Adams v. Review Bd. of Indiana Employment Sec. Division, 29567

• Court: Indiana Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: BOBBITT; ARTERBURN; EMMERT
• Citation: Adams v. Review Bd. of Indiana Employment Sec. Division, 143 N.E.2d 564, 237 Ind. 63 (Ind. 1957)
• Decision Date: 27 June 1957
• Docket Number: No. 29567,29567
• Parties: Patricia G. ADAMS et al., Appellants, v. The REVIEW BOARD OF the INDIANA EMPLOYMENT SECURITY DIVISION and Western Electric Company, Incorporated, Appellees.

Page 564

143 N.E.2d 564

237 Ind. 63

Patricia G. ADAMS et al., Appellants, v. The REVIEW BOARD OF the INDIANA EMPLOYMENT SECURITY DIVISION and Western Electric Company, Incorporated, Appellees.

No. 29567.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

June 27, 1957.

Ralph N. May, Indianapolis, for appellants.

Edwin K. Steers, Atty. Gen., William S. McMaster, Jr., Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellee Review Board of Ind., etc.

Walter Wm. Evans, Frederic D. Anderson, Kurt F. Pantzer, Jr., Indianapolis, Barnes, Hickam, Pantzer & Boyd, Indianapolis, of counsel, for appellee Western Electric Co.

BOBBITT, Judge.

This case comes to us on petition to transfer from the Appellate Court under § 4-215, Burns' 1946 Replacement. See, Adams v. Review Board of Indiana Employ. Sec. Div., 1957, Ind.App., 139 N.E.2d 577, for opinion of the Appellate Court.

Appellants, as employees of appellee Western Electric Company, Incorporated, at its Indianapolis, Indiana, plant, brought this proceeding to recover unemployment compensation insurance for a standard vacation period from July 18, 1955, to July 31, 1955, when appellee had shut down its plant and ceased production work of any kind.

From a decision of the Review Board holding that appellants were voluntarily unemployed and unavailable for work during such standard vacation period and were not entitled to benefit rights during such period, this appeal is prosecuted.

The Review Board made Findings and Conclusions in pertinent part as follows:

'3. That all of the claimants involved herein, excepting C-143, C-19, C-78, C-133, and C-170, were members of a bargaining unit for which the IBEW was the authorized bargaining agent, and that the wages, hours, and conditions of employment of such claimants were governed by a bargaining agreement entitled 'General Agreement' entered into by and between the employer and the IBEW and effective May 15, 1955 through the period of time involved herein.

'4. That the aforesaid 'General Agreement' provided for a standard vacation period during which all employees except those required to work due to the needs of the business should take their vacations and that the employer, acting within its rights under such agreement, closed its plant for the period of July 18, 1955, to July 31, 1955 for vacation purposes.

'5. That the 301 claimants covered by the said 'General Agreement' were parties to it through their bargaining agent, were bound by its terms to accept the 'Standard Vacation Period' for their own vacation purposes, and therefore were on voluntary leave for vacation purposes during such period.

'8. That all the claimants except C-143 were unavailable for work under Section 1403 of the Act and ineligible for benefit rights for the calendar weeks ending July 23 and July 30, 1955.

'In reaching its findings and conclusions in the instant case, the Review Board has considered carefully the distinguishing features of the facts here as contrasted with those in the case of American Bridge Co. v. Riview Board, 1951, 121 Ind.App. 576, 98 N.E.2d 193, wherein benefit rights were allowed to claimants ineligible for vacation pay who were out of work during a plant shutdown for inventory and vacation purposes. In the American Bridge case the plant was shut down for the primary purpose of taking an inventory, rather than solely for vacation purposes as in the instant case. In the American Bridge case, by the express terms of the employment contract with the union, the period of shutdown could be designated as a vacation period only for those employees eligible for vacations with pay, whereas in the instant case the employment contract provides for the scheduling of vacations during the standard vacation period for all employees not required to work without any distinction being made between those eligible for vacation pay and those not so eligible. * * *

'In its conclusion that all except five of the claimants herein are bound individually by the 'General Agreement' between the employers and the IBEW, the Board is guided by the decision of the Indiana Appellate Court in Standard Oil Co v. Review Board, 1949, 119 Ind.App. 576, 88 N.E.2d 567.

'It is declared in Section 101 to be the purpose of the Act to provide benefits for 'persons unemployed through no fault of their own.' 'Fault' here means 'volition,' rather than a wrong doing or something worthy or censure. Walter Bledsoe Coal Co. v. Review Board, 1943, 221 Ind. 16, 46 N.W.2d 447. The conclusion here that claimants were unavailable for work as a matter of law, by reason of being unemployed by their own 'volition' as expressed through their contracts of hire, is in harmony with this declared purpose of the Act.

'Decision: The decision of the referee is reversed. The 301 claimants covered by the collective bargaining agreement between the employer and IBEW, and claimants designated as C-19, C-78, C-133 and C-170 were voluntarily unemployed and unavailable for work during the Standard Vacation Period from July 18, 1955 to July 31, 1955 and are not entitled to benefit rights during such period. The case of C-143 is remanded to the referee for further proceedings consistent with the finding heretofore made.'

The facts upon which the findings and conclusions of the Review Board are based may be summarized as follows:

The 301 claimants involved herein were among the employees who are hourly-rated production and maintenance employees whose wages, hours of employment and other conditions of employment are covered by a collective bargaining agreement entitled 'General Agreement', effective May 15, 1955, entered into between appellee Western Electric Company, Incorporated, Indianapolis Works, and Local 1504, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, A.F.L. (hereinafter referred to as the 'IBEW').

The IBEW was the exclusive bargaining agent for approximately 5900 employees in a bargaining unit of which appellants herein were members, duly designated and certified by the National Labor Relations Board. Such bargaining agreement contains the following provision in Article 20, Paragraph 3:

'3. Scheduling Vacations

'3.1 Vacations shall be taken during the two-week standard vacation period except for those employees who are required by the Company to work during that period due to the needs of the business. Vacations not scheduled during the standard vacation period will be scheduled in accordance with the employee's wishes to the extent consistent with the needs of the business, giving due consideration to Term of Employment.'

On January 18, 1955, the employer posted notices on several bulletin boards in the plant, which notices remained on the bulletin boards until after July 31, 1955. These notices read as follows:

'Standard Vacation Period-1955

'1. Vacation Period

'1.1 The two week period starting 7/18/1955 and ending 7/31/1955 has been designated as the Standard Vacation Period for 1955.

'2. Scheduling Vacations

'2.1 Vacations shall be scheduled during the standard period, any deviation from this period requires Superintendent approval. Employees eligible to less than two weeks' paid vacation shall take the remainder of the scheduled period at their own expense.

'2.2 Employees eligible to three weeks vacation shall schedule their third week either immediately preceding or following the standard period. Any departure from the scheduling of the third week in this manner will require Superintendent approval.

'Manufacturing Division

'Copies to:

'215-2:CW (25)

'All Sections

'Post on All Bulletin Boards.'

The employer testified that it is the practice, in the course of the hiring process, that each employee is told that the employer has a standard vacation period of two weeks each year and that during such period all...