AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

Afscme 3357 is famous in Hawaii

From the University of Hawaii's Center for Labor Education and Research's Clear Newsletter:

Denial of Paid Sick Leave Challenged in FMLA Situation
An employer improperly denied an employee the use of paid sick leave for time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act, said arbitrator Robert E. Allen.
An attorney working for the United Auto Workers Legal Services Plans in St. Louis took time off under the FMLA to care for her ill husband. She attempted to claim two weeks of paid sick leave for the time off, but the employer charged two weeks of annual leave instead. The attorney was represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which grieved over the leave substitution. AFSCME Local 3357 cited a contract provision stating that when "a staff attorney's spouse or dependent child is ill or disabled and requires the care of the staff attorney, the staff attorney can use sick leave to provide care." The employer argued that the use of annual leave in such situations was a longstanding past practice to which the union had acquiesced.
Calling the collective bargaining agreement's language about the use of sick leave in such situations "clear and unambiguous," Allen upheld the grievance. As for the past practice claim, the employer's own defense of its policy cited eight similar FMLA leave requests. In two cases, there were grievances, and in two others, managers ignored the annual leave policy. Given this evidence, Allen said he found it "difficult to conclude such a practice was mutually accepted" or "consistent" (UAW-Legal Services Plans, 119 LA 1217 (Allen, 2004)). [CLEAR Source: BNA's Union Labor Report (7-30-04), p. 127]






CLEAR Newsletter