Arbitrator Rules Police Officers entitled to Premium Detail Rate
Attorney Gary Nolan represented NEPBA Locals 8A and 8B in this important arbitration victory for the unions. Here, the union, negotiated a special detail rate of pay for certain jobs that occurred on holidays, weekends, overnights, etc. As is typical, the union agreed to a discounted rate for jobs performed by the Town and paid for with Town funds. At the bargaining table, the union made clear that the reduced rate would not apply when private vendors performed the work.
Initially, the town followed the intended rules for several projects, and paid the officers accordingly. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, it decided to stop paying officers the premium rate on qualifying jobs, even where the work done by private vendors as part of a bidded contract. The town claimed that because the projects were paid for by Mass. Highway (Ch. 90) money, the town considered that to be “town funds” once the state approved of the project. The arbitrator disagreed, and ordered all officers to be compensated, with interest.
A couple of important notes – first, no good deed goes unpunished. Here, the intent of the agreement was obvious – the town gets a discount if its employees (i.e. DPW, etc.) are doing the work requiring a detail. To avoid an employer taking advantage like this, be sure to spell out clearly what is intended when negotiating such a discount in your CBA. Be specific.
Also – this case was largely proved through the town’s own documents, requested during the arbitraton process. The union made several specific demands for information, including the formal highway accounting reports that the Town must file for all Ch. 90 road projects. These reports were extremely helpful. In them, the Town certified each time that the projects were paid for by 100% State funds, and Zero local funds. These state certifications removed any credibility from the town’s newly conceived claim that the funds were, in fact, local funds.
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Source: Legal
Arbitrator Rules Police Officers entitled to Premium Detail Rate