New Collective Agreement at the Library of Parliament
January 18, 2006
Highlights of the Analysts and Research Assistants’ new collective agreement:
Pay Increase
The difference between the value of the last step and the penultimate step at all levels has been increased by 1.1% retroactive to June 16, 2005. All salaries are also increased by 2.5% retroactive to June 16, 2005. All salaries will increase by 2.5% on June 16, 2006 and by 2.5% on June 16, 2007 respectively.. As a result, members at the top of their pay scales will receive a total of 3.6% for the first year of the contract, while other members will benefit from the extra 1.1% when they reach the top increment. The contract expires June 15, 2008.
The Employer acknowledged our concerns with respect to the relativity of wages in relation to the wages of the Clerks at the House of Commons and Senate and as a result, has agreed to a Library-wide review of classification during the life of the collective agreement in the hopes of addressing the relativity concerns raised by CAPE.
Rates of Pay Analysts and Research Assistants Bargaining Unit
Article 26 Travel
The 8 hour cap on travel time has been removed. Under 26.01 b), employees will be compensated at the applicable overtime rate for the first five (5) hours travelled in excess of the normal daily hours of work and at straight time for the remaining contiguous hours travelled. Similarly, an employee who travels on a day of rest or on a designated paid holiday will be compensated at the applicable overtime rate for the first five (5) hours travelled and at straight time for the remaining contiguous hours travelled.
New Article Harassment
CAPE proposed to include in the agreement a definition of harassment that would encompass any form of harassment including personal harassment, psychological harassment and abuse of authority. We were successful, and the collective agreement now guarantees CAPE members the right to work in a workplace free from all forms of harassment. The inclusion of a harassment article in the agreement also provides employees with recourse to a neutral third party, the Public Service Labour Relations Board.
Article 13 No Discrimination
A new clause under the No Discrimination Article specifies that “it is not a discriminatory practice for the Employer to adopt or carry out a special program, plan, or arrangement designed to prevent disadvantages that are likely to be suffered by, any group of individuals when those disadvantages would be or are based on or are related to the race, national and ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, or disability of members of that group, by improving opportunities respecting services, facilities, accommodation or employment in relation to that group”.
Article 19 Other Leave with or without Pay
19.02 Bereavement Leave
For the purpose of bereavement leave, the immediate family is now defined to include grand-parents. The definition of immediate family now also includes “a person for whom the employee has legal responsibilities”, and this is the very first group in the broader public service to have achieved this breakthrough.
19.06 Parental Leave
An employee who has or will have the care and custody of a new-born child or who adopts a child will now be able to split into two periods the 37 week period of parental leave without pay. Moreover, the Employer has agreed to a sign a Letter of Understanding that guarantees that the revised provisions in federal public service agreements concerning the new Québec Parental Insurance Plan will apply to CAPE members at the Library of Parliament, thus protecting entitlements that would have been lost otherwise.
19.10 Leave without Pay for the Care and Nurturing of Parents
The title of the Article has now been renamed Leave without pay for Caregiving and in addition to the employee’s parents, the employee will be able to take leave under this Article for the care of their spouse. Leave without Pay for the Care and Nurturing of Children is still available under 19.09.
19.11 Leave Without Pay for Personal Needs
Under sub-clauses (a) and (b), leave without pay for a period of three months and for a period of one year respectively, is available twice in an employee’s career, provided that the employee has remained at the Library of Parliament for a period of 10 years subsequent to the expiration of the period of leave under each sub-clause.
Article 23 Hours of Work
The Article has been modified to allow more flexibility in setting the calendar of long weeks while ensuring that there can be “no less than 13 short weeks of 27 hours”. In addition, we agreed that the Employer can establish the schedule of long and short weeks “based on operational demands”.
Article 16 Leave General
Your collective agreement currently specifies that where a provision in the agreement refers to a “day”, the day is considered to be equivalent to seven hours. Consistent with other collective agreements in federal public service, a "day" in Article 19.02 Bereavement Leave with Pay, will mean a calendar day. This entitles employees to a full day of bereavement leave regardless of their scheduled hours of work.
