Opinion ID: 1745142
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts and administrative proceedings

Text: ¶ 2. On November 29, 2006, Mississippi Polymers, Inc. (MPI), located in Corinth, issued a memorandum to employees entitled Volunteers to Work Christmas Shutdown. This memorandum stated that the year-end inventory would be performed during the first shift on Monday, December 18, 2006, and if necessary, on Tuesday, December 19, 2006; that four people from the 1A shift/crew were needed to work in Plant Service during the Christmas shutdown with the work beginning at 7:00 a.m. on December 18, 2006, and ending at 3:00 p.m. on January 2, 2007, except that no work would be performed from December 22, 2006, through December 25, 2006, and from December 29, 2006, through January 1, 2007; and that volunteers were needed to perform equipment maintenance from December 17, 2006, through January 2, 2007, except that, just as with the work in Plant Service, no maintenance work would be performed from December 22, 2006, through December 25, 2006, and from December 29, 2006, through January 1, 2007. The memorandum further provided that workers wishing to volunteer should sign one of the posted volunteer lists, which would be removed on Friday, December 8, 2006, at 7:00 a.m. Finally, this memorandum referenced the Labor Agreement which MPI had with Local Union No. 759L and the United Steelworkers of America concerning crew bonuses and shift premiums for this shutdown work, and further provided that [m]aintenance volunteers will be paid a shift/crew premium for whatever shift/crew they work during the shutdown. If more volunteers signed up than were needed, the volunteer workers would be chosen based on seniority, consistent with the Labor Agreement. ¶ 3. Also on November 29, 2006, a notice to all employees referencing 2006 Christmas and New Year's Holidays was posted on bulletin boards throughout the MPI facility. This notice provided information very similar to the just-discussed memorandum. Also, this notice stated, inter alia, that continuous operating schedules for the Calendar, Laboratory, Quality Control, Shipping, Plant Service, and Materials Departments would be suspended from 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 17, 2006, until 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 2, 2007; and that noncontinuous operations, including Laminating, Print, Inspection, Laboratory, Quality Control, Plant Service, and Shipping, would be suspended from 3:00 p.m. (and Materials from 11:00 p.m.) on Friday, December 15, 2006, until 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 3, 2007. This notice likewise stated that Friday, December 22, and Monday, December 25, would be observed as the Christmas Holidays; and that Friday, December 29, and Monday, January 1, would be observed as the New Year's Holidays. [1] ¶ 4. On December 20, 2006, Ronnie Alexander, along with ninety-seven other MPI employees (claimants), [2] filed unemployment benefit claims with the Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES). [3] On December 21, 2006, Donna Weston, MPI Human Resources Manager, wrote a letter to Dale Groves at the MDES claims center in Corinth. This letter confirmed a telephone conversation between Weston and Groves and explained that the maintenance shutdown from December 17, 2006, until approximately January 2, 2007, is not a lack of work situation and that [w]e have had these type shutdowns for thirty plus years. This letter also confirmed the fact that after conferring with the MDES office in Jackson, Groves informed Weston that MPI employees would not be eligible for the benefits during this [shutdown] period. Finally, the Weston-to-Groves letter confirmed that on December 21, 2006, MPI had received more than fifty claims for unemployment benefits but that Groves had advised Weston that, since MPI had previously informed MDES that this was not a lack of work situation but instead a designated maintenance shutdown . . . the employees are not eligible for benefits. ¶ 5. On January 9, 2007, MDES sent the claimants a Notice of Nonmonetary Decision, which stated, inter alia: It is found that, with respect to your employment status, the weeks ending December 23, 2006, [and] December 30, 2006, are a designated holiday recess or vacation period. Your continued claims for such weeks are, therefore, disallowed because you were not available for work within the meaning of the Law. However, on February 23, 2007, MDES sent MPI a Notice to Employer of Claims Determination which stated that MDES had determined that MPI was not closed due to a designated holiday or vacation period during the weeks ending December 23, 2006 and December 30, 2006, and that, therefore, the decisions denying benefits to individuals who filed claims for unemployment benefits during this time have been reversed. MPI promptly appealed this adverse ruling. ¶ 6. On April 24, 2007, a hearing was conducted before the MDES, Administrative Law Judge Cindy C. Gill presiding. The sole issue considered was whether or not the claimant [was] prima facie unavailable for work due to a holiday period or vacation for week(s) ending December 23, 2006, and December 30, 2006. Weston testified that all of the claimants were still currently employed at MPI. Weston likewise testified that the plant was not in operation during the weeks in question because it was closed due to a maintenance shutdown that we have each year to perform maintenance work on the equipment, machinery and equipment that cannot be completed when the plant is in operation. Weston stated that the scheduled maintenance shutdown had occurred each year for the almost-thirty years that she had been employed at MPI and that she believed the shutdowns had occurred even before she began working there. The machinery had to be completely shut down to do the scheduled maintenance, she said. The normal procedure each year was that notices were posted on bulletin boards and given to the union president in the late months of the year to inform employees of the specific dates of the yearly shutdown. ¶ 7. The notice for the 2006 shutdown was posted on November 11, 2006, and this notice was entitled 2006 Christmas and New Year's Holidays. The notice included a note which stated Friday, December 22 and Monday, December 25 will be observed as the Christmas Holidays. Friday, December 29 and Monday, January 1 will be observed as the New Year's Holidays. MPI's agreement with the claimants' union stated that employees would have Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day as paid