Changes to the EC(ES/SI)Collective Agreement
October 22, 2004
In addition to various editorial changes, the current round of bargaining included the following changes to the EC collective agreement. We have specified which changes were reached at the bargaining table and those reached in mediation before proceeding to arbitration.
EC members should refer to the actual text of the new collective agreement for full details and accuracy, as soon as it is made available by the employer. In the meantime, please call your CAPE Labour Relations Officer if a matter of disagreement with the employer arises regarding a new provision.
Improvements Gained by CAPE for the EC Group
Pay adjustments (arbitration)
June 22, 2003: 2.5%
June 22, 2004: 2.25%
June 22, 2005: 2.25%
Article 27.03 - Pay Administration (negotiating table)
Further to our complaint before the Public Service Staff Relations Board, a Memorandum of Agreement had been signed by Treasury Board and CAPE whereby it was agreed that the calculation of retroactive pay would be in accordance with the most favourable scenario for the employee, ie either in accordance with the so-called Lajoie calculation or the so-called reconstructed pay history calculation. The language in the collective agreement covering retroactive payments will now include the most favourable calculation of salaries for promotions, demotions, deployments, transfers or acting situations during the retroactive period.
Appendix D - Inmate Custodial Allowance (negotiating table)
The PFA has been renamed "Inmate Custodial Allowance” (ICA) and the payment of the allowance is determined by the designated security level of the penitentiary as follows: Maximum $2000; Multi-Level $1,500; Medium $1,000; and Minimum $600. Under the old Article, incumbents in some positions in the EC bargaining unit which are in Correctional Service received a Penological Factor Allowance (PFA) subject to certain conditions outlined in the Article, the degrees of exposure. The degrees of exposure are no longer used to reduce the maximum allowed at each security level.
Article 28.11 – Overtime Compensation (mediation)
Under the old Article, each fifteen-minute period of overtime is compensated for at time and one-half (1 ½ T). EC members received double time (2T) on a second or subsequent day of rest only if they worked also on the first day of rest. Now, overtime on a second or subsequent day of rest will be compensated at double time if the Employer approves the employee’s request to work on that day. The Article has also been re-formatted for ease of reading.
Article 30.04 – Travelling Time (mediation)
Under sub-clause (b) (ii), on a normal working day on which an EC member travels and works, the member will be paid at the applicable overtime rate for additional travel time in excess of their regularly scheduled hours of work and travel, with a maximum payment not to exceed 12 hours’ pay at the straight-time rate of pay. An entitlement to a higher maximum of 15 hours has been added for travel outside Canada or Continental USA. The same language has been added to sub-clause (c), and will apply to travel on a day of rest or on a designated paid holiday.
New Article 30.08 – Travel Status Leave (mediation)
An EC member who is away on travel for 40 nights during a fiscal year will be granted 7.5 hours off with pay and credited with an additional 7.5 hours for each additional 20 nights away on travel up to a maximum of 80 additional nights and a maximum of 37.5 hours earned.
Article 27.08 - Acting Pay (negotiating table)
The number of days of acting required for acting pay is reduced from 4 to 3 days. An EC member will receive acting pay when they are required by the Employer to perform the duties of a higher classification on acting basis for at least 3 consecutive days.
Article 2.01 - Interpretation and Definitions (negotiating table)
The definition of compensatory leave was expanded in order to include work performed on a designated holiday. As a result, an EC member will have the option of being compensated for the work either in time or in cash.
Article 28.14 - Hours of Work and Overtime (negotiating table)
Under the old sub-clause (b) all compensatory leave with pay not used by the end of a twelve-month period, to be determined by the Employer, was cashed-out. Now, an EC member may elect to carry over into the next fiscal year up to a maximum of thirty-seven and one-half (37 ½) hours of unused compensatory leave.
Article 33 - Shift and Weekend Premiums (negotiating table)
Shift and Weekend premiums have been increased from $1.75 to $2.00 per hour for EC members.
