LEAVE FOR LABOUR RELATIONS MATTERS

CS Agreement

29.11 Effective January 1, 2018, leave granted to an employee under Article 29.01(2), 29.05, 29.06, 29.08, and 29.09 will be with pay; the PIPSC will reimburse the employer for the salary and benefit costs of the employee during the period of approved leave with pay according to the terms established by joint agreement.

Appendix “J”

Memorandum of Agreement With Respect to Implementation of Union Leave

This Memorandum is to give effect to an agreement reached between the Employer and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (the Union) to implement a system of cost recovery for leave for Union business.

The elements of the new system are as follows:

• Recoverable paid leave for Union business for periods of up to 3 months of continuous leave per year;
• Cost recovery will be based on actual salary costs during the leave period, to which a percentage of salary, agreed to by the parties, will be added;
• The Employer will pay for all administration costs associated with the operation of this system.

The surcharge will be based on average expected costs incurred by the Employer for payroll taxes, pensions and supplementary benefits during the operation of the program as described above, calculated according to generally accepted practices.

Notwithstanding anything else in this agreement, and as an overarching principle, it will not include costs for benefits that would otherwise be paid by the Employer during an equivalent period of leave without pay. The consequences of the implementation of clause 29.11 will be cost neutral for the Employer in terms of compensation costs, and will confer neither a substantial financial benefit, nor a substantially increased cost, on the Employer.

A joint committee consisting of an equal number of Union and Employer representatives will be struck to resolve matters related to the implementation this new program, including, but not limited to, invoices, accounting and the manner of the transaction.

The Joint Committee’s principal work will relate to:

• Determining an appropriate surcharge in recognition of the considerations identified in this document;
• Establishing processes and the Employer’s reporting requirements;
  and
• Other considerations associated with implementation.

If agreement cannot be reached on recovering costs against Union remittances, the Joint Committee will consider alternate means of cost recovery.

The Joint Committee will be struck and convened within by February 15, 2017, and will complete its work by October 16, 2017, with implementation to be completed by the earliest feasible date as determined by the committee.

In the event that the parties do not reach an agreement, the parties may seek the services of a mediator. Necessary consequential changes will be made to Article 29, effective January 1, 2018.

The deadline for completion of work and implementation of this system may be extended by mutual consent of both parties to this agreement.

AV, CS, NR, RE, SH and SP Agreements

APPENDIX XX

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING – AGREEMENT WITH RESPECT TO LEAVE FOR UNION BUSINESS – COST RECOVERY

This Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is to give effect to an agreement reached between the Treasury Board (the Employer) and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (the Institute) to implement a system of cost recovery for leave for union business.

The parties agree to this MoU as a direct result of current Phoenix pay system implementation concerns related to the administration of leave without pay for union business.

Leave granted to an employee under the following clauses of the collective agreement (each agreement will specify the relevant clauses):

• AV: 30.02, 30.10, 30.11, 30.13, 30.14(a)
• CS: 29.01(2), 29.05, 29.06, 29.08, and 29.09
• NR: 31.02, 31.10, 31.11, 31.13, 31.14(a)
• RE: 32.02, 32.10, 32.11, 32.13, 32.14(a)
• SH: 30.02, 30.10, 30.11, 30.13, 30.14(a)
• SP: 31.02, 31.10. 31.11, 31.13, 31.14(a)

will be with pay for a total cumulative maximum period of three (3) months per fiscal year.

Its agreed that leave with pay granted under the above-noted clauses for union business will be paid for by the Employer, pursuant to this MoU, effective upon its signature. 

The Institute shall then reimburse the Employer for the total salary paid, including allowances if applicable, for each person-day, in addition to which shall also be paid to the Employer by the Institute an amount equal to six percent (6%) of the total salary paid for each person-day, which sum represents the Employer’s contribution for the benefits the employee acquired at work during the period of approved leave with pay pursuant to this MoU.

Leave with pay in excess of the total cumulative maximum period of three (3) months per fiscal year may be granted under the above noted clauses in reasonably limited circumstances. Where leave with pay is extended under such circumstances, the Institute shall reimburse the Employer for the total salary paid, including applicable allowances, for each person-day, plus an amount equal to thirteen decimal three percent (13.3%) of the total salary paid for the period exceeding three (3) months.

