Court Opinion

ID: 9561490
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:10:29.55044+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:13:50.066399
License: Public Domain

Durham, J.
(dissenting) — The resolution of this case rests on the interpretation of the following provision of the Employment Security Act:
Any agreement by an individual to waive, release, or commute his rights to benefits or any other rights under this title shall be void. . . . No employer shall directly or indirectly . . . require or accept any waiver of any right hereunder by any individual in his employ.
RCW 50.40.010. The majority accepts the Employment Security Department's (Department) argument that Mr. Pelto's right to benefits has been waived by operation of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). However, this analysis fails to recognize that the CBA did not negate any right to benefits; it merely set forth the method for computing and recording the hours worked. Under RCW 50.04.030, the right to unemployment benefits can only arise when the employee has at least 680 hours in the base year reported to the Department. Pursuant to the CBA, Pelto was shown to have worked only 513 hours. Because Pelto failed to meet the statutory requirements for compensation, he at no time had any right to waive.
*412In order to reach its conclusion that a waiver of benefits has occurred here, the majority construes RCW 50.40.010 to avoid its plain language. Essentially, the majority removes the phrase "by an individual" from the statute so that it can be applied to a valid CBA. This is done by reading an unnecessary ambiguity into the statute. Majority, at 405. The majority believes that "any agreement" indicates an intent to apply this statute to CBAs. Majority, at 405. However, the statute actually states that it applies to "[a]ny agreement by an individual". (Italics mine.) RCW 50.40.010. This court is required to give meaning "to every word, clause and sentence of a statute and ... no part should be deemed superfluous." Clark v. Pacificorp, 118 Wn.2d 167, 183, 822 P.2d 162 (1991). An "individual" is defined as "a single human being as contrasted with a social group or institution". Webster's Third New International Dictionary 1152 (1971). Where a statute defines the class upon which it operates, it can be inferred that the Legislature intended to exclude any omitted categories. Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Tri, 117 Wn.2d 128, 134, 814 P.2d 629 (1991). There is no ambiguity in this statute, and the phrase "by an individual" means that this statute was not intended to apply to CBAs.
Even were the majority correct in its assumption that this statute applies to CBAs, it still has not been shown that any waiver of benefits actually occurred. The formula used by Shoreline standardized the reporting of part-time employees' hours, and pursuant to this formula, Pelto never reached the statutory minimum for receiving benefits. Support for this conclusion is found in the regulations of the Department itself. The regulations contemplate that employers and employees will use a standard method for computing regular hours. WAC 192-16-002(4) defines "hours worked" in part as follows:
Employees on salary. If a salaried employee works irregular nonstandard weeks, he or she shall be reported for the actual number of hours worked. In the absence of reliable time figures, a full-time salaried employee will be reported for 40 hours worked for each week in which any of his or her duties are performed.
*413The hours-allowed formula found in the CBA is consistent with WAC 192-16-002(4). The regulation allows reporting of an estimate of hours worked in the absence of reliable time figures. Just as the regulation allows an employer to report its full-time employees as working 40 hours a week, whether they do or not, the formula here is a method agreed upon to standardize the weekly reported hours of part-time employees. Thus, the failure to report actual hours is not inconsistent with the Employment Security Act.
Moreover, the formula is equitable in its calculation of the hours of part-time employees. It was intended to represent not only the hours to be reported, but also the hours required to complete the job. Other colleges report hours based solely on classroom hours, or allow 1 hour of preparation time for each hour in the classroom. Shoreline's formula recognizes that a faculty member works outside of the classroom, but limits the number of hours expected of its part-time faculty. Pelto appears to have spent three times as much time preparing for class and meeting with students as he did actually teaching. While such diligence may be commendable, the college has a right to expect the provisions of its CBA to control the actual hours reported.1