Article 28.13 – Meal Allowance (mediation)
Under sub-clause (a) and sub-clause (b), the overtime meal allowance has been increased from $9.50 to $10.50 for EC members.
Article 23.03 - Professional Development (negotiating table)
Under the new sub-clause (a)(i), EC members may be given the opportunity to participate in seminars, workshops, courses (was “short courses”) or similar out-service programs. As a result, university courses for example, will be covered by the clause.
In addition, an EC member may be granted professional development leave for a research project even if it is not directly related to its immediate duties, ie to carry out research in the his or her field of specialization not specifically related to the EC member’s assigned work projects when in the opinion of the Employer, such research is needed to enable to fill his or her present role more adequately.
Article 23.02 - Attendance at Conferences and Conventions (negotiating table)
New preamble: “the parties to this agreement recognize that the attendance or participation at conferences, conventions, symposia, workshops and other gatherings of a similar nature contributes to the maintenance of high professional standards”.
Under sub-clause (b), when an EC member attends a conference or convention at the request of the Employer,“the Employer shall pay the registration fees of the conference or convention that the employee is required to attend”.
Article 24 - Vacation Leave
24.02 - Accumulation of Vacation Leave Credits (arbitration)
Under sub-clause (h), 6 weeks of vacation (18.75 hours) after 28 years of service (was 29).
(negotiating table)
Under a new sub-clause 24.07 (c)“where the Employer cancels a period of vacation leave which had been approved which had been approved in writing or electronically, and which cannot be scheduled before the end of the vacation leave, the cancelled leave may, at the request of the employee, be carried over and used in the next vacation year. The old article required that the EC member include the credits for the cancelled leave in the calculation that determined what was to be cash out at the end of the year.
New 24.13
“Upon request of the employee, the Employer shall grant the employee his or her unused vacation leave credits prior to termination of employment if this will enable the employee, for purposes of severance pay, to complete the first (1st) year of continuous employment in the case of lay-off, and the tenth (10th) year of continuous employment in the case of resignation”. In the first case, the new article gives an EC member who is laid off an opportunity to meet the condition for an extra week of severance pay. In the second case, the new entitlement gives an EC member who resigns an opportunity to meet the minimum condition for severance pay on resignation.
New 24.15
“The Employer agrees to accept the unused vacation leave credits up to a maximum of two hundred and sixty-two decimal five (262.5) hours of an employee who resigns from an organization listed in Part II of Schedule I of the Public Service Staff Relations Act in order to take a position with the Employer if the employee has chosen to have these credits transferred, provided that the transferring organization is in agreement”.
Article 21.06 – Parental Leave (arbitration)
Under sub-clause (a)(i), an employee who has or will have the actual care and custody of a new born child (including the new born child of a common law partner), shall upon request, be granted parental leave without pay for a single period of up to thirty-seven (37) consecutive weeks in the fifty two (52) week period beginning on the day on which the child is born or the day on which the child comes into the employee’s care. Under a new (ii), at the option of the employee, the parental leave can be taken in two periods of consecutive weeks, to a maximum of thirty-seven (37) weeks.
Under a new (b) (ii), an employee who has been granted parental leave for the adoption of a child, also has the option to take parental leave in two periods of consecutive weeks, to a maximum of thirty-seven (37) weeks.
Article 20 - Designated Paid Holidays (negotiating table)
Under the old 20.05 (b) and (c), an EC member who worked on a designated paid holiday could request that a day of leave be taken at straight time at a later date in lieu of the holiday (“lieu day”). Under a new 20.10, “overtime shall be compensated in cash except where, upon request of an employee and with the approval of the Employer, overtime may be compensated in equivalent leave with pay to be administered in accordance with clause 28.14 (b)” Thus, all work on holidays will be compensated at either time and one-half or double time, not straight time, in addition to the compensation that the EC member would have received if he or she had not worked on that day.
New sub-clause under Article 21 – Volunteer Leave (mediation)
Subject to operational requirements as determined by the Employer and with an advance notice of at least five working days, an employee shall be granted in each fiscal year, 7.5 hours of leave with pay to work for a charitable organization.
