Civilian Member Spotlight: Cindy Mitchell-Building Bridges

Cindy Mitchell

London Police Association

By Heather Hogan

Meet Cindy Mitchell, a Payroll and Benefits Supervisor for the London Police Service who has been with the organization for an impressive 26 years. Having served on the London Police Association Board as a Civilian Director for six years, she is also currently the Co-Chair of the Job Evaluation Committee.

Over the years, her background and expertise in payroll and pensions expanded to include member benefits. As a civilian transitioning into a paramilitary working environment, navigating the chain of command along the two collective member working agreements for civilians and sworn officers was a learning curve. Wading through collective agreements in practice can be complex, especially when your role fluctuates between employee and management.

Cindy stresses the importance of being as detailed and specific as possible when developing a collective agreement because the document’s language can be open to varied interpretations.

Cindy is ‘all fairness’ in her work. She emphasizes the need to grasp the original intent in the collective agreement. Understanding the intent means you can apply a fair and consistent approach across the organization when drafting future collective agreements.

Association Hat or Management Hat? Both.

To the bargaining table, Cindy brings a wealth of knowledge and does not shy away from making hard decisions, even when she’s on the receiving end of enforcing the agreement.

For instance, she recently had a member who thought they would be entitled to a day off related to court time credits they earned, but their supervisor disagreed.

Cindy’s open-door policy allowed her to sit down with the member and take the time to sift through the language in the working agreement.

“In this case, I went through the agreement and asked myself, is there some history that can substantiate one way or another? I determined that the employee was correct and was entitled to time off. The supervisor was incorrect. Applying the working collective agreement this way would set a precedent for similar cases in the future.”

Cindy describes that she often puts her ‘union hat on at work,’ which benefits her fellow members.

“I’ve always come from the angle of what’s right, what’s the right answer. Whether it sides with management or whether it sides with the association, what is the right answer, and how do we apply this fairly, based on the intent?”

From Cindy’s point of view, if the members and management are working to find the right answer and both want to do what’s right, there should be no conflict.

“For me, whether I have an Association hat on or a management hat on, sometimes the answer isn’t favourable to the member, but it’s the correct answer. So, it’s about managing their expectations, ensuring we’re executing the working agreement the way it was meant to be performed – fairly and accurately.”

A Bridge Over Troubled Communication Waters

Cindy is a bridge between management and members. She listens to both sides and provides context to each situation to reach a commonground resolution.

When it comes down to it, effective communication can affect the narrative. Collaborative conversations are a must.

For example, when she hears a viewpoint from a supervisor or senior officer, she puts on her Association hat and asks, “Have you thought about this perspective? Have you thought about this angle from the perspective of the member? And is this the intent that you want? Is this the right decision, or does the decision need to be massaged a little bit so that it meets both the needs of the organization and the needs of the member?”

Cindy cares about her members.

Using her service role on the Association board, she builds bridges between members and senior management.

“I want to help our members by serving as a sounding board, guiding them through the next steps, validating their experiences, and clarifying our processes.”

In 2020, during the pandemic, Cindy recalls it was a chaotic time for management to navigate working from home and set parameters for some employees while telling others that working from home was not an option because they were frontline. She often heard from scared and vulnerable civilian members with health issues who had trouble following the organization’s work-from-home policy, because it contradicted or did not align with their direct supervisor’s actions.

Cindy consulted the Deputy Chief to align policies with actions so these members could successfully work from home.

In this case, she says, “I feel sometimes management’s vision is clear, but the message gets blurred along the way as it goes down to the frontline.”

During this tumultuous time, she supported her civilian members by explaining the intent of the work policy and assuring them it would be implemented fairly and accurately.

Job Evaluation Committee

Co-Chair for London Police Association

The Job Evaluation Committee has equal service and Association representation to evaluate job descriptions and pay jointly.

In February 2021, the London Police Service and Gallagher, an insurance brokerage, risk management and consultation firm, began evaluating jobs to assess and update job roles.

Updating job descriptions is key to keeping current with the policing sector. It’s one way to ensure members’ pay and job descriptions accurately reflect their work.

Equity and Fairness in Job Evaluations

Cindy ensures equity and fairness in job evaluations from the Association’s perspective. Consistently evaluating all the jobs across the organization also enables members to receive fair compensation and recognition for their work.

For example, in this recent round of evaluations, Cindy describes how the psychological aspect of a member’s position is now considered in evaluating a job.

“If somebody’s position involves constantly reading disturbing materials or viewing distressing images, we can now evaluate how these job requirements affect them,” she says.

“Under our old plan, the harmful effect they could have on a member’s mental/emotional health was never factored in nor scored. There was no value or weight attributed to that. So, we introduced a new evaluation tool that lets us review job details more comprehensively. It ensures we have enough factors to score the position – everything from finance to physical aspects, from supervisory to psychological elements.”

Job Evaluations: Comparing Apples to Oranges

As Co-Chair of the Job Evaluation Committee, Cindy ensures the process is consistent and fair. She spends a lot of time explaining the process to her members and manages their expectations of where their evaluation landed. She explains how each job is different, especially among different services. Therefore, it can be like comparing apples to oranges.

However, once there’s been a decision and consensus about the job evaluation at the committee level, Cindy says, “The decision is the decision.” And she can confidently execute it because of the fair and equitable process in place.

She thinks the Association and service have been successfully communicating and listening to each other.

“I think that’s what sets us apart. It’s something that’s very helpful to our membership.”

Cindy describes how important it is to establish a fair process and to stick with it. She is quick to respond to members with a win-win solution.

Your Job Information Questionnaire Helps Me Help You

It’s important for members to participate in their Job Information Questionnaire.

“We always tell our members how important it is to take the time to do your due diligence, to make sure you’ve captured all your duties correctly and accurately,” says Cindy. “We always want to ensure they’ve done that properly.”

The supervisor also has an opportunity to review and make notes on the questionnaire.

“We report any discrepancies between the supervisor and division commander. We want to make sure that they have communicated them to the employee. The member needs to be aware of any changes to their job description or what the employer feels they should or should not be doing. So if there’s any conflict, we can intervene if we have to.”

Also note that in a collective agreement, a member can initiate a request to have their job description evaluated through the process. A manager can also submit a request, especially if they feel a position has significantly changed.

Navigating the Claims System, Reducing Paperwork for Members

Cindy believes she has the greatest impact as a Civilian Director due to her knowledge of the process surrounding long-term disability claims, WSIB claims, OMERS waiver of premiums, the paperwork involved with it, and how daunting it is for members.

“I’m very happy that I’m able to help our members because when we have a member that is off, whether it’s physical injury or a mental absence, I always find that when you’re not healthy, and then suddenly, you’re bombarded with all this paperwork and all this medical jargon and all these requests…it’s too much! Being here 26 years, I can see it, I can see how overwhelming it is.”

Being able to help her fellow members is rewarding because she can ‘move things forward to a better spot’. Cindy says that if you want to improve processes and your work environment, you should join your Association board – you can make a real difference.