Vacation Leave - the EC group
May 26, 2004
As a major component of the EC theme for work and life balance, we proposed significant improvements to our vacation leave provisions. We initially proposed four weeks vacation until the 6th year of service similar to other agreements in the federal family - including the 4 Research Table Groups (Historical Research, Mathematics, Scientific Research and Defence Scientific Service), the Medicine Group and the Law Group (4 weeks after 5 years). Four weeks of vacation are granted to employees in their first year of service in the broader public service on Parliament Hill, at the National Research Council and at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Services. Our proposal also included a reduction in the number of years of service before employees become entitled to a 5 week and 6 week entitlement and we introduced a new 7 week entitlement.
Such a proposal would support the employers own 'employer of choice' campaign - your feedback regularly tells us that after pay, vacation is the most desired improvement in the collective agreement.
On an international basis Canada's and federal public service vacations are well below International standards, for example the minimum number of vacation days employers are required to grant employees are: Sweden - 32, Denmark - 30, France - 30, Austria - 30, Spain - 30, Ireland - 28, Japan - 25, Portugal - 25, Netherlands - 25, Belgium - 24, Norway - 21, Switzerland - 20, Germany - 18 (but there the average is 30). Even with our collective agreement we don't get the minimum required by law in these countries - thus our proposal for four weeks minimum vacation.
The majority of our members have less than 9 years of service, with a very heavy concentration less than 6 years service. Therefore, after we had negotiated for some time, and in an attempt to reach an agreement, the EC negotiating team modified its proposal to add three days vacation after 5 years - that is, three weeks and three days for the 6th, 7th and 8th years - after 8 years the current agreement calls for 4 weeks. A very small increase - 9 additional days over a career. Yet the employer said no. For longer service employees we proposed 30 days leave after 28 years rather than 29, which is now the trend in federal public service agreements.
Vacations remain a sticking point with many of us - we see our friends getting discretionary days off, or see workplaces closing between Christmas and New Years. We sit across the table from the Employer's team, most of who are long service employees with 5 or six weeks of vacation. We know that overtime is an issue for many. We know that for most EC members, no one does our work when we are away, so the employer does not incur additional cost if we were to be away a little bit more. And we wanted to address member requests for more balance between work and family life. The employer has proposed renewing the article as is, which meant no improvement to the vacation leave entitlement. This left us with no other option than to carry additional vacation leave into arbitration.
May 26, 2004
As a major component of the EC theme for work and life balance, we proposed significant improvements to our vacation leave provisions. We initially proposed four weeks vacation until the 6th year of service similar to other agreements in the federal family - including the 4 Research Table Groups (Historical Research, Mathematics, Scientific Research and Defence Scientific Service), the Medicine Group and the Law Group (4 weeks after 5 years). Four weeks of vacation are granted to employees in their first year of service in the broader public service on Parliament Hill, at the National Research Council and at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Services. Our proposal also included a reduction in the number of years of service before employees become entitled to a 5 week and 6 week entitlement and we introduced a new 7 week entitlement.
Such a proposal would support the employers own 'employer of choice' campaign - your feedback regularly tells us that after pay, vacation is the most desired improvement in the collective agreement.
On an international basis Canada's and federal public service vacations are well below International standards, for example the minimum number of vacation days employers are required to grant employees are: Sweden - 32, Denmark - 30, France - 30, Austria - 30, Spain - 30, Ireland - 28, Japan - 25, Portugal - 25, Netherlands - 25, Belgium - 24, Norway - 21, Switzerland - 20, Germany - 18 (but there the average is 30). Even with our collective agreement we don't get the minimum required by law in these countries - thus our proposal for four weeks minimum vacation.
The majority of our members have less than 9 years of service, with a very heavy concentration less than 6 years service. Therefore, after we had negotiated for some time, and in an attempt to reach an agreement, the EC negotiating team modified its proposal to add three days vacation after 5 years - that is, three weeks and three days for the 6th, 7th and 8th years - after 8 years the current agreement calls for 4 weeks. A very small increase - 9 additional days over a career. Yet the employer said no. For longer service employees we proposed 30 days leave after 28 years rather than 29, which is now the trend in federal public service agreements.
Vacations remain a sticking point with many of us - we see our friends getting discretionary days off, or see workplaces closing between Christmas and New Years. We sit across the table from the Employer's team, most of who are long service employees with 5 or six weeks of vacation. We know that overtime is an issue for many. We know that for most EC members, no one does our work when we are away, so the employer does not incur additional cost if we were to be away a little bit more. And we wanted to address member requests for more balance between work and family life. The employer has proposed renewing the article as is, which meant no improvement to the vacation leave entitlement. This left us with no other option than to carry additional vacation leave into arbitration.