Opinion ID: 1535217
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: Arbitrator's Authority to Award Back Pay

Text: Communications Workers did not reach the penultimate issue whether the no work, no pay rule should be abrogated because it recognized the necessity to address first the basic issue presented in all contract disputes: What had the parties agreed to? Justice Schreiber recognized that unless one could conclude that the parties to the contract had delegated to the arbitrator the power to award back pay as a remedy for a delay in a promotion, there was no need to reach the further question whether it was lawful for the parties to so agree. Id. at 455, 476 A. 2d 777. After analyzing the contractual language, Justice Schreiber concluded that the parties in that case had not bestowed on the arbitrator the power to award back pay for the specific contract violation there involved. Id. at 452, 476 A. 2d 777. An analysis of the collective-negotiations agreement at issue here yields the same conclusion. The arbitrator's authority to resolve a given dispute or to provide a specific remedy for a breach depends, in the first instance, on whether the parties to the agreement have delegated that power to him. Id. at 448, 476 A. 2d 777; Kearny PBA Local # 21 v. Town of Kearny, 81 N.J. 208, 217, 405 A. 2d 393 (1979); Ridgefield Park Educ. Ass'n v. Ridgefield Park Bd. of Educ., 78 N.J. 144, 155, 393 A. 2d 278 (1978). The starting point for our analysis, therefore, is the language of the parties' agreement. The arbitration clause in the agreement provides: c. The arbitrator shall not have the power to add to, subtract from, or modify the provisions of this Contract or laws of the State, or any policy of the State or subdivision thereof or to determine any dispute involving the exercise of a management function which is within the authority of the State as set forth in Article II, Management Rights, and shall confine his [or her] decision solely to the interpretation and application of this Contract.... The arbitrator may prescribe an appropriate back-pay remedy when he finds a violation of this Contract, provided such remedy is permitted by law and is consistent with the terms of this Contract. If the arbitrator renders a back pay award, then in accordance with State policy, appropriate benefits will be restored to the employee for the period of time covered by the back pay award.