NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION Docket Number CL-21412
Robert M. O'Brien, Referee
(Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and
( Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers,
( Express and Station Employes
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(Norfolk and Western Railway Company
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood
(GL-7958) that:
1. Carrier violated the Agreement between the parties when
they refused to allow punitive pay for work performed outside E. D. Kerns'
regularly assigned hours on the following dates:
10/14/73 - Four (4) hours
10/15/73 - 15 Minutes 6:45 A.M. to 7:00 A.M.
One (1) hour 3:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.
10/16/73 - One (1) hour 6:00 A.M. to 7:00 A.M.
One (1) hour 3:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.
10/17/73 - One (1) hour 6:00 A.M. to 7:00 A.M.
One (1) hour'3:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.
10/18/73 - One (1) hour 6:00 A.M. to 7:00 A.M.
One (1) hour 3:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.
10/19/73 - One (1) hour 6:00 A.M. to 7:00 A.M.
One (1) hour 3:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.
10/20/73 - Three (3) hours call-out
10/21/73 - 5-1/3 hours Sunday call-out
10/22/73 - 5-1/3 hours Holiday call-out
10/27/73 - Three (3) hours call-out
10/28/73 - 5-1/3 hours Sunday call-out.
2. Claimant shall be paid the overtime claimed.
OPINION OF BOARD: On eleven of fourteen consecutive days in October
1973, Storekeeper E. D. Kerns, witnessed by other
employes, performed overtime work outside his assigned hours, on his
rest days, and on one holiday, for which he claimed no payment. On
December 6, 1973, the Organization's local chairman filed a claim in
his behalf for time and one-half payment for the additional time worked.
Carrier defends against payment therefor on the basis that no claim was
submitted by Claimant whose overtime, in any event, was a voluntary
performance of service without authority which cannot be used as a
basis of a claim.
Award Number 21585 Page 2
Docket Number CL-21412
In our Award 16837 (Devine) we stated:
"This Board has held on numerous occasions that
absent directions and authority, voluntary service
cannot be asserted to support a claim. In the
opinion of the Board, that principle is applicable
here. The Claimant had been advised by his
superior on February 16, 1966, that overtime
would not be allowed consistently on the Night
Chief Dispatcher assignment. The Claimant was
not instructed or required by proper authority to
put in the overtime claimed. The claim will be
denied."
Award 18012 (McGovern) denied an overtime claim when claimant performed
work on his own volition, holding:
"It is a managerial prerogative to determine when
work is to be performed, as exemplified in many of
our awards. To permit an employe to work overtime
whenever he himself deems it necessary, is an
unwarranted encroachment on Management which, if
unchecked, could only lead to chaos. We, therefore,
find no violation, and will deny the claim."
We basically affirm these holdings; however, here there appears
to be more involved. In a brief two-week period the storekeeper performed 35 hours and 15 minutes of
To stop this practice and to police the agreement, the Organization
filed a claim. The comments in our Award 18012 suggesting that to allow
an employe to work overtime whenever he himself deems it necessary can
only lead to chaos must be applied with equal force both ways. While
we do not intend to inhibit extra or superior completion of assigned
tasks, if these duties cannot be. completed within regular hours, they
should be paid for at overtime rates. While management has the right
to authorize overtime, it also has the right to prohibit overtime unless
it is authorized. We will deny the claim with the recommendation that
the practice complained of, now known to Carrier, be discontinued.
FINDINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole
record and all the evidence, finds and holds:
That the parties waived oral hearing;
Award Number
21585
Page 3
Docket Number CL-21412
That the Carrier and the Employes involved in this dispute
are respectively Carrier and Employes within the meaning of the Railway
Labor Act, as approved June 21, 1934;
That this Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction
over the dispute involved herein; and
The agreement was not violated.
A W A R D
Claim denied.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Third Division
ATTEST;
!Ii
A/
6.1.,
Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 17th day of June
1977.