To now disregard provisions in a CBA which were freely bargained for also undermines the policies set forth in RCW 28B.52 and the Public Employees' Collective Bargaining Act, RCW 41.56. The current version of RCW 28B.52 states that one of the purposes of the chapter is to establish "orderly procedures governing the relationship between the employees and their employers which procedures are designed to meet the special requirements and needs of public employment in higher education." RCW 28B.52.010. The Legislature has commanded that the Public Employees' Collective Bargaining Act be "liberally construed", RCW 41.56.905, and *414this court has similarly found that exceptions to such employees' rights to collectively bargain are to be "narrowly confined". Yakima v. International Ass'n of Fire Fighters, Local 469, 117 Wn.2d 655, 670, 818 P.2d 1076 (1991). The statute in effect at the time of the agreement allowed negotiation on "policies relating to, but not limited to,. . . personnel, hiring and assignment practices, leaves of absence, salaries and salary schedules and noninstructional duties." Former RCW 28B.52.030. The "hours-allowed" formula was a legitimate subject for bargaining within the terms of the statute.2 There is no conflict here with RCW 50.40.010, since a right to benefits will still arise once the statutory minimum number of hours is met.
Even were a conflict to exist, we have previously found that a validly negotiated CBA can be given effect in the face of a conflicting statute. In Rose v. Erickson, 106 Wn.2d 420, 421, 721 P.2d 969 (1986), we held that the provisions of a CBA regarding grievance procedures, including arbitration, were paramount to the procedures set forth in the civil service statute. We recognized there that an actual conflict existed between RCW 41.14, describing the proper grievance procedures for civil service employees, and RCW 41.56, granting collective bargaining rights to public employees. Rose, at 424. Nevertheless, we held that the terms of the CBA controlled.
This reasoning is supported in other jurisdictions as well. For instance, a New York court interpreting an arbitration clause similar to that in Rose held that the terms of the CBA controlled. Antinore v. State, 49 A.D.2d 6, 371 N.Y.S.2d 213 (1975), aff'd, 40 N.Y.2d 921 (1976). Even when an individual public employee disagrees with certain provisions, a valid
*415CBA binds the employee. Antinore, at 10-11. The court there stated:
The fact that this plaintiff did not himself approve the agreement negotiated by his representative and now disclaims satisfaction with one aspect of the agreement makes it no less binding upon him. Labor relations involving any sizeable group cannot be expected to proceed only with the consent of each member of the group. Orderly process requires that agreements be made and complied with even in the face of minority dissent or disapproval.
Antinore, at 10-11. An Alaska court found that even constitutional rights of public employees could be waived in the CBA. Storrs v. Municipality of Anchorage, 721 P.2d 1146, 1150 (Alaska 1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1032 (1987).
Common sense is in accord with case law. If the CBA is to have any meaning at all, it must be given effect over the objections of a single employee. The statute itself explicitly applies only to agreements entered into by individuals. The formula for "hours-allowed" was contained in a duly executed agreement; it was freely negotiated and is binding on all employees. The collective bargaining process would be weakened if individual employees could circumvent any resulting agreement. The "hours-allowed" formula did not waive any rights to unemployment compensation. It merely defined an equitable and unintrusive method of recording and reporting the hours worked by part-time staff to the Department.
I would therefore reverse the Court of Appeals and reinstate the decision of the Administrative Law Judge.
Brachtenbach, Dolliver, and Andersen, JJ., concur with Durham, J.

 Absent a recognized formula for computing hours, it is nearly impossible to judge the reasonableness of reported hours for occupations such as teaching where preparation time is a highly subjective factor. Indeed, the record is clear that the 770 hours accepted by the Commissioner were based only on estimates provided by Pelto.

 The Court of Appeals decision below mistakenly relied upon the most recent version of RCW 28B.52, which mandates collective bargaining "with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, such as procedures related to nonretention, dismissal, denial of tenure, and reduction in force." RCW 28B.52.020(8). However, this language was inserted into the statute in 1987, and although no CBA is in the record, such agreement must have been entered into prior to 1986, which is the year in which Pelto worked for Shoreline.