AFS Ratification Kit Final July, 2019

Only changes to the Collective Agreement are identified in this summary.

Anything not mentioned in this summary remains unchanged.

Issue	What you have under your current collective agreement	What you would get under this new deal	Reference
AFS Tentative Agreement Summary
Pay	You have not received a raise since 2017. The Employer began this round of bargaining by offering only a 0.5% increase per year for the life of the contract.	This deal offers a general economic increase of 7% to your pay through the life of the agreement: December 22, 2018 - increase to rates of pay: 2.0% December 22, 2019 - increase to rates of pay: 2.0% December 22, 2020 - increase to rates of pay: 1.5% December 22, 2021 - increase to rates of pay: 1.5% In addition: December 22, 2018 - wage adjustment of 0.8% applicable to all AFS classifications and levels; December 22, 2019 - wage adjustment of 0.2% applicable to all AFS Classifications and levels. Retroactive pay applies as of Dec 22, 2018.	Appendix A
Leave With Pay for Family-Related Responsibilities	We argued that the current definition of immediate family is too limited and does not respond to the needs of all families.	The definition has been broadened to include a person who stands in the place of a relative for the employee, whether or not there is any degree of consanguinity between such person and the employee.	Article 17.13
Reimbursement of Professional Engineering Annual Membership fees	Nothing, there is was no reimbursement for Professional Engineering (P.Eng) provided.	Subject to paragraphs (a), (b) and (c), the Employer shall reimburse an employee’s payment of annual membership fees to a provincial-territorial professional engineering regulatory body: (a) Except as provided under paragraph (b) below, the reimbursement of annual membership fees relates to the payment of an annual fee which is a mandatory requirement by one of the regulatory bodies to maintain a professional designation and membership in good standing. (b) Portions of fees or charges of an administrative nature such as the following are not subject to reimbursement under this Appendix: service charges for the payment of fees on an instalment or postdated basis; late payment charges or penalties; initiation fees; reinstatement fees required to maintain a membership in good standing; or payments of arrears for re-admission to a professional organization. (c) In respect of requests for reimbursement of Professional fees made pursuant to this Appendix, the employee shall be required to provide the Employer with receipts to validate payments made.	New Appendix
Terminable Allowance for Psychologists	Nothing, there is no special allowance provided for psychologists.	We negotiated: A terminable allowance of $5400 per year for PS-03s and $5000 for PS-04s and PS-05s	New Appendix XX
MOU Regarding Gender Inclusive Language	The current collective agreement is not inclusive of all genders.	We negotiated: A commitment and support for gender neutrality and inclusivity: The parties commit to reviewing the collective agreement to identify opportunities to make the language more gender inclusive.	New Appendix
Interpretations and Definitions: designated paid holiday	When shifts extended into, or beyond designated paid holidays, parts of the shift not on the paid holiday were not compensated as being worked on the paid holiday.	ii. however, for the purpose of the administration of a shift that does not commence and end on the same day, such shift shall be deemed to have been entirely worked: (a) On the day it commenced where half (1/2) or more of the hours worked fall on that day, OR (b) on the day it terminates where more than half (1/2) of the hours worked fall on that day.	Article 2.01(h)
Leave General	Credits earned under different collective agreements could be duplicated when members moved between bargaining units.	An employee shall not earn or be granted leave credits under this Agreement in any month nor in any fiscal year for which leave has already been credited or granted to him them under the terms of any other collective agreement to which the Employer is a party or under other rules or regulations of the Employer.	Article 14.08
Bereavement Leave with Pay	You are entitled to seven days of Bereavement Leave with Pay following the death of a member of your immediate family. We argued that the current definition of immediate family is too limited, and the entitlement does not respond to the needs of all families.	The definition of immediate family has been broadened to a person who stands in the place of a relative for the employee, whether or not there is any degree of consanguinity (descendant) between such person and the employee. The Bereavement Leave with Pay for a person who stands in the place of a relative whether or not there is a degree of consanguinity is limited to once in their career in the federal public administration. There are specifications/restrictions about when the leave can be taken.	Article 17.02
Day Work	The normal work day was identified as being 7.5 hours between 7 am and 6 pm. We argued that an earlier start time may allow our members greater flexibility, so long as it would not hinder premium payments for working outside the normal working day.	The normal work day is now identified as being 7.5 hours between 6 am and 6 pm. This will not impact premiums for members who would otherwise have earned them.	Article 8.02(a)
Shift and Weekend Premiums	Premiums were previously $2.00 per hour for shift and weekend hours. We argued that this number was too low.	The shift and weekend premiums have been increased to $2.25 per hour for all shift and weekend hours.	Article 8.05 (a) and (b)
Flexible Working Arrangements	We argued that the current flexible working arrangements offered by the CRA are insufficient for the needs of our members, nationally.	We achieved a major breakthrough: A pilot program will be rolled out initially in the Prairie Region, following the Quebec Region’s Initiative concerning flexible working arrangements which includes both Flexible Hours of Work Guidelines, and a Flex System. This program will be piloted in the Prairies for one year, at which point an assessment will be made to determine if there were adverse impacts of the working arrangements. If there are no adverse impacts, or if the adverse impacts can be addressed, the pilot will be rolled out nationally.	New Appendix
New MOU with Respect of Salary Progression for the AC Group	The AC Group is governed by different pay progression rules than the rest of the SP Group. There have been grievances filed on the application/interpretation of these rules.	We agreed to establish a joint committee to meet within one hundred eighty (180) days of the signing of the present agreement. The committee will review the AC pay notes and consider the creation of a detailed table of recognized exam / educational requirements that will be applied in determining progress on the scale of salary. The committee’s findings and recommendations will be submitted to the employer and the Institute.	New Appendix

Other Facts about Your New Deal:

The Public Service Labour Relations Board has a new name (the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board), as well as the Act that governs the labour relations (the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act) and your new collective agreement will reflect that.

Editorial changes:

Wording around payment of Professional Accounting Association Annual Membership fee updated to properly reflect naming of association(s).
An update to the pay notes for Actuarial Science (AC) to reflect current examination Schedule.
Removal of transitional provisions concerning cumulative service for pay increment purposes.
Update to article 42 (No Discrimination) to be reflective of changes to the Canada Human Rights Act
Removal of Appendix B, specific provisions applying to employees classified as ED-LAT
Modification to the French version of 2.01(c) to align it with the English version.
Amendment to the English version of 9.08 to change mileage to kilometric.
Employees who do not have access to their leave balances (through ESS) will be informed of their balances once a year, upon request article 14.02(a).
Removal of Grand Jury in article 17.15(c)(i).
A removal of the requirement for the dues collected by them employer to be remitted by cheque. (Article 26.06).
Clarification added to 44.07 (acting pay) to ensure that three consecutive shifts are what was intended.
Updates to Appendix M (Memorandum of Understanding with Respect to Classification Matters) to capture the work that has already been done and is ongoing.
An update to the French version of 17.13(a) (vii) to ensure it follows the English version.
MOU on the implementation of the collective agreement. This MOU will form part of the minutes of settlement in the tentative agreement, however will rest outside of the Collective agreement.