New sub-clause under Article 21 – Personal Leave (mediation)
Subject to operational requirements as determined by the Employer and with an advance notice of at least five working days, an employee shall be granted in each fiscal year, 7.5 hours of leave with pay for reasons of a personal nature.
Article 21.10 – Leave without Pay for Personal Needs (negotiating table)
Under the old sub-clauses (a) and (b), leave without pay for a period of three months and for a period of one year respectively, were available only once in an EC member’s career. Now, the entitlements are available twice in a member’s career, provided that the employee has remained in the public service for a period of 10 years subsequent to the expiration of the period of leave under each sub-clause.
Article 21.09 - Leave without Pay for the Care of Immediate Family (negotiating table)
New (d) “at the request of an employee and with the approval of the Employer, an employee who has proceeded on leave without pay may change his or her return date”.
Article 21.01 – Marriage Leave (mediation)
Marriage leave, or equivalent leave with pay where same sex marriages are not recognized legally in Canada, is extended to EC members who are in a same sex couple relationship. The existing Article will be renewed and a new Appendix will be added to the collective agreement which reads: “The Treasury Board Secretariat Bulletin titled Marriage Leave and Same-Sex Couples dated August 12 2003 will be in force for the duration of the present collective agreement unless the parties decide otherwise”.
Article 21.04 and 21.07 – Maternity and Paternity Allowance (negotiating table)
Under the old paragraph C of Article 21.04 (Maternity Allowance) an EC member whose specified period of employment expired and who was rehired by the same department within a period of five days or less was not indebted for the amount of EI top-up received during maternity leave if their new period of employment was equal to the period they were on maternity leave. The application of this condition has been expanded to include term EC employees hired in any portion of the Public Service of Canada specified in Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Public Service Act” within a period of 5 days. The new period of employment must still be equal to the period the employee was on maternity leave.
The same change has been made to paragraph C of Article 21.07 (Parental Allowance).
Article 21.09 – Leave without Pay for the Care of Immediate Family (mediation)
Under sub-clause (b), leave without pay will be granted to an employee leave for the personal long term care of a member of their family “or for the care of a dying family member”. It is now explicitly stated in the collective agreement that EC members are able to take leave under this Article to care for a dying family member. EC members who are granted leave for this reason can apply to receive EI Compassionate Care Benefits for the period they are on leave. CAPE’s attempts to also negotiate a top-up similar to the maternity and parental allowances were unsuccessful in this round.
Article 21.12 - Leave with Pay for Family-Related Responsibilities (negotiating table)
The definition of family for this particular clause has been expanded; it now includes all children (was “dependent children”), “parents of spouse or common-law partner” and “grandparents”.
The quantum or maximum has been removed in each sub-clause (i.e. employees can take leave with pay under the circumstances listed under each sub-clause up to a total of 37.5 hours in a fiscal year), giving greater flexibility of use to EC members.
21.14 - Injury-on-Duty Leave (negotiating table)
An EC member who is granted leave with pay as a result of injury, illness or disease does not have“from a personal disability policy for which the employee or the employee’s agent has paid the premium”.
Article 49 - Maternity-Related Reassignment or Leave (negotiating table)
New 49.07
“ for an employee working in an institution where she is in direct and regular contact with offenders, if the Employer concludes that a modification of job functions or a reassignment that would avoid the activities or conditions indicated in the medical certificate is not reasonably practicable, the Employer shall so inform the employee in writing and shall grant leave of absence with pay to the employee for the duration of the risk as indicated in the medical certificate. However, such leave shall end no later than at the time the employee proceeds on Maternity Leave without Pay or the termination date of the pregnancy, whichever comes first”. Thus, if the Employer concludes that a modification of job functions or a reassignment is not reasonably practicable, it is now required to grant leave with pay where an EC member is in contact with offenders.
Article 35.01 – Discipline (negotiating table)
When the EC member is required to attend a meeting on disciplinary matters, the Employer is now required to notify the employee that they are entitled to have a representative of the Association attend the meeting.
