Fishel Hass received a favorable Arbitrators Award from Arbitrator Silver. The Teamsters challenged the Jackson County EMS’ ceasing of sick leave benefits to part-time employees upon the ratification of this first contract between the parties. The Union argued that: (a) past practice was to provide these benefits to part-timers, (a) the Union never intended to give them up and (c) that the ORC indicates that part-time sick leave is required. The Employer argued that the express terms of the collective bargaining agreement states that sick leave will be paid to “full time employees” and that “all past practices are void upon ratification.” Additionally, the Employer argued that the ORC was expressly waived by the express language in the collective bargaining agreement.
Arbitrator Silver found that the inclusion of the verbiage “full-time” in the collective bargaining agreement indicates that the parties meant to exclude “part-time” employees from sick leave. Further, the Arbitrator found that the collective bargaining agreement waived application of the ORC and waived all past practices. Therefore, the Employer was justified in ceasing part-time benefits.