Step 4 Settlement Agreement: Article 19; Handbooks and Manuals (1987)

The issue in this grievance is whether a contractual violation occurred when employees requested and were allowed to work over 6 hours without a lunch break. After reviewing this matter, we mutually agreed that no national interpretive issue is fairly presented in this case. This case is suitable for regional determination through application of Section 432.34 of the Employee and Labor Relations Manual, which states in pertinent part, “… no employee may be required to work more than six continuous hours without a meal or rest period of at least one-half hour.” Whether or not the employees were required to work is a noninterpretive issue, Accordingly, we agreed to remand this case to the parties at Step 3 for further processing including arbitration if necessary.