| DORCHESTER EDUCATION | | | CASE NO. 488 |
| ASSOCIATION, An Unincorporated | | | |
| Association, | | | |
| | | ||
| Petitioner, | | | |
| | | ||
| v. | | | OPINION AND ORDER |
| | | ||
| THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF | | | |
| DORCHESTER, IN THE COUNTY | | | |
| OF SALINE, IN THE STATE OF | | | |
| NEBRASKA, A Political | | | |
| Subdivision, | | | |
| | | ||
| Respondent. | | |
Appearances:
For the Petitioner: Mark D. McGuire
Crosby, Guenzel, Davis,
Kessner & Kuester
400 Lincoln Benefit Building
Lincoln, Nebraska
For the Respondent: Rex R. Schultze
James B. Gessford
Perry, Perry, Withoff,
Guthery, Haase & Gessford, P.C.
1806 First National Bank Bldg.
Lincoln, Nebraska
Before: Judges Orr, Kratz and Berkheimer.
Orr, J:
This matter came on for a determination of wages and other conditions of employment for the Dorchester school District teachers for the 1982-1983 contract year pursuant to Section 48-818. Dorchester is a Class III school district employing 25 teachers (23.6 full-time equivalent) and had a student enrollment for the 1981-1982 school year of 251 students.
The parties stipulated at the pretrial conference in this matter that "[e]xcept for base salary, the terms and conditions of employment for the teachers employed by the School District for the 1982-83 contract year shall be as previously established by the agreements made by the parties." The Commission has jurisdiction of the parties and of the subject matter.
1. Statute.
The controlling statute is Section 48-818, which states:
"The findings and order or orders may establish or alter the scale of wages, hours of labor, or conditions of employment, or any one or more of the same. In making such findings and order or orders, the Commission of Industrial Relations shall establish rates of pay and conditions of employment which are comparable to the prevalent wage rates paid and conditions of employment maintained for the same or similar work of workers exhibiting like or similar skills under the same or similar working conditions. In establishing wage rates the Commission shall take into consideration the overall compensation presently received by the employees, having regard not only to wages for time actually worked but also to wages for time not worked, including vacations, holidays, and other excused time, and all benefits received, including insurance and pensions, and the continuity and stability of employment enjoyed by the employees. Any order or orders entered may be modified on the commission's own motion or on application by any of the parties affected, but only upon a showing of a change in the conditions from those prevailing at the time the original order was entered."
2. Comparable School Districts.
The Association and the School District both presented comparisons with the following five school districts: Adams, Exeter, Fairmont, Henderson, and Meridian. The Association also presented comparisons with the school districts of Bradshaw, Malcolm, Sutton, Tri-County, and Wilbur Clatonia. The School District in addition presented comparisons with the school districts of Clay Center, Deshler, and Sterling. The parties stipulated at the pretrial conference that the work skill and working conditions of the teachers employed by Dorchester and the teachers employed in all of the compared to districts offered by the Association and District are similar and satisfy the standards set forth in Section 48-818 to permit a comparison of terms and conditions of employment if included in the array of compared to school districts by the Commission.
The evidence in this case as to the compared to school districts, in addition to the stipulation as to work skill and working conditions, consists of the student enrollment and ranking, distance from Dorchester, county located, athletic conference and contacts with Dorchester, and testimony as to the community of interest of the districts presented with Dorchester. The following Table 1 sets out some of this information:
In Fraternal Order of Police v. County of Adams , 205 Neb. 682, 685, 289 N.W.2d 535, 537 (1980), the Supreme Court stated that "In selecting employment units in reasonably similar labor markets for the purpose of comparison as to wage rates and other benefits, the question is whether, as a matter of fact, the units selected for comparison are sufficiently similar and have enough like characteristics or qualities to make comparison appropriate." From the evidence in this case, it is determined that a suitable array for the purposes of Section 48-818 should consist of teachers in the following school districts: Adams, Exeter, Fairmont, Henderson and Meridian. They were the schools presented by both parties and constitute five of the ten schools presented by the Association and five of the eight schools presented by the District. They have a similarity in student enrollment (ranging from 190 students at Meridian to 340 students at Henderson), geographic proximity (all are within 44 miles of Dorchester), and show a community of interest demonstrated by athletic, scholastic and administrative contacts. Therefore, these five school districts presented by both parties are individually suitable for the purposes of Section 48-818 and collectively comprise an appropriate array. See Hastings Education Association v. School District of Hastings , 6 CIR 317 (1982), Brule Teachers Association v. School District Number 17 , 5 CIR 319 (1981); Butte Education Association v. School District Number 5 , 5 CIR 232 (1981); Rosalie Faculty Association v. Rosalie Public Schools, 5 CIR 82 (1980); Spencer Education Association v. School District of Spencer , 3 CIR 298 (1977). It is not necessary to determine whether in other circumstances different schools could be included in an array used to resolve another industrial dispute. See Crete Education Association v. School District of Crete , 193 Neb. 245, 255, 226 N.W.2d 752, 758 (1975).