Moreover, where the presence of a National representative is required and where the meeting is outside the National Capital Region, the minimum notice period has been increased from one to two days.
Article 9 - Use of Employer Facilities (negotiating table)
Under 9.01, space on bulletin boards (including electronic bulletin boards where available) will be made available to the Association for the posting of official Association notices, in convenient locations determined by the Employer and the Association. In the past, the location of bulletin boards was determined solely by the Employer
New 9.02
“where technically feasible within the existing departmental infrastructure, and subject to security restrictions, each department shall establish a hyperlink to the Association’s website from the departmental intranet website”.
New 9.06:
(a) Subject to the availability of appropriate facilities, the Association may hold general meetings of the local membership on departmental premises. The location, date, and duration of such meetings shall require the prior approval of the deputy head or his or her delegate.
(b) This clause does not entitle an employee to attend such meetings during his or her scheduled hours of work. (a section of the new Public Service Labour Relations Act, which will come into effect in the coming months will override paragraph (b))
Article 11.03 - Information (negotiating table)
EC members can request copies of National Joint Council Agreements (e.g. Travel Directive, Public Service Health Care Plan, Occupational Health and Safety Directives, etc.) in either electronic or paper form.
New Article 23.04 - Consultation (negotiating table)
“The parties to this Agreement acknowledge the mutual benefits to be derived from consultation on Career Development, and agree to consult on this issue at the departmental and local union level, subject to the provisions of Article 38, Joint Consultation”.
Concessions made to the Employer
Article 19 – Leave General
A new sub-clause (b) has been inserted in the Leave General Article which reads: “earned leave credits or other leave entitlements shall be equal to seven and one-half (7.5) hours per day”. Similar language already exists in the agreement in Appendix C - Variable Hours of Work (C.02: “The provisions of this Agreement which specify days shall be converted to hours” and C.04: “All leave provisions which specify days in this Agreement shall be converted to hours with one (1) day being equal to seven point five (7.5) hours”).
Additional editorial changes are made throughout the collective agreement in order to bring the language in line with the concession made above.
October 22, 2004
In addition to various editorial changes, the current round of bargaining included the following changes to the EC collective agreement. We have specified which changes were reached at the bargaining table and those reached in mediation before proceeding to arbitration.
EC members should refer to the actual text of the new collective agreement for full details and accuracy, as soon as it is made available by the employer. In the meantime, please call your CAPE Labour Relations Officer if a matter of disagreement with the employer arises regarding a new provision.
Improvements Gained by CAPE for the EC Group
Pay adjustments (arbitration)
June 22, 2003: 2.5%
June 22, 2004: 2.25%
June 22, 2005: 2.25%
Article 27.03 - Pay Administration (negotiating table)
Further to our complaint before the Public Service Staff Relations Board, a Memorandum of Agreement had been signed by Treasury Board and CAPE whereby it was agreed that the calculation of retroactive pay would be in accordance with the most favourable scenario for the employee, ie either in accordance with the so-called Lajoie calculation or the so-called reconstructed pay history calculation. The language in the collective agreement covering retroactive payments will now include the most favourable calculation of salaries for promotions, demotions, deployments, transfers or acting situations during the retroactive period.
Appendix D - Inmate Custodial Allowance (negotiating table)
The PFA has been renamed "Inmate Custodial Allowance” (ICA) and the payment of the allowance is determined by the designated security level of the penitentiary as follows: Maximum $2000; Multi-Level $1,500; Medium $1,000; and Minimum $600. Under the old Article, incumbents in some positions in the EC bargaining unit which are in Correctional Service received a Penological Factor Allowance (PFA) subject to certain conditions outlined in the Article, the degrees of exposure. The degrees of exposure are no longer used to reduce the maximum allowed at each security level.
Article 28.11 – Overtime Compensation (mediation)
Under the old Article, each fifteen-minute period of overtime is compensated for at time and one-half (1 ½ T). EC members received double time (2T) on a second or subsequent day of rest only if they worked also on the first day of rest. Now, overtime on a second or subsequent day of rest will be compensated at double time if the Employer approves the employee’s request to work on that day. The Article has also been re-formatted for ease of reading.
