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ARBITRATOR AWARDS SHIFT DIFF. TO JUNEAU PDEA:
SUBSTANTIAL BACK WAGES TO BE PAID
In a decision issued
May 19th, arbitrator Gregg McCurdy awarded shift
differential to all police patrol officers with the Juneau
Police Department. The arbitrator determined that the
Personnel Rules, which provide for an hourly swing
differential payment of $1.50 & a grave differential of
$2.00, should have been paid once the department changed
from 12- to 8 & ¼-hour patrol shifts.
According to the contract between the City and PSEA, the
arbitrator’s award is “final and binding.” The City’s
attorney indicated that payroll personnel are presently
conducting an analysis for all current and former police
officers to determine who qualifies for the differential,
and how the rates are to be paid. The City hopes to issue a
separate paycheck before the end of the fiscal year – June
30th. According to the arbitrator, eligibility
commenced with the January 24, 2005 pay period.
The dispute initially arose when the former police chief
changed the patrol operation from 12-hour shifts to the
current 8 & ¼ plan. While the City’s labor ordinance confers
management with the right to determine hours of work, PSEA
argued that one of the impacts of the change was make patrol
police officers eligible for shift differential. The City
countered that patrol officers already received shift
differential, which was rolled into the wage scale in 1998.
A grievance was filed in early February 2005; the matter was
presented to arbitrator McCurdy at a 2-day hearing in
mid-January 2006.
The arbitrator’s analysis, appearing within a 35-page
decision, clearly states that the Personnel Rules are – and
have been - part of the collective bargaining agreement
“filling in the gaps” where the agreement was silent. Since
the Personnel Rules provided for the payment of shift
differential, the City was obligated to make such a payment
even though the labor agreement did not contain such a
provision. The arbitrator retained jurisdiction of the
dispute through July 17th in case there are
unresolved remedy details that he needs to clarify.
The City plans to begin regular payment of shift
differential to all eligible employees starting with the May
29, 2006 pay period. The City is also responsible for 100%
of the arbitrator’s fees and costs, according to the labor
contract.
ARBITRATOR RULES THAT POLICE OFFICERS GET O.T. AFTER 40
HOURS; ¼ HR. BRIEFING PERIOD BACKPAY TO FOLLOW
In an award issued July 16th, Arbitrator Michael
Rappaport ruled that the City’s change from 12-hour to 8 & ¼
hours shifts in January 2005 entitled police officers to
overtime for the 15 minutes worked each day. By implication,
the award confers overtime eligibility for all work
performed by police officers in excess of 40 hours in any
workweek.
The arbitrator concluded that, since the contract was silent
on the payment of overtime for police officer regularly
scheduled work hours, the Personnel Rules – which require
overtime for hours worked after 40 hours in any workweek –
was controlling. The arbitrator further held that the past
practice of paying overtime only after police officers
worked beyond 171 hours in a 28-day pay cycle ended when the
City abandoned the 12-hour patrol shift plan.
The financial impact is yet to be determined. A meeting
between CBJ and PSEA representatives will occur during the
week of August 28th. Preliminary calculations
indicate that 35 present & former patrol police officers
will divide approximately $100 – 150,000 in backpay.
Prospectively, police officers became entitled to overtime
pay for the ¼ hour briefing period. PSEA interprets the
arbitrator’s ruling to provide that any hours worked beyond
40 require overtime payment for police officers.
However, on July 26th, patrol operations
reverted to an 8-hour shift.
This recent change further undermines the Department’s
rationale for the 12- to 8-hour shift change. Gummow’s
12.15.04 Memo emphasized the ¼ hour overlap was “essential”
to improving inter-shift communications. Clearly, that
assertion was a lie; the obligation to pay for that time is
apparently not worth the improvement in services. This
elimination of the ¼ hour briefing pay reduces officer work
time an additional 62.5 hours annually. The average patrol
police officer must absorb an $1800.00 annual pay reduction.
Initially, PSEA had requested that the change from 12- to 8
& ¼ hour shifts be delayed until the parties could bargain
over the impact of the change. That request was first denied
by Mayor Bruce Botelho in December 2004, then by Chief
Richard Gummow and City Manager Rod Swope in January 2005.
Faced with 7 present – and possibly 20 near future – police
officer vacancies, Police Department administration is
obviously doing everything it can to improve morale and
increase staffing. The effort by JPDEA continues. |
