What is Just Cause?
Without a Union, in most cases, an employer can discipline or terminate an employee for any or no reason except a protected classification. This is called “employment at will.” Having a Union and a collective bargaining agreement completely changes the rules. In a Union workplace, management has the burden of proving it disciplined an employee fairly. Many contracts include language that requires the employer to discipline with “just cause,” “good cause,” “for cause,” “with cause,” etc.
Just cause is a standard management must meet when disciplining or discharging an employee. Think of it as a workplace version of due process that if an employer wants to discipline an employee, they have to follow certain procedures in order to justify its actions. These procedures are often referred to as “steps”. These steps are not explicitly written into a collective bargaining agreement but are inferred and applied by arbitrators.
The following is a checklist of steps our union reviews to determine if management acted with just cause:
1. Notice: Was the employee made aware the rule exists and the disciplinary consequence of breaking the rule?
2. Prior Enforcement: Has the employer uniformly enforced the rule?
3. Investigation: Was there an investigation? Was the disciplined employee interviewed? Was it in a timely fashion? Did it occur prior to issuing formal discipline?
4. Proof: Was there convincing proof that the employee is guilty of the alleged violation?
5. Equal Treatment: Have others with a similar disciplinary record and seniority committed the same infraction and not been disciplined or disciplined less severely?
6. Progressive Discipline: Did the contract require or allow for lesser discipline? Was the penalty too severe in relation to the violation?
7. Mitigating Circumstances: Does the employee warrant a second chance? Do they have extensive service/seniority with the company? Do they have a relatively clean disciplinary record? Are they an outstanding employee? Did management have any role in the employee breaking the rule? Depending on the nature of the offense and severity of the discipline, some arbitrators may determine just cause has not been met by virtue of the employer failing any one of these tests. Others may uphold some discipline decisions despite the employer having not met one or more of the above tests. However, the more failed tests the grievance investigator can identify, the greater the odds of proving the employer did not act with just cause.
As a steward, it is important that you understand what is meant by “just cause.”
