By David E. Worley

In Jackson County Sheriff’s Dep’t, 131 LA 433 (Pratte, 2013), a non-disciplinary transfer was upheld when a Sergeant who had been in the same unit for 21 years was transferred by the Sheriff and there was no change in seniority or rate of pay.  Noting that this grievance  involved a nondisciplinary transfer, the Arbitrator found that the Union had the burden to prove the transfer violated a specific provision in the CBA. The arbitrator held that there was no clear exception to the management rights clause in the CBA, and the restrictive language cited by the union did not apply. 

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By David Worley

In Ass’n of Oregon Corrections Employees v. Oregon, 194 LRRM 3250 (Or. 2013), the Oregon Supreme Court affirmed the Oregon Employment Relations Board’s (ERB) decision, and overruled the Appeals Court, when it found that a broad management rights clause does not satisfy the burden of proof to prove that the union waived its statutorily guaranteed rights to bargain on mandatory subjects.  The Court found that the lower Court had applied the wrong standard in overturning the decision of the ERB.

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By Rick Gautschi

In Diorio v. Village of Tinley Park, No. 11 C 6724, July 6, 2012 (N.D. Ill. 2012), a  K-9 officer sought overtime compensation for the off-duty time spent in the maintenance, care, training and transport of a service dog.  A collective bargaining agreement provided that the employer would pay the officer the sum of $2000.00 per contract year in which he spent off-duty time maintaining, caring for, training and transporting the dog.  The officer claimed that performing those services caused him to exceed a 40 hour work week.  As a result, the employer’s failure to pay him overtime violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The employer contended that 29 CFR §785.23 provides an exception to the  FLSA’s overtime requirement where a collective bargaining agreement contains a “reasonable agreement” regarding the compensation at issue. [Read more...]