As a result of negotiated changes to the Civil Service contract, MGEU members (effective April 1, 2011) gained the ability to apply time off for medical and dental examinations or treatments against their sick time bank, rather than having the time deducted from their vacation credits.
Members have appreciated this flexibility but, in at least one case, the employer refused to accept a worker’s request.
In this particular case, the member was ordered a blood test by her family doctor. She went for the test, returned to work and asked to have the twenty minutes she was gone for the appointment applied against her sick leave bank. She and other co-workers had done this before but, in this case, her supervisor refused. The employer’s position was that because blood work such as this was a diagnostic and because it was not performed by a doctor it was outside the scope of article 28:17.
Understandably, the member disagreed with the employer’s position and informed the union, which quickly filed a formal grievance on her behalf. The MGEU argued before Arbitrator Michael Green that such a blood test falls squarely within the wording of the article because the medical testing the member received was part and parcel to her medical examination and treatment.
In the end, Arbitrator Green felt the test was covered by 28:17 as part of a medical examination. In his decision, he wrote he agreed “completely with the position being advanced by the union” and had no hesitation in holding the time spent for the blood test as time off for a medical examination.
“I do not accept the employer’s argument that because blood work is diagnostic in nature that it is therefore not a medical examination. In fact, it seems to me that the very opposite obtains,” said Green in his decision.
The member’s time off from work will now be charged against her accumulated sick leave credits and her vacation time is to be reinstated. Labour Relations has 30 days to appeal the decision.
The union wants to know if any other Civil Service members have experienced a similar situation. If this has happened to you, please contact the MGEU Resource Centre.