The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia needs to pay its employees for overtime work, even if that work isn't preapproved.
Arbitrator Colin Taylor made the ruling in favour of Burnaby-based Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union, Local 378, on Aug. 24.
The ruling was in response to a grievance brought forward by the union regarding unpaid overtime at the Crown corporation in 2010.
"What was happening was ICBC was piling on too much work for our members to do, and what it was doing was causing our members, in order to complete all their tasks for the day, to actually stay past their time," Jeff Gillies, vice-president of COPE 378, said in a phone interview last week.
The ruling found that ICBC was aware of the problem and had repeatedly notified managers that employees were not to work more than their scheduled shift unless the overtime was pre-approved.
But some employees worked past their shift time anyway, in an attempt to keep up with their workloads.
The ruling found that on occasion, some employees were given overtime pay without pre-approval, if they stayed late because a client came in for a meeting towards the end of their shift, for example.
"This is a long-standing issue at ICBC. It's a serious issue for us at the bargaining table," Gillies said. "We've talked about workload with ICBC, and they've conclusively said there is no workload issue at ICBC. We disagree."
The ruling found that ICBC must "take the steps necessary to ensure that no work beyond an employee's regular shift occurs, but if it does, that the employee is paid overtime in accordance with the collective agreement."
Taylor also made an order that ICBC compensate any employees who worked unpaid overtime in 2010, and the union be paid additional dues based on the additional pay.
"Our job stewards will be taking a look to ensure that those hours of work are enforced," Gillies said.
ICBC's policy is to require all overtime be pre-approved by managers, to ensure that no one works beyond their shift without the company being aware of it.
"Our policy is not out of line with the arbitrator's decision - there is to be no unpaid overtime worked by employees and we will be proactive in ensuring this occurs," Adam Grossman, senior media advisor for ICBC, said in an email to the NOW.
The corporation is looking at how best to enforce the policy, he added.
"We are reviewing it as to next steps," he wrote.
The ruling is not directly related to the company's current contract negotiations with the union.
ICBC's collective agreement expired in 2010. The two parties have been in negotiations since January 2011.
