Wanted hours up to 11 p.m. to be paid while away from home
An employee working for the Ontario College of Trades regularly submitted hours for travel time but not all were accepted by the employer.
Yacine Dottridge — a stakeholder’s relations coordinator in the communications and marketing department for the regulatory body in Ontario — began working on Sept. 3, 2013 and was responsible for organizing various events on behalf of the college. He was expected to regularly spend a few days away from his home of Toronto.
When he travelled, Dottridge would advise Tyler Charlebois, manager, by email of the time and the hours would be placed into a lieu account, so employees could take time off in lieu of the travel time. There was no formal record of the time issued.
In March 2016, Dottridge began reporting to Perry Chao, who oversaw a new payroll tracking system that formally booked all hours worked, including travel time.
On May 26, 2016, Dottridge finished a round of travel to London, Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo and finally, to Russell and Pembroke, all in Ontario, and he then submitted a request to have 64 hours credited into his lieu bank.
But Chao only entered 22 hours into the system, leaving a shortfall in Dottridge’s mind of 42 hours.
The union, Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Local 503, grieved the decision May 18 and asked for 68.5 hours to be credited into Dottridge’s lieu bank and $10,000 for mental distress.
Because the arbitration hearing wasn’t held until May 30, 2017, Dottridge also asked for another 24.5 hours for more travel time completed since the grievance was originally filed.
The union argued that because Dottridge was in charge of college materials such as marketing brochures, a laptop computer, a TV monitor or a projector, and other property and the fact that he was away from his family, which was “tough,” he should be compensated for the hours between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., usually spent at a hotel away from his home.
After those hours, the collective agreement said: “When sleeping accommodation is provided, the hours between 11 p.m. and the regular starting time of the employee shall not be credited.”
Arbitrator Paula Knopf denied the grievance.
“The facts in the case at hand reveal no significant responsibilities or duties with respect to the employer’s materials after employees arrive at a destination. If the facts had disclosed that the transportation of materials also required significant time in loading, unloading or setting up displays after regular hours, that might have supported a claim for compensation," said Knopf.
"However, that would not be ‘time spent in travelling’; it would be ‘work’ under another heading and therefore outside of the scope of this grievance.”
Because the collective agreement was “not the clearest” it cannot be implied that compensation must be paid for travelling time, said Knopf.
“There must be ‘clear, specific and unequivocal’ language to support a claim for compensation. A monetary benefit cannot be simply inferred. There is an onus to establish the clear basis for a monetary claim,” said Knopf.
"The article credits employees 'while travelling' with 'time spent in travelling'. ‘In travelling’ or ‘while travelling’ does not equate with 'away from one’s home,'" according to Knopf.
"Travel is an active process of physically moving from one place to another. 'In travel' or 'while travelling' does not include the time after arrival."
When Dottridge was travelling, he was not constanly on duty working and he was free to leave the hotel after hours to do whatever his wished, according to Knopf.
“Turning to the union’s argument that the time spent away from home is a hardship that should be compensable, the collective agreement does not support this concept," said Knopf.
"However, the employer reiterated that employees will be paid if they are directed to perform work after regular working hours while they are away from home. The fact that an employee transports equipment and materials for the college does not necessarily mean that the employee is required to ‘work’ while he has possession of that property," said Knopf.
Reference: Ontario College of Trades and Ontario Public Service Emploees Union, Local 503. Paula Knopf — arbitrator. Landon Young, Amanda Boyce for the employer. Jesse Gutman for the employee. June 9, 2017.
