Update on Prorated Merit Victory

This is another update on the process of implementing AMAPCEO's arbitration victory in the dispute we filed over the OPS Employer's decision to prorate merit for those AMAPCEO-represented employees who were at the maximum of their salary ranges on April 1, 2013 and who then subsequently became eligible for merit increases once Job Evaluation was implemented on October 1, 2013.

Based on recent discussions with corporate OPS employer representatives, we have been informed that:

• The Employer has now verified the list of eligible employees who are affected by the award;
• The Employer has scheduled the payroll correction for either the June 4th or June 18th pay dates;
• In the meantime, local managers are expected to adhere to the current-year performance evaluation schedule, i.e., this year's merit awards are not to be deferred pending resolution of the prorated merit decision (re-calculations will be done when the prorated merit decisions are ultimately corrected).

To recap, the Grievance Settlement Board issued its decision on March 3^rd, concluding that the OPS employer “violated the collective agreement” by unilaterally deciding to prorate merit as indicated in the first paragraph, above.  

As previously reported, AMAPCEO filed its dispute in April 2014, after unsuccessfully attempting to reach an informal resolution with the employer at ACERC (the AMAPCEO Central Employee Relations Committee).  The parties concluded their arguments at the GSB, which functions as an arbitrator for disputes filed by OPS bargaining agents, in February 2015.  

GSB Vice-Chair Nimal Dissanayake issued his binding decision on March 3^rd, ruling that the affected employees are “entitled to be made whole for any losses resulting from the violation”.