Advocacy Corner — Overtime Part 2

Each month, our Advocates answer your questions about workplace challenges, the AD 10 policies and how they’re applied. Questions? Submit them anonymously here. These questions will be answered in a monthly advocacy corner issue. For an immediate answer, please contact APSA.

Hello, I'm Michael Peragine, an advocate on APSA's Advocacy Committee. On behalf of the Committee, I'm answering your question related to overtime.

I followed your advice and spoke with my supervisor about establishing expectations around overtime and taking time in lieu.

Despite our discussion, my supervisor still refuses to acknowledge any overtime. My supervisor says that the department cannot give everyone time in lieu and that working overtime is just the expectation for APSA staff. What do I do now?

If your supervisor cannot accommodate reasonable, non-monetary compensation, the next step would be to call or email APSA directly with details. Both you and your APSA advocate can then discuss your options, which may include a grievance. We encourage supervisors to ensure that their practices comply with the Work Schedule policy.

I'd also encourage all APSA members to keep an ongoing record of your hours, so you have exact documentation on how much overtime you are accumulating.

If I choose to go with a grievance, what does that involve?

APSA and the University have a set procedure for filing an individual grievance. You can find this in our policies under AD 10.17 Problem resolution under section 6. There are 3-4 steps to the procedure. I'll give a brief outline of this process, for more detailed information, please see our past infographic on Life of a Grievance.

Step 1: Informal Meeting

The first step is for you and your representative (from APSA or another person employed by the University) to have a meeting with the respondent (this could be your supervisor, your supervisor's supervisor or department head) of the grievance in order to resolve the issue. If the issue is resolved at this step, no written documentation is necessary. If there is no resolution, you then move to Step 2.

Step 2: Formal Meeting

This is a formal meeting between you, your representative and the respondent. The meeting will take place within 5 working days of you notifying the respondent. The respondent may also be accompanied by an appropriate University representative.

If there is no resolution at this stage, you may move to either mediation or arbitration. In order to move forward, you will need to provide written documentation to the respondent, the AVP of Human Resources and the President of APSA with a) the nature of the Individual Grievance and circumstances, the part of the AD 10 Policies that have been misinterpreted or violated, and the remedy or resolution. Your APSA representative can help you with this.

Step 3: Mediation (optional)

A mediator will help determine the facts, give you and the respondent an opportunity to explain the issues and assist you in reaching a mutual agreement. If a resolution is not possible, the next step is arbitration.

Step 4: Arbitration

After hearing the facts of the dispute, an arbitrator will render a binding decision. This may or may not be precedent-setting depending on whether the arbitration is expedited or not. The arbitrator will not be empowered to add to, subtract from, alter or amend the AD 10 Policies.

You and the respondent are represented by legal counsel. You will be permitted time off to attend the arbitration. If an SFU employee is a witness or APSA representative, they will be permitted time off without pay.

http://www.apsacentral.ca/news-item/advocacy-corner-time-lieu-part-2

News: Advocacy Corner — Overtime Part 2