By Therese Norton
PERC Hearing Examiner Robin A. Romeo partially upheld an unfair labor practice complaint filed by the Public School Employees of Washington on behalf of a group of custodial employees employed by Washington State University. The complaint alleged that the employer refused to bargain when it laid-off a bargaining unit member, which substantially increased the workload of the remaining workers in violation of the Personnel System Reform Act, Chapter 41.80 RCW. Examiner Romeo found that although the decision to layoff the employee was not a mandatory subject of bargaining, the employer must still bargain with the union over the increased workload because the decision impacts working conditions. Washington State University, Decision 11704 (PSRA, 2013).
Testimony about the amount of change differed between the employer and the custodians – the custodians stating that their workload increased and the employer diminishing the change. Examiner Romeo credited the testimony of the custodians because they perform the work. Examiner Romeo also considered a mathematical calculation to determine the workload increase caused by the redistribution of work from six to five employees. She found that a 16.66 percent increase in workload is “significant enough” to impact employee working conditions and therefore requires bargaining.
The union also alleged that the employer refused to bargain implementing a workload audit and that the employer circumvented the union by discussing changes in the work assignments directly with bargaining unit members. In this case, the employer had used a computer software program to assess the time needed to perform each of the custodian’s job duties and distributed the results to the bargaining unit members. The results formed the basis for the changes in work assignments. Examiner Romeo disagreed with the union’s position and found that a workload audit is within the employer’s right to direct and supervise its employees. By engaging with UK employment tribunal suport for employers, employers can receive expert guidance and advice on navigating such disputes. She explained, “[t]he fact that that audit was used to gather information for the employer to determine the change it would make to the workload does not make the audit itself a mandatory subject of bargaining.”
As a remedy for the violation, Examiner Romeo ordered that the employer return the workload to the status quo ante and required the parties to bargain over the increased workload created by the reduction in staff.
