RULES EXAMINATIONS Public Law Board 4675, Award 56, provides for compensation for UPED train and yard service employees required to attend Operating Rules examination classes. The intent of this Award is that, whenever possible, employees will be provided an opportunity to attend these sessions during their off-duty time and be compensated for the time spent doing so. To that end, the Carrier is required to make reasonable efforts to schedule rules exams so that ample opportunities exist to attend these sessions during off-duty periods. The Award specifies pay for time consumed during the class, with a minimum of four hours and overtime for time in excess of eight hours. This applies to classes taken during an employee's off duty time. In the case of employees who are not afforded an opportunity to take the rules exam during their off-duty time, through no fault of their own, compensation will be for all time lost as a result of being required to miss work in order to take the exam. It must emphasized that in order to be paid time lost or a make-whole for taking the rules exam the burden of proof for not attending the session during off-duty time rests with the employee so affected. The Award requires the Carrier to post a schedule of examination sessions at least 20 days in advance of the scheduled classes so that those affected can determine when to attend during their off-duty time. If the schedule provides no opportunities to take the rules exam during off-duty time then a copy of the examination schedule and a copy of the employee's work schedule must be preserved to support the claim for lost time. This is the responsibility of the person who is making the claim. If the claim is not paid upon receipt of the initial claim then these documents must be given to the Local Chairman along with the declination so that he or she can make a proper appeal for the lost time. If it cannot be demonstrated that the employee was required to lose time in order to take the exam then the Carrier will not pay the make-whole. The documentation must clearly indicate that the time was lost through no fault of the person making the claim. Excuses such as forgetting about the exam, waiting until there are no vacant slots, other activities during off-duty time, or most other reasons will not support the claim and will result in being paid only time consumed for taking the rules exam. Following is the
text of the Award: |
PUBLIC LAW BOARD NO. 4675 Case No. 56
United Transportation Union and Union Pacific Railroad Company Statement of claim: Claim of Cheyenne brakeman R. L.
Braunschweig for a basic day account taking History of dispute: In 1983,
claims were progressed by the Organization in the dispute at hand for "We part
company, however, with that Board's conclusion that in the absence of In reaching
our conclusion we arc not holding that the application of the basic In the early
part of 1991, Carrier advised all operating labor organizations that it Carrier's
senior operating management, however, advised it desired to have ar- As a result of
Carrier's new policy, and the fact that the parties could not reach an Opinion of Board: In the
Organization's view, Award No. 2 of Public Law Board No. 3736 resolved This Board is
aware of the arbitral law concerning its jurisdiction on rules dis- "The
Board will not have authority to change existing agreements or establish This Board,
however, is guided by well-established arbitral law in the industry "To the
extend the rules do not provide for this situation the established and
ac- Given the
above, employees on the territory in question will be compensated for 1. Employees
will be required to attend Instruction-Examination Classes cover- 2. Employees
required to attend the aforementioned Instruction-Examination
(a) During off-duty hours, employees, regular or extra, will be paid for
the
(b) Employees who are not afforded an opportunity to attended class dur-
(c) If an extra employee is held from regular assignment, he/she will be 3. Employees
will be given at least 20 days advance notice of the available In- 4. Employees
required to attend Instruction-Examination classes at other than This Award
governs compensation for all claims of record and/or all employees We must point
out to these and any and all other parties that this Award is not in- Findings: Claims determined as outlined in Opinion of Board. Claims sustained as
outlined in Opinion of Board. John B. Criswell, Neutral Member Lynn Lambert, Carrier Member G. A. Eickmann, Organization Member
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