Again, consistent with the trend, a new clause 16.09 was added: “except as otherwise specified in the agreement, any period of leave without pay in excess of three months which is granted for reasons other than illness will be deducted from “continuous employment” for the purposes of calculating severance pay and “service” for the purposes of calculating vacation leave. Time spent on such leave which is for a period of more than 3 months will not be counted for pay increment purposes”. The Employer has agreed that any period of educational leave which is at the request of the Employer will be exempted from this rule.
Under 16.04, the Employer will not recover unearned vacation and sick leave taken by an employee whose employment is terminated for reasons of incapacity, death or lay-off.
Article 20 Sick Leave Credits
Under 20.08, an employee’s accumulated sick leave credits with a previous employer will be recognized at the Employer’s discretion.
New Article Medical and Dental Appointments
Language has been incorporated in the collective agreement to confirm the current practice.
Article 24 Overtime
Under 24.11, the overtime meal allowance has increase from $9.00 to $10.50. Clause 24.09 e) has been deleted as it is no longer applicable.
Article 25 Pay Administration
25.05 Acting Pay
Under 25.05, an employee will receive acting pay after a period of 3 consecutive working days (was 5) for acting in a higher position within the bargaining unit and after 20 consecutive working days for acting in an excluded position.
Article 28 Employee Performance Reviews and Employee Files
The evaluation form which is used for performance reviews will be available to all employees online.
New Provision
A new employee will be considered on probation for a period of up to twelve (12) months. In the event that the employer’s formal assessment of the employee’s performance during this period determines that the performance is less than fully satisfactory, the probation period may be extended for a period of up to twelve (12) additional months.
Article 31 Health and Safety
There is a whole new article which establishes the Employer’s obligations and the employees’ rights in this regard.
Article 8 Technological Change
This Article needed to be revised to better reflect the nature of the CAPE membership.
January 18, 2006
Highlights of the Analysts and Research Assistants’ new collective agreement:
Pay Increase
The difference between the value of the last step and the penultimate step at all levels has been increased by 1.1% retroactive to June 16, 2005. All salaries are also increased by 2.5% retroactive to June 16, 2005. All salaries will increase by 2.5% on June 16, 2006 and by 2.5% on June 16, 2007 respectively.. As a result, members at the top of their pay scales will receive a total of 3.6% for the first year of the contract, while other members will benefit from the extra 1.1% when they reach the top increment. The contract expires June 15, 2008.
The Employer acknowledged our concerns with respect to the relativity of wages in relation to the wages of the Clerks at the House of Commons and Senate and as a result, has agreed to a Library-wide review of classification during the life of the collective agreement in the hopes of addressing the relativity concerns raised by CAPE.
Rates of Pay Analysts and Research Assistants Bargaining Unit
Article 26 Travel
The 8 hour cap on travel time has been removed. Under 26.01 b), employees will be compensated at the applicable overtime rate for the first five (5) hours travelled in excess of the normal daily hours of work and at straight time for the remaining contiguous hours travelled. Similarly, an employee who travels on a day of rest or on a designated paid holiday will be compensated at the applicable overtime rate for the first five (5) hours travelled and at straight time for the remaining contiguous hours travelled.
New Article Harassment
CAPE proposed to include in the agreement a definition of harassment that would encompass any form of harassment including personal harassment, psychological harassment and abuse of authority. We were successful, and the collective agreement now guarantees CAPE members the right to work in a workplace free from all forms of harassment. The inclusion of a harassment article in the agreement also provides employees with recourse to a neutral third party, the Public Service Labour Relations Board.
Article 13 No Discrimination
A new clause under the No Discrimination Article specifies that “it is not a discriminatory practice for the Employer to adopt or carry out a special program, plan, or arrangement designed to prevent disadvantages that are likely to be suffered by, any group of individuals when those disadvantages would be or are based on or are related to the race, national and ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, or disability of members of that group, by improving opportunities respecting services, facilities, accommodation or employment in relation to that group”.