Article 30.04 – Travelling Time (mediation)
Under sub-clause (b) (ii), on a normal working day on which an EC member travels and works, the member will be paid at the applicable overtime rate for additional travel time in excess of their regularly scheduled hours of work and travel, with a maximum payment not to exceed 12 hours’ pay at the straight-time rate of pay. An entitlement to a higher maximum of 15 hours has been added for travel outside Canada or Continental USA. The same language has been added to sub-clause (c), and will apply to travel on a day of rest or on a designated paid holiday.
New Article 30.08 – Travel Status Leave (mediation)
An EC member who is away on travel for 40 nights during a fiscal year will be granted 7.5 hours off with pay and credited with an additional 7.5 hours for each additional 20 nights away on travel up to a maximum of 80 additional nights and a maximum of 37.5 hours earned.
Article 27.08 - Acting Pay (negotiating table)
The number of days of acting required for acting pay is reduced from 4 to 3 days. An EC member will receive acting pay when they are required by the Employer to perform the duties of a higher classification on acting basis for at least 3 consecutive days.
Article 2.01 - Interpretation and Definitions (negotiating table)
The definition of compensatory leave was expanded in order to include work performed on a designated holiday. As a result, an EC member will have the option of being compensated for the work either in time or in cash.
Article 28.14 - Hours of Work and Overtime (negotiating table)
Under the old sub-clause (b) all compensatory leave with pay not used by the end of a twelve-month period, to be determined by the Employer, was cashed-out. Now, an EC member may elect to carry over into the next fiscal year up to a maximum of thirty-seven and one-half (37 ½) hours of unused compensatory leave.
Article 33 - Shift and Weekend Premiums (negotiating table)
Shift and Weekend premiums have been increased from $1.75 to $2.00 per hour for EC members.
Article 28.13 – Meal Allowance (mediation)
Under sub-clause (a) and sub-clause (b), the overtime meal allowance has been increased from $9.50 to $10.50 for EC members.
Article 23.03 - Professional Development (negotiating table)
Under the new sub-clause (a)(i), EC members may be given the opportunity to participate in seminars, workshops, courses (was “short courses”) or similar out-service programs. As a result, university courses for example, will be covered by the clause.
In addition, an EC member may be granted professional development leave for a research project even if it is not directly related to its immediate duties, ie to carry out research in the his or her field of specialization not specifically related to the EC member’s assigned work projects when in the opinion of the Employer, such research is needed to enable to fill his or her present role more adequately.
Article 23.02 - Attendance at Conferences and Conventions (negotiating table)
New preamble: “the parties to this agreement recognize that the attendance or participation at conferences, conventions, symposia, workshops and other gatherings of a similar nature contributes to the maintenance of high professional standards”.
Under sub-clause (b), when an EC member attends a conference or convention at the request of the Employer,“the Employer shall pay the registration fees of the conference or convention that the employee is required to attend”.
Article 24 - Vacation Leave
24.02 - Accumulation of Vacation Leave Credits (arbitration)
Under sub-clause (h), 6 weeks of vacation (18.75 hours) after 28 years of service (was 29).
(negotiating table)
Under a new sub-clause 24.07 (c)“where the Employer cancels a period of vacation leave which had been approved which had been approved in writing or electronically, and which cannot be scheduled before the end of the vacation leave, the cancelled leave may, at the request of the employee, be carried over and used in the next vacation year. The old article required that the EC member include the credits for the cancelled leave in the calculation that determined what was to be cash out at the end of the year.
New 24.13
“Upon request of the employee, the Employer shall grant the employee his or her unused vacation leave credits prior to termination of employment if this will enable the employee, for purposes of severance pay, to complete the first (1st) year of continuous employment in the case of lay-off, and the tenth (10th) year of continuous employment in the case of resignation”. In the first case, the new article gives an EC member who is laid off an opportunity to meet the condition for an extra week of severance pay. In the second case, the new entitlement gives an EC member who resigns an opportunity to meet the minimum condition for severance pay on resignation.
