Reassignment of Employees Physically Unable to Perform Normal Classification. When an employee becomes physically unable to perform the essential functions of his/her job, with or without a reasonable accommodation, the Company will make reasonable effort to assign him/her to another job if available which he/she is qualified and physically able to perform, and in such cases the seniority provisions of this Agreement shall not be applicable. It is understood that there will be no requirement on the Company to add a job or to place the employee in a job he/she is unable to perform. The rate of pay in the new job shall be determined as follows:
1. If the employee has ten years or less of service at the time the disability begins or if the employee’s disability is due to his/her own gross misconduct or injury sustained while working in employment outside the Company, his/her rate of pay shall be the rate of the new job to which he/she is assigned, but not more than the rate he/she was receiving when the disability began.
2. If the employee has more than ten years of service and is displaced due to a cause other than his/her own gross misconduct or injury sustained while working in employment outside the Company:
a) If the employee has more than 10 years of service, but less than twenty-five at the time the disability begins, and if the rate of the new job is less than the rate he/she was receiving when the disability began, he/she shall receive the rate of the new job, plus the following adjustment for each year of service in excess of 10 years: 7% of the difference between the rate of the new job and the rate he/she was receiving when his/her disability began, but not to exceed an aggregate of 100%.
b) If the employee has 25 years or more of service at the time his/her disability began, his/her rate of pay in the new job shall be the same rate he/she was receiving when the disability began.
c) If the employee's rate of pay as determined above exceeds the rate of the new job, it shall remain unchanged unless or until the rate of the job exceeds that amount. If a partially disabled employee who has been placed in a lower rated job later becomes qualified to fill a job more nearly corresponding in rate of pay to his/her former pay rate, he/she will be given consideration should such a higher rated job become available. In such cases, the seniority provisions of this Agreement may be waived upon the mutual agreement of the Company and Union.
