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Sick and Injury Leave Rules 10-4 § 2 MANAGEMENT OPTIONS Several actions by management aimed at curbing suspected sick leave abuse or requiring employees to return to duty in a light duty capacity have been dealt with by the Labor Relations Commission and/or the courts. 1) Strike or Job Actions An employer has the ability to take reasonable action in response to an actual or threatened strike or job action (such as a "sick out") involving abuse of sick leave. When it learned that there might be a sick out in November of 1979, the Leominster School Committee sent letters to the Association's president and to its chief negotiator stating that if teachers took part in a suspected November 22 sick out, the School Committee would require verified physician's statements from absent employees. 24 With the exception of a note from the Association president to the Superintendent denying any knowledge of such plans, there was no other union response. While no job action took place in November, several times the normal number of teachers were absent on two days the next February. Teachers were required to produce doctors' certificates or face the loss of a day's pay in connection with the February sick out. Although the procedural trail of this case is unusual, ultimately the Appeals Court reinstated the Commission's original decision which held that the Committee's action was a reasonable response. Moreover, the failure of the union to demand bargaining after the notice in November was a waiver of its right to bargain over the School Committee's proposed change in a mandatory subject of bargaining. In the 1986 case of Somerville School Committee 25 , an LRC Hearing Officer discussed the propriety of the School Committee's actions in response to a sick out. When negotiations became sufficiently strained that the parties entered mediation, Association members picketed School Committee meetings. In addition, the Association urged its membership to participate in a "work to rule" job action. This involved foregoing all voluntary tasks both during and after school hours. A two day sick out involving several times the normal number of sick leave absences included numerous Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Sick and Injury Leave Rules 10-5 Association officials (except the president). The Association president denied any knowledge or official sanction and, in fact, organized an Association phone tree which restored the normal level of sick leave the next day. Although the contract contained no self-help provision, the School Committee vote to require absent teachers to forfeit a day's pay unless they submitted an affidavit of illness was held to be a "reasonable response to an illegal work stoppage." 26 However, since there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the Association had any responsibility for the sick out, that part of the charge against the Association was dismissed. An employee organization acts only through its elected officials, not its individual members. 27 It is not enough that the membership engaged in a strike. In order to establish the union's liability, the employer must demonstrate that the illegal conduct was engaged in, induced, encouraged or condoned by the union leadership. 28 2) Reporting Forms Even without affording the union the opportunity to bargain, a new reporting form may be instituted where the new form imposes no new substantive requirements affecting such items as the amount of leave available, the criteria for granting injury/sick leave, or any other condition of employment. This was the result reached by the Labor Relations Commission in a 1983 case involving the Town of Wilmington Fire Department. 29 In that case, the Acting Fire Chief, in an attempt to curb what he felt was weekend sick leave abuse by firefighters, devised a form to be completed by all firefighters absent for one day or more upon their return to duty. The sickness/injury/off-duty report form contained a series of questions pertaining to the reason for the absence, the details of any medical treatment received, and the ability of the absent firefighter to perform regular duties. In reversing the Hearing Officer's decision, the full Commission found that the new form was merely a procedural modification in the method used by the employer to monitor sick leave and, therefore, there was no unilateral change in a mandatory subject of bargaining. The Commission has consistently ruled that an employer does not violate the Law when, without bargaining, it unilaterally alters procedural mechanisms for enforcing existing work rules, provided that the employer's action does not change underlying conditions of employment. 30 Similar reasoning was followed, for example, Massachusetts Municipal Police Training Committee
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PREFACE Municipal officials and dep
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INTRODUCTION Public safety unions h
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Table of Contents ii § 2 Entry-Lev
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Table of Contents iv § 8 Other Ben
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Management Rights 1-2 management ri
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Management Rights 1-4 organized pub
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Management Rights 1-6 arbitrate a d
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CHAPTER 2 - SCOPE OF ARBITRATION Mu
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Scope of Arbitration 2-3 There are
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Scope of Arbitration 2-5 Northborou
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Scope of Arbitration 2-7 DiSciulo
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Scope of Arbitration 2-9 leniency o
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Scope of Arbitration 2-11 20 Masach
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Subjects of Bargaining 3-2 When a p
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Subjects of Bargaining 3-4 § 2 NON
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Subjects of Bargaining 3-6 each new
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Subjects of Bargaining 3-8 47 Whitm
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CHAPTER 4 - “GOOD FAITH” Both t
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Good Faith 4-3 A. REFUSAL TO NEGOTI
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Good Faith 4-5 When a contract is i
Page 42 and 43: Good Faith 4-7 assignments an inher
Page 44 and 45: Good Faith 4-9 A union's obligation
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Page 48 and 49: Good Faith 4-13 3) Contractual Waiv
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Page 54 and 55: Good Faith 4-19 59 Commonwealth of
Page 56 and 57: Assignment 5-2 Despite the fact tha
Page 58 and 59: Assignment 5-4 condition of re-issu
Page 60 and 61: CHAPTER 6 - PROMOTIONS The promotio
Page 62 and 63: Promotions 6-3 list is due to expir
Page 64 and 65: CHAPTER 7 - APPOINTMENTS The appoin
Page 66 and 67: Appointments 7-3 providing the unio
Page 68 and 69: Appointments 7-5 entry-level wage o
Page 70 and 71: Appointments 7-7 union requests bar
Page 72 and 73: CHAPTER 8 - BARGAINING UNIT WORK A
Page 74 and 75: Bargaining Unit Work 8-3 private se
Page 76 and 77: Bargaining Unit Work 8-5 § 1 REMED
Page 78 and 79: Bargaining Unit Work 8-7 2) Absence
Page 80 and 81: Bargaining Unit Work 8-9 33 Safeway
Page 82 and 83: Reorganization 9-2 the work is supe
Page 84 and 85: Reorganization 9-4 bargaining unit
Page 86 and 87: Reorganization 9-6 If the union dem
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Page 110 and 111: CHAPTER 13 - WORKPLACE RULES AND PR
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Page 138 and 139: CHAPTER 15 - MINIMUM STAFFING The n
Page 140 and 141: Minimum Staffing 15-3 that “a min
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Minimum Staffing 15-5 1 Chapter 594
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Benefits, Compensation and Leaves 1
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Employee Performance 17-2 The emplo
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Employee Performance 17-4 compellin
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Employee Performance 17-6 37 See se
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APPENDIX A-2 SAMPLE NOTICE FORM (OP
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APPENDIX A-4 SAMPLE NOTICE FORM (OP
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APPENDIX A-6 SAMPLE FORM 5 SAMPLE D
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APPENDIX A-8 6. The employee to be
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APPENDIX A-10 CONSENT I agree that
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APPENDIX A-12 to maintai
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