Aric Wardian worked on call at PeaceHealth and punched out at 11:37 PM. He punched into his scheduled shift at 9:30 AM the following morning. PeaceHealth did not pay him his overtime when he punched in at 9:30 AM the next day for that shift, which is what he would have been owed given the way the work hours were experienced.
When someone has less than ten hours of rest time between shifts, that employee is contractually guaranteed overtime as per our contract (Article 10, Section 10.8 Rest Between Shifts). The Employer claimed the Kronos timekeeping system rounded down to 11:30, so there was no need to pay him overtime because he did not have less than 10 hours rest between shifts.
OFNHP challenged this decision from management through the grievance process because the language in this article clearly states:
Unless performing standby duty, each employee is entitled to an unbroken rest period of at least ten (10) hours between shifts based upon actual time worked.
This case moved all the way to Arbitration, the highest level of the grievance process and whose final rulings are binding. The Arbitrator ruled on the contract language citing the above and pointing out that it would change our contract language if he ruled any other way. Warren Walsh was the Steward that worked on this grievance and he presented at every step of the grievance and provided valuable testimony at Arbitration.
This was a major victory that ensured not only that Aric was given his overtime, but also established clear precedent on how the contract language is to be read. This means that our members can confidently enter their time in, knowing that they will receive overtime when they meet the correct parameters. This victory is the result of the hard work of the stewards and grievant, and show the power that we have when we are willing to speak up and confront unjust behavior from management.