Les mutations chez les infirmières et les infirmiers Transfers Among Nurses

Résumé

Cet article vise à établir comment la promotion et la mutation chez les infirmiers(ères) sont encadrées par les conventions collectives et par les spécificités de la profession exercée

Abstract

This article deals with promotion and transfer clauses concerning nurses. Two basic types are analyzed. The first is those which oblige the employer to state his requirements in official notices, assigning only a secondary role to seniority in granting a position. The second involves those which do not oblige official announcement of requirements, but give priority to seniority in the choice of a candidate.

Grievance arbitrators have often been required to control the application of these two clauses regarding the pertinence of such requirements and methods of evaluation on the one hand, and on the other regarding evaluation based on merit.

Requirements generally controlled are personal qualities, experience and academic training. When official notices state « essential » requirements, the grievance arbitrator can verify them only if the union specially mentions them in wording of the grievance. The requirement most often challenged is specifically related work experience. This is generally required in departments dealing with preventive and specialized care. Grievance arbitrator s consider requirement reasonable although it prevents candidates with greater seniority being transferred to other positions.

Evaluation based on the candidate's merit differs in relations to whether seniority is a secondary or determining criteria. In the first case, the senior candidate will not obtain a given position unless he has equivalent competence to that of the other junior candidate, or again if no other superior candidate has applied. In the second case, seniority will be the determining factor only if the candidate satisfies all normal job requirements.

It is our experience that the more senior among nurses cannot be changed when departemental experience is required, because they cannot satisfy this criteria. That is why this category of employee would be well advised to negotiate clauses in which seniority was the sole criteria in selection, if he really wants to protect seniority. Nevertheless, this approach would only be possible in as far as training periods can be arranged to maintain quality of services.