3. Base Salary
The District argues that in determining the prevalent wage the Commission should take into consideration the dissimilarity in contract days and teaching days between Dorchester and the compared to school districts. Thus, the District has adjusted its compared to school districts' standard salary figures to reflect the shorter contract year of 182 days at Dorchester. No adjustment was made for fringe benefits because of their lack of relationship to gross salary, i.e. long term disability is on a fixed monthly premium.
The Association argues that the purported dissimilarities in contract days should be ignored by the Commission in determining the appropriate compensation. The Association in its post-trial brief states that this issue was not included in the pretrial stipulation as to issues in dispute and was not raised in the pleadings. We find that contract days are part and parcel of base salary and were, therefore, properly made an issue in the pleadings.
The following Table 2 shows the number of contract days and teaching days of the schools in the array and at Dorchester.
The Commission has declined to adjust annual teacher compensation based on differences in contract lengths in Beatrice Education Association v. School District , 3 CIR 323, 329-331 (1978), Columbus Education Association v. School District , 3 CIR 385, 391-392 (1978), Millard Education Association v. School District , 5 CIR 425, 438-439 (1981), and in Broken Bow Education Association v. School District , 6 CIR 60, 73-74 (1982), but it did make an adjustment in West Holt Faculty Association v. School District 25 of Holt County , 5 CIR 301, 313-314 (1981), and in Bellwood Faculty Association v. School District 3R , 6 CIR 396 (1983). Similarly, the Commission has made adjustments based on differences in work week hours in Fraternal Order of Police Local No. 12 v. County of Adams , 3 CIR 585, 590 (1978), affirmed , 205 Neb. 682, 289 N.W.2d 535 (1980).
The Commission distinguished the Columbus case and West Holt case on the facts presented, as stated in West Holt (5 CIR at 313-314):
"In the Columbus case, the Commission said: 'The teachers enter into a contract for a school term, without particular regard to the number of days involved in that term.' 3 CIR 385 at 391. The undisputed evidence in this case [ West Holt ] requires a departure from that finding. Here, the Association's expert witness testified that teaching employees should expect additional compensation if additional contract days are required and testified as to methods of adjustment generally based on a daily measurement.
"...The evidence shows that the number of contract days were unilaterally established by the Board to accommodate farm families, but as noted above the evidence also shows that teachers' salary expectations are related to the number of contract days. The Commission finds on the evidence in this case that an adjustment in basic salary should be made for a lesser number of contract days...."
The evidence shows that Dorchester has fewer contract days than the array members: Fairmont (183) and Meridian (185). The Superintendent testified that a specific teacher at Dorchester who works two weeks beyond the 182 contract days is paid on an established pro rata basis. The Association's expert witness admitted that he testified in West Holt that teachers should expect additional pay on a pro rata basis if they are required to work additional contract days.
The Commission finds that an adjustment in the standard salary figures for the two school districts with longer contract years is necessary to reflect the actual number of days worked at Dorchester.
The following Table 3 sets out the standard salary schedule, fringe benefit and overall compensation figures for the compared to school districts. The parties unfortunately do not agree as to Dorchester's teacher placement on the salary schedules of Adams, Exeter and Fairmont. Therefore, the standard salary schedule and overall compensation figures for these school districts differ. In reviewing the evidence presented, the difference in figures appears to be from the placement of two teachers on Step 9 (1.44) of the BA + 27 column at Dorchester. One of the teachers has taught 15 years (8 years at Dorchester) and the other teacher has taught 27 years (15 years at Dorchester). The District's placement of these two teachers on the other index salary schedules does not reflect all of their years of teaching experience as the Association has taken into account. The Commission finds that the Association's placement is more accurate and its figures are used in the following Table 3.
Section 48-818, R.R.S. 1943, states that "In establishing wage rates the Commission shall take into consideration the overall compensation presently received by the employees, having regard not only to wages for time actually worked but also to wages for time not worked, including vacations, holidays, and other excused time, and all benefits received, including insurance and pensions, and the continuity and stability of employment enjoyed by the employees." This rule of overall compensation does not require an identity of benefits, but that the overall compensation be "comparable to the prevalent wage rates paid and conditions of employment maintained for the same or similar work of workers exhibiting like or similar skills under the same or similar working conditions." These determinations must be made on the basis of the evidence introduced by the parties in the trial of the case. The determinations under Section 48-818, R.R.S. 1943, may, therefore, vary from case to case depending upon the evidence introduced by the parties.
Applying the statutory criteria of Section 48-818 to the evidence in the case, we find that effective at the beginning of the 1982-83 school contract year the base salary amount for Dorchester teachers shall be $11,890.00. This represents a standard salary schedule of $377,008.12 (base salary amount of $11,890.00 multiplied by staff index factor of 31.708), plus fringe benefits of $30,378.12 which makes the total teacher compensation for the purpose of these calculations: $407,386.24.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED:
1. That the base salary amount for Dorchester School District teachers shall be $11,890.00, effective at the beginning of the 1982-83 school contract year.
2. This Order shall be effective for wages and conditions of employment with respect to the 1982-1983 school contract year. The adjustments resulting from this Order shall be made ratably over the twelve months of the school contract year. The amount due for the portion of the school contract year already elapsed shall be paid as soon as feasible following the entry of this Order.
All Judges assigned to the panel in this case join in the entry of this Opinion and Order.
Filed January 26, 1983
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