Article 19 Other Leave with or without Pay
19.02 Bereavement Leave
For the purpose of bereavement leave, the immediate family is now defined to include grand-parents. The definition of immediate family now also includes “a person for whom the employee has legal responsibilities”, and this is the very first group in the broader public service to have achieved this breakthrough.
19.06 Parental Leave
An employee who has or will have the care and custody of a new-born child or who adopts a child will now be able to split into two periods the 37 week period of parental leave without pay. Moreover, the Employer has agreed to a sign a Letter of Understanding that guarantees that the revised provisions in federal public service agreements concerning the new Québec Parental Insurance Plan will apply to CAPE members at the Library of Parliament, thus protecting entitlements that would have been lost otherwise.
19.10 Leave without Pay for the Care and Nurturing of Parents
The title of the Article has now been renamed Leave without pay for Caregiving and in addition to the employee’s parents, the employee will be able to take leave under this Article for the care of their spouse. Leave without Pay for the Care and Nurturing of Children is still available under 19.09.
19.11 Leave Without Pay for Personal Needs
Under sub-clauses (a) and (b), leave without pay for a period of three months and for a period of one year respectively, is available twice in an employee’s career, provided that the employee has remained at the Library of Parliament for a period of 10 years subsequent to the expiration of the period of leave under each sub-clause.
Article 23 Hours of Work
The Article has been modified to allow more flexibility in setting the calendar of long weeks while ensuring that there can be “no less than 13 short weeks of 27 hours”. In addition, we agreed that the Employer can establish the schedule of long and short weeks “based on operational demands”.
Article 16 Leave General
Your collective agreement currently specifies that where a provision in the agreement refers to a “day”, the day is considered to be equivalent to seven hours. Consistent with other collective agreements in federal public service, a "day" in Article 19.02 Bereavement Leave with Pay, will mean a calendar day. This entitles employees to a full day of bereavement leave regardless of their scheduled hours of work.
Again, consistent with the trend, a new clause 16.09 was added: “except as otherwise specified in the agreement, any period of leave without pay in excess of three months which is granted for reasons other than illness will be deducted from “continuous employment” for the purposes of calculating severance pay and “service” for the purposes of calculating vacation leave. Time spent on such leave which is for a period of more than 3 months will not be counted for pay increment purposes”. The Employer has agreed that any period of educational leave which is at the request of the Employer will be exempted from this rule.
Under 16.04, the Employer will not recover unearned vacation and sick leave taken by an employee whose employment is terminated for reasons of incapacity, death or lay-off.
Article 20 Sick Leave Credits
Under 20.08, an employee’s accumulated sick leave credits with a previous employer will be recognized at the Employer’s discretion.
New Article Medical and Dental Appointments
Language has been incorporated in the collective agreement to confirm the current practice.
Article 24 Overtime
Under 24.11, the overtime meal allowance has increase from $9.00 to $10.50. Clause 24.09 e) has been deleted as it is no longer applicable.
Article 25 Pay Administration
25.05 Acting Pay
Under 25.05, an employee will receive acting pay after a period of 3 consecutive working days (was 5) for acting in a higher position within the bargaining unit and after 20 consecutive working days for acting in an excluded position.
Article 28 Employee Performance Reviews and Employee Files
The evaluation form which is used for performance reviews will be available to all employees online.
New Provision
A new employee will be considered on probation for a period of up to twelve (12) months. In the event that the employer’s formal assessment of the employee’s performance during this period determines that the performance is less than fully satisfactory, the probation period may be extended for a period of up to twelve (12) additional months.
Article 31 Health and Safety
There is a whole new article which establishes the Employer’s obligations and the employees’ rights in this regard.
Article 8 Technological Change
This Article needed to be revised to better reflect the nature of the CAPE membership.