New 24.15
“The Employer agrees to accept the unused vacation leave credits up to a maximum of two hundred and sixty-two decimal five (262.5) hours of an employee who resigns from an organization listed in Part II of Schedule I of the Public Service Staff Relations Act in order to take a position with the Employer if the employee has chosen to have these credits transferred, provided that the transferring organization is in agreement”.
Article 21.06 – Parental Leave (arbitration)
Under sub-clause (a)(i), an employee who has or will have the actual care and custody of a new born child (including the new born child of a common law partner), shall upon request, be granted parental leave without pay for a single period of up to thirty-seven (37) consecutive weeks in the fifty two (52) week period beginning on the day on which the child is born or the day on which the child comes into the employee’s care. Under a new (ii), at the option of the employee, the parental leave can be taken in two periods of consecutive weeks, to a maximum of thirty-seven (37) weeks.
Under a new (b) (ii), an employee who has been granted parental leave for the adoption of a child, also has the option to take parental leave in two periods of consecutive weeks, to a maximum of thirty-seven (37) weeks.
Article 20 - Designated Paid Holidays (negotiating table)
Under the old 20.05 (b) and (c), an EC member who worked on a designated paid holiday could request that a day of leave be taken at straight time at a later date in lieu of the holiday (“lieu day”). Under a new 20.10, “overtime shall be compensated in cash except where, upon request of an employee and with the approval of the Employer, overtime may be compensated in equivalent leave with pay to be administered in accordance with clause 28.14 (b)” Thus, all work on holidays will be compensated at either time and one-half or double time, not straight time, in addition to the compensation that the EC member would have received if he or she had not worked on that day.
New sub-clause under Article 21 – Volunteer Leave (mediation)
Subject to operational requirements as determined by the Employer and with an advance notice of at least five working days, an employee shall be granted in each fiscal year, 7.5 hours of leave with pay to work for a charitable organization.
New sub-clause under Article 21 – Personal Leave (mediation)
Subject to operational requirements as determined by the Employer and with an advance notice of at least five working days, an employee shall be granted in each fiscal year, 7.5 hours of leave with pay for reasons of a personal nature.
Article 21.10 – Leave without Pay for Personal Needs (negotiating table)
Under the old sub-clauses (a) and (b), leave without pay for a period of three months and for a period of one year respectively, were available only once in an EC member’s career. Now, the entitlements are available twice in a member’s career, provided that the employee has remained in the public service for a period of 10 years subsequent to the expiration of the period of leave under each sub-clause.
Article 21.09 - Leave without Pay for the Care of Immediate Family (negotiating table)
New (d) “at the request of an employee and with the approval of the Employer, an employee who has proceeded on leave without pay may change his or her return date”.
Article 21.01 – Marriage Leave (mediation)
Marriage leave, or equivalent leave with pay where same sex marriages are not recognized legally in Canada, is extended to EC members who are in a same sex couple relationship. The existing Article will be renewed and a new Appendix will be added to the collective agreement which reads: “The Treasury Board Secretariat Bulletin titled Marriage Leave and Same-Sex Couples dated August 12 2003 will be in force for the duration of the present collective agreement unless the parties decide otherwise”.
Article 21.04 and 21.07 – Maternity and Paternity Allowance (negotiating table)
Under the old paragraph C of Article 21.04 (Maternity Allowance) an EC member whose specified period of employment expired and who was rehired by the same department within a period of five days or less was not indebted for the amount of EI top-up received during maternity leave if their new period of employment was equal to the period they were on maternity leave. The application of this condition has been expanded to include term EC employees hired in any portion of the Public Service of Canada specified in Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Public Service Act” within a period of 5 days. The new period of employment must still be equal to the period the employee was on maternity leave.
The same change has been made to paragraph C of Article 21.07 (Parental Allowance).
