By Ron Cochran
There have been several occasions where Section 4.1 of the Outside Line Construction agreement has been misused, which causes a lot of issues with the members being paid correctly. This section of the agreement outlines regular work hours, which are defined as eight hours worked between 7:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. It clearly identifies eight hours five days a week, Monday through Friday, as regular work hours. All hours outside of the Monday-Friday eight-hour workday are deemed overtime and are to be paid at the overtime rate.
With that said there are provisions in the agreement to change work hours without approval from the union but a vote of a majority to move the starting time up an hour or by 75% to work a 4-10 schedule, which is either Monday-Thursday or Tuesday — Friday.
The 4-10 schedules are the schedules that are most misunderstood. The intent behind the 4-10 schedules is to be able to have three days off on the weekend, that is it. Unions fought long and hard for the 8-hour work day but we realize when the majority of our members are on the road having the extra day at home is an added benefit to some. So if an employer is working more than four days a week regardless of the hour each day, the 4-10 schedules are not applicable and a 5-8 schedule is what must be followed.
An example of a common issue is an employer is working five days a week, 10-hour days, every week. They claim to be working the 4-10 schedules and pay the OT hours on the 5th day when in fact they should be paying eight hours straight time and two hours OT each day. To most it wouldn’t be noticeable if in fact they are working a full week; however, when a week is shortened due to rain, holidays, scheduled time off or other issues it becomes a problem and workers are shorted the two hours OT each day they are there.
This agreement is based on an 8-hour work day and not a 40-hour work week and some employers try to use that guideline as well.