Can an employer compel an employee to work overtime?

53. In Hôpital Régional de Sudbury Regional Hospital v. C.U.P.E., Local 1623, [2001] O.L.A.A. No. 697, the grievor agreed to work overtime on a day that she was not scheduled to work. The parties’ local agreement stated that an employee who “is required” to work on a regularly scheduled day off would be paid at double time. The union grieved that the double-time rate should apply. The union argued that the collective agreement provided that all overtime is voluntary, and once an employee agrees to accept a shift, they are required to work it. The employer argued that because the grievor could refuse the overtime but chose to work, she was not required to work. It was a request, not a requirement, and the premium should only be paid when the employer exercised a coercive requirement and not simply a request. The arbitrator found that in the context of the parties’ collective agreement, the use of the word “require” in that specific provision did not require a coercive element and that “require” was more on the nature of a request or need. The word “required” does not appear in the premium pay language of Article 17.06 (g).