Atty Ryan Wins Benefits For Part-Time Workers Represented by UFCW Local 328

An independent arbitrator agreed with Attorney Jillian Ryan and UFCW Local 328 that part-time employees working less than the minimum number of hours at Roger Williams University.

The collective bargaining agreement between Local 328 and RWU guarantees a minimum number of weekly hours and benefits to certain part-time regular employees. The contractual benefits enjoyed by regular part-time workers include paid leave and holiday pay based on the amount of hours worked.

Nearly a decade ago, the parties agreed to allow individual part-time employees represented by Local 328 to "waive" their right to hours guaranteed by contract, in exchange for allowing RWU to use non-union casual employees to fill certain vacancies.

Dozens of union-represented employees took advantage of this waiver over the years. Unbeknownst to the union until December 2014, RWU was not providing benefits on a proportional, or pro-rata basis to bargaining unit employees working on a waiver.

The Union filed a grievance when it learned that these employees on waivers were not receiving pro rata benefits - eight years after the program started. The arbitrator agreed that employees on waivers, as opposed to casual employees, were entitled to contractual benefits. His decision was based upon contract language. Plus, the waiver signed by the employees waived only the right to contractual minimum of hours; it makes no mention of benefits. The Arbitrator rejected RWU's claim that practice of denying these benefits was binding upon the union, given that the Union never knew of it.

The Arbitrator ordered RWU to make the employee whole all the way back to when the waiver was executed (September) and prospectively to all other bargaining unit employees working under a waiver.