holidays. Each of these holidays was defined by the agreement as being twenty-four hours. If one of the paid holidays fell on Saturday or Sunday, MPI designated the Friday before or the Monday after as the paid holiday. Accordingly, the employees received four days of pay during the holiday shutdown and no pay for the remaining days. Weston testified that the entire shutdown was not a holiday shutdown, but instead it was a maintenance shutdown. Employees who were not selected to work during the shutdown were paid only for the four designated holidays. Memos concerning the shutdown period dating back to 1991 were submitted as part of the record at the hearing. According to these yearly memos, the shortest shutdown for any given year was from December 23 until January 1. ¶ 8. The evidence adduced at the hearing before the ALJ revealed that the yearly memo always gave the date that employees were expected to return to work. If the employee failed to return to work on the first day after the scheduled shutdown, the employee forfeited holiday pay. A shutdown for lack of work differed from the Christmas shutdown because, typically, only one maintenance employee and one supervisor worked in order to prevent fires, whereas with the scheduled Christmas shutdown, employees could sign up voluntarily to work specified tasks. MPI experienced a lack-of-work shutdown during the week of Thanksgiving in 2006. The memo sent to employees stated that MPI anticipated some decrease in orders for the remainder of the year but also stated that new programs were expected for 2007. ¶ 9. Page 20 of the Union Labor Agreement references the shutdown and maintenance cleanup period: 1. Employees scheduled or volunteering to work inventories and vacation shutdowns will be paid their straight time base hourly rate for the time worked. All shift premiums, crew bonuses, and crew free pay will not be paid for this work. Employees working Maintenance Clean-up during shutdown will receive Maintenance Entry Rate Pay or their regular hourly rate, whichever is the greater. 2. If a Holiday occurs during the plant shutdown, the employee will receive Holiday Pay based on his regular crewing. If an employee works on the Holiday, he will be paid double time for time worked based on the shutdown crewing. Article V of Labor Agreement (emphasis added). Also, the Labor Agreement states on pages 22-23: 2. When [any of the company holidays] fall on a Saturday or Sunday, the Company shall, at its option, designate the following Monday or preceding Friday as an observed holiday. When any of the above holidays fall during a vacation close-down period the Company shall, at its option, designate a Friday or Monday included in the vacation close-down period, as the day to be observed as the holiday for those employees not scheduled to work during the vacation close-down period. The day observed as the holiday shall be based upon production requirements as determined by the Company. . . . . 5. Employees who are laid off in a work week in which a holiday occurs or in a week preceding the week in which a holiday occurs shall be paid for such holiday provided the employee works his last scheduled shift prior to the holiday. 6. Employees returning to work from lay off during the week in which the holiday occurs or during the week following the week in which the holiday occurs shall be paid for such holiday provided the employee works his first shift after the holiday. (Emphasis added). The Labor Agreement also references the Christmas shutdown on page 70: If the plant is closed for vacation or Christmas shutdown or employee is on vacation they (sic) will receive three (3) days funeral pay. (Emphasis added). ¶ 10. Weston contended that the shutdown was the yearly scheduled occurrence rather than a lack-of-work situation, as MPI had experienced in the past. This was the longest shutdown that MPI had ever scheduled at the holiday season. More employees signed up to work than MPI needed for the work during the shutdown and therefore, employees were chosen by seniority. Approximately thirty employees, plus the maintenance crew, were called to work from the sign-up sheets during the shutdown. However, some of the employees who filed unemployment claims did not even sign up to work voluntarily. MPI filled a typical number of positions during the shutdown. ¶ 11. Mark Casto, a fifteen-year MPI employee and the recording secretary for the employees' union, also testified at the hearing before the ALJ. According to Casto, he was told that MPI was going to shut down and that employees who wanted to work during that period could sign up for work based on seniority. The procedure was handled as it had been in previous years, but it was the longest holiday shutdown he could recall. Employees who did not sign up would not be able to work, but there was no guarantee that those employees who did sign up would be given work because of seniority limitations. Employees knew that there would be no work available during the shutdown if they did not sign up or were not chosen because they lacked seniority. Casto did not work during the 2006 shutdown because he lacked seniority; however, he stated he would have worked if he had had enough seniority. This was the first year that he had been denied work based on lack of seniority. No employee who worked during the shutdown filed for unemployment benefits; however, some of the claimants did not even sign up for work. Casto had never filed for unemployment benefits during past holiday shutdowns, because over the years, he had been given the opportunity to work based on seniority or had not signed up to work. Casto understood the designated holidays were Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day, which could be observed on Friday or Monday if those days fell on a Saturday or Sunday. Casto could not recall the plant shutting down during the week of Thanksgiving since he had been employed at MPI, [4] and he also could not recall the plant ever shutting down for an entire week due to lack of work. ¶ 12. Subsequent to the hearing, the ALJ issued an opinion on May 11, 2007, reversing the claims examiner's decision, and holding that the claimants were prima facie unavailable for work because they were on a designated yearly maintenance shutdown as referenced by the Union Labor Agreement. The practical effect of the ALJ's ruling was that MPI was entitled to a non-charge. On July 23, 2007, the MDES Board of Review affirmed the ALJ's decision. On August 3, 2007, Alexander filed a Petition of Appeal in the Circuit Court of Alcorn County.