Article 21.09 – Leave without Pay for the Care of Immediate Family (mediation)
Under sub-clause (b), leave without pay will be granted to an employee leave for the personal long term care of a member of their family “or for the care of a dying family member”. It is now explicitly stated in the collective agreement that EC members are able to take leave under this Article to care for a dying family member. EC members who are granted leave for this reason can apply to receive EI Compassionate Care Benefits for the period they are on leave. CAPE’s attempts to also negotiate a top-up similar to the maternity and parental allowances were unsuccessful in this round.
Article 21.12 - Leave with Pay for Family-Related Responsibilities (negotiating table)
The definition of family for this particular clause has been expanded; it now includes all children (was “dependent children”), “parents of spouse or common-law partner” and “grandparents”.
The quantum or maximum has been removed in each sub-clause (i.e. employees can take leave with pay under the circumstances listed under each sub-clause up to a total of 37.5 hours in a fiscal year), giving greater flexibility of use to EC members.
21.14 - Injury-on-Duty Leave (negotiating table)
An EC member who is granted leave with pay as a result of injury, illness or disease does not have“from a personal disability policy for which the employee or the employee’s agent has paid the premium”.
Article 49 - Maternity-Related Reassignment or Leave (negotiating table)
New 49.07
“ for an employee working in an institution where she is in direct and regular contact with offenders, if the Employer concludes that a modification of job functions or a reassignment that would avoid the activities or conditions indicated in the medical certificate is not reasonably practicable, the Employer shall so inform the employee in writing and shall grant leave of absence with pay to the employee for the duration of the risk as indicated in the medical certificate. However, such leave shall end no later than at the time the employee proceeds on Maternity Leave without Pay or the termination date of the pregnancy, whichever comes first”. Thus, if the Employer concludes that a modification of job functions or a reassignment is not reasonably practicable, it is now required to grant leave with pay where an EC member is in contact with offenders.
Article 35.01 – Discipline (negotiating table)
When the EC member is required to attend a meeting on disciplinary matters, the Employer is now required to notify the employee that they are entitled to have a representative of the Association attend the meeting.
Moreover, where the presence of a National representative is required and where the meeting is outside the National Capital Region, the minimum notice period has been increased from one to two days.
Article 9 - Use of Employer Facilities (negotiating table)
Under 9.01, space on bulletin boards (including electronic bulletin boards where available) will be made available to the Association for the posting of official Association notices, in convenient locations determined by the Employer and the Association. In the past, the location of bulletin boards was determined solely by the Employer
New 9.02
“where technically feasible within the existing departmental infrastructure, and subject to security restrictions, each department shall establish a hyperlink to the Association’s website from the departmental intranet website”.
New 9.06:
(a) Subject to the availability of appropriate facilities, the Association may hold general meetings of the local membership on departmental premises. The location, date, and duration of such meetings shall require the prior approval of the deputy head or his or her delegate.
(b) This clause does not entitle an employee to attend such meetings during his or her scheduled hours of work. (a section of the new Public Service Labour Relations Act, which will come into effect in the coming months will override paragraph (b))
Article 11.03 - Information (negotiating table)
EC members can request copies of National Joint Council Agreements (e.g. Travel Directive, Public Service Health Care Plan, Occupational Health and Safety Directives, etc.) in either electronic or paper form.
New Article 23.04 - Consultation (negotiating table)
“The parties to this Agreement acknowledge the mutual benefits to be derived from consultation on Career Development, and agree to consult on this issue at the departmental and local union level, subject to the provisions of Article 38, Joint Consultation”.
Concessions made to the Employer
Article 19 – Leave General
A new sub-clause (b) has been inserted in the Leave General Article which reads: “earned leave credits or other leave entitlements shall be equal to seven and one-half (7.5) hours per day”. Similar language already exists in the agreement in Appendix C - Variable Hours of Work (C.02: “The provisions of this Agreement which specify days shall be converted to hours” and C.04: “All leave provisions which specify days in this Agreement shall be converted to hours with one (1) day being equal to seven point five (7.5) hours”).
Additional editorial changes are made throughout the collective agreement in order to bring the language in line with the concession made above.