Under no circumstances will leave with pay under the above noted clause be granted for any single consecutive period exceeding three (3) months, or for cumulative periods exceeding six (6) months in a twelve (12) month period.

This MoU does not alter the approval threshold for union leave. Should an employee be denied extended leave with pay exceeding three (3) cumulative months or a single consecutive three (3) month period within a fiscal year and the employee’s union leave is otherwise approved pursuant to the relevant clauses at article (29 or 30 or 31 or 32 - depending on the collective agreement), they shall take the leave as leave without pay.

On a bi-monthly basis, and within 120 days of the end of the relevant period of leave, the hiring Department/Agency will invoice the Institute for the amount owed to them by virtue of this understanding. The amount of the gross salaries and the number of days of leave taken for each employee will be included in the statement.

The Institute agrees to reimburse the Department/Agency for the invoice within sixty (60) days of the date of the invoice.

This Memorandum of Understanding expires on (Date of expiry of the agreement) or upon implementation of the Next Generation HR and Pay system, whichever comes first, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT ON SUPPORTING EMPLOYEE WELLNESS

This Memorandum of Agreement is to give effect to the agreement reached between the Employer and the Bargaining Agent (hereinafter referred to as “the parties”) regarding issues of employee wellness. This MOA replaces the prior Employee Wellness MOA previously signed.

The parties have engaged in meaningful negotiations and co-development of comprehensive EWSP language and program design to capture the key features and other recommendations agreed to by the technical committee and steering committee, which is reflected in the Plan Document agreed to by the parties on May 26, 2019.

The program and its principles focus on improving employee wellness and the reintegration of employees into the workplace after periods of leave due to illness or injury. The previous MOA identified the following key features:

• contained in collective agreements;
• benefits for up to 26 weeks (130 working days) with income support replacement at 100%;
• the annual allotment shall be 9 days of paid sick leave for illness or injury that falls outside of the parameters of the EWSP;
• 100% income replacement during the 3 day (working) qualification period when the employee’s claim is approved;
• qualifying chronic or episodic illnesses will be exempt of the waiting period;
• the qualification period will be waived in cases of hospitalization or recurrence of a prior illness or injury approved under EWSP within 30 days;
• employees are entitled to carry over a maximum of 3 days of unused sick leave credits remaining at the end of the fiscal year, for use in the following fiscal year;
• the accumulation of current sick leave credits will cease once the EWSP is implemented. Employees with banked sick leave in excess of 26 weeks, will be entitled to carry over those excess days to provide extended coverage at 100% income replacement prior to accessing LTD;
• travel time for diagnosis and treatment;
• internal case management and return to work services focused on supporting employees when ill or injured;
• an employee on EWSP will be considered to be on leave with pay;
• full costs of administering the EWSP to be borne by Employer;
  and
• increase the quantum of family related leave by one (1) day.

The Plan Document approved on May 26, 2019 takes precedence over the principles, if there’s a difference in interpretation.

Process

The parties agree to continue the work of the TBS/Bargaining Agent Employee Wellness Support Program (EWSP) Steering Committee, which will focus on finalizing a service delivery model for program implementation, including its governance, for the improvement of employee wellness and the reintegration of employees into the workplace after periods of leave due to illness or injury.

As required, the Steering Committee will direct a sub-committee to make recommendations on the overall implementation, service delivery and governance issues of the Program. As a first priority, the Steering Committee will develop a planning framework with timelines to guide work toward the timely implementation of the new EWSP. A governance model will be developed taking in to account there will be only one (1) EWSP.

The Steering Committee will complete the necessary work on overall implementation, including service delivery and governance issues no later than March 21, 2020, a date which can be moved based on mutual agreement of the parties.

If accepted by the Steering Committee, the recommendation(s) concerning program implementation, including service delivery and governance, as well as the proposal for the EWSP itself, approval will be sought on these elements from the Treasury Board of Canada and by the bargaining units.

If approved by both parties, the parties mutually consent to re-open the collective agreement to vary the agreement only insofar as to include the EWSP wording, and include consequential changes. No further items are to be varied through this reopener – the sole purpose will be EWSP-related modifications. The EWSP Program would be included in the relevant collective agreements only as a reopener.

Should the parties not be able to reach agreement on EWSP, the existing sick leave provisions, as currently stipulated in collective agreements, will remain in force.

For greater certainty, this MoA forms part of the collective agreement.