Scarborough Health Network v. ONA, 2026 CanLII 58292 (ON LA)
Archana Mathew, Arbitrator — April 24, 2026

Scarborough Health Network argued it could assign additional shifts to junior nurses at time-and-a-half rather than offer them to senior nurses who would trigger callback double time. The arbitrator upheld the grievances, finding that where a shift met both the overtime and callback criteria, the overtime scheduling language required seniority-based assignment.

Background

The local collective agreement provided that all overtime shifts would be offered by seniority to nurses who had declared their availability. It also stated that extra shifts resulting in premium pay would only be offered after all opportunities to pay at regular time had been exhausted.

The parties characterized the issue as whether the Hospital could deny a shift to a senior employee who would incur callback double time and instead assign the shift to a junior employee who would receive overtime at time-and-a-half. The parties agreed that the grievors would have satisfied the callback-pay conditions if assigned the shifts, had declared availability, and would have been working on scheduled days off.

ONA argued that the Hospital was bypassing seniority-based scheduling rights to avoid paying the higher premium. The Hospital argued that callback premiums were separate from overtime premiums and that management rights allowed it to schedule in the most cost-effective manner.

Decision

The arbitrator upheld the grievances. She found that the first sentence of Article D.13 clearly conferred a seniority-based benefit for all overtime shifts. The second sentence created a specific exception only where the Hospital could avoid paying a premium if it found staff to work at regular time.

The arbitrator accepted that not every premium shift is necessarily an overtime shift. However, a callback shift that also satisfies the overtime criteria is still a form of overtime shift for the purposes of Article D.13.

The arbitrator concluded that shifts satisfying the overtime criteria, including those triggering callback pay, must be offered by seniority subject to the negotiated exceptions. The issue of remedy was remitted to the parties.