Toronto seniors’ home workers protest after switch to all-electronic pay slips

Statement promised to employees in collective agreement

When a Toronto retirement community switched its payroll system so that employees could only access them online, it caused problems for many of them.
Employees at the Bradgate Arms, located in central Toronto, were advised in the summer of 2017 by the employer, Revera, that it would soon stop issuing paper-copy pay slips. 
During the period between July 17 and August 14, workers were advised on numerous occasions that they must register with the proprietary My Self Service (MSS) system to access pay statements, benefit information, T4s and view their personal contact information. 
Most of the workers registered and in October, the company moved to all-electronic pay slips and it stopped issuing paper statements.
On the Oct. 19 pay slip, employees saw a written message that said: “Effective Nov. 2, 2017, you will no longer receive a paper copy of your pay stub unless required by a collective agreement.”
The workers were given the option of accessing one of two kiosk computers located on site, that were hooked up to printers. Employees were allowed to access their pay information and print out pay stubs, if they wished. 
However, on Dec. 20, 2017, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada (UFCW), Local 175 filed a grievance that alleged the employer violated section 18.01 of the collective agreement by not providing paper pay slips. 
“Each employee shall be provided with an itemized statement of his/her wages, overtime and other supplementary pay and deductions (pay stub),” said section 18.01.
The employer denied the grievance and said that because it provided the two computer kiosks that were hooked up to printers, that meant it satisfied the agreement.
Geraldine Alinsod, who worked in housekeeping and was a union steward for 11 years, testified that the average age of full-time employees was 50, with one employee being 85 and a few others were in their 70s. Many employees also did not have English as their primary language, and many were not comfortable using computers. 
Alinsod said that she had some familiarity with computers, but she had experienced multiple issuing trying to access her own pay stub, including once when she was asked by her real estate agent to produce a pay stub for a property purchase.
As steward, Alinsod heard multiple complaints and a petition to revert back to paper stubs was circulated that included 33 names.
Lauren Leppik, director of administrative for Bradgate, said there were initial problems at the outset, but the system was functioning properly. As well, four employees were accommodated when they were provided with printouts as they were not able to learn the computerized system.
Arbitrator Gail Misra disagreed. “I find that the employer policy of providing employees access to their pay stubs using the MSS database is in breach of section 12(1) of the ESA (Employment Standards Act). The employer has not given all bargaining unit employees a written statement as required by the Act. I am satisfied that it has not provided reliable and user-friendly access to the MSS database such that an employee can be given his or her written statement of wages on or before his or her pay day. I also find that the employer has breached its obligation in article 18.01 that each employee shall be provided with an itemized statement of their wages, other payments, and deductions, which based on the long-standing practice, is by way of printed statements.”
Because of the unique structure of the Bradgate Arms employees, Revera was not acting in a proper manner toward its workforce, said Misra. 
“I am satisfied that the impact of the employer’s change in practice on this bargaining unit has been significant because of the make-up of this employee group: They are older workers, whose first language is not English, some of whom may not have access to cellphones or computers (which would limit their familiarity with how they work), and many of whom are not technologically capable of working with the employer’s sophisticated MSS system,” said Misra.
Reference: Bradgate Arms and United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada, Local 175. Gail Misra — arbitrator. Erin Porter for the employer. Georgina Watts for the employee. Feb. 8, 2019. 2019 CarswellOnt 1853

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