Arbitrator Rules Hospital Violated 1199SEIU Contract By Cutting Hours of CNA Who Worked OT

Attorney Betsy Ehrenberg, on behalf of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, persuaded a neutral arbitrator that Tobey Hospital did not have the right to canceled scheduled regular shifts of a certified nursing assistant (CNA) because she worked overtime.

In this case, the grievant was scheduled to work 40 hours a week. She also placed her name on a voluntary "needs" list, and received overtime from that list. The Hospital later canceled a few of the grievant's shifts, citing low patient enrollment. The Hospital claimed it had a right to do this because the grievant still received 40 hours of work from a combination of "needs" shifts and regularly scheduled work. The arbitrator disagreed, writing, "The reasons for this are many."

He ruled that because the contract guarantees 40 hours a week to full-time employees, the Hospital is not free to send CNA's home on those shifts. He noted that the Hospital could cut or reduce the "needs"/overtime shifts.

The arbitrator finally rejected the Hospital's claim that there was a past practice of cutting regularly scheduled shifts. While this had occurred in the past, he found that prior instances were infrequent and that the Hospital failed to establish that 1199 was aware of this practice.