Intustrial Relations

Running Head : CASE STUDY

Case Study 9-1 : Contract Interpretation

FirstName LastName

Association /School

Case Study 9-1 : Contract Interpretation

Ambiguous language is often a cause for concern when employment contracts are involved , and this is clearly the situation outlined in Case Study 9-1 : Contract Interpretation

1 . The most important point were I arbitrator , would be the intent of the Company regarding the involved provision . The company stated that the double-time provision was added to the contract as a means of combating absenteeism during the week (Carrell , M Heavrin , C .J

.D 2006 ,

. 445 . Based on this statement , it is clear that the purpose of the provision focused on an employee 's being gone for the day , not late for the shift (One must concede that the terms tardy ' and absent ' certainly have different meanings , and by the Company 's own admission , the involved provision focused on absenteeism ) Although failing to arrive on time is a form of absenteeism , it is a temporary short-lived event , and in this case , was clearly unintentional and out of the employee 's control . Under the outlined circumstances , the grievant 's being 10 minutes late simply does not equate to his being absent

2 . Regardless of the arbitrator 's decision , no effect ' would be given to the bargain . The Case Study states , there had been previous grievances on the same issue , but those arbitration awards were inconsistent (p . 445 . Therefore , a case-by-case analysis seems to be the rule . I do believe that denying the over-time would be dangerous to the long-term relations between the Company and the Union as it is obvious that the two sides clearly disagree on the meaning of this particular issue . Given the Union 's (i .e . the employee 's ) position is that reasonable tardiness ' would be overlooked , a denial could result in walk-outs and /or strikes (p . 445

3 . Although the contract language is clear , an arbitrator should be involved because

neither party agrees about the interpretation , the intent , or the common practice applied to the

involved provision of the collective bargaining agreement . The Case Study states that a

meeting of the minds ' was out of the question as the Union and the Company disagreed about

what was contained in the collective bargaining agreement (p . 445

The difficulty seems to stem , in part , from the parties [having] a different understanding during the negotiation process from the company 's current interpretation of the double-time section of the contract (p . 445 . The Union stated , the company 's negotiator had agreed not to count reasonable tardiness against the double-time provision but had refused to change the language used in the contract however , the company 's negotiator [ .] stated that the very purpose of the double-time section was to allow for double-time pay only if there was no absenteeism in the previous week (p . 445 . The negotiator did recall a statement regarding reasonable application but stated that it was in response to a maintenance worker on the negotiating committee ' and the negotiator recalled in...