being awarded the position.”
The grievance was dismissed.
