UPDATE SEMINAR ON THE POSTDOCTORAL
FELLOW COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT
FOR PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS AND DEPARTMENTAL ASSISTANTS
FACULTY RELATIONS OFFICE
QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY
JANUARY 2015
Introduction and Agenda
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
The Collective Agreement: Who’s in/Who’s Out?
Hiring (“Appointments”)
Total Compensation
Time and Labour for Postdoctoral Fellows
Termination of Employment
Reasonable Accommodation of Disability
Faculty Relations Office
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I.
Collective Agreement between Queen’s
University and PSAC Local 901 (Unit 2)
• Current Collective Agreement dates: October 24, 2013 to June 30,
2016
• Significance
• Principal Investigator=“Faculty Supervisor”
• “Bargaining Unit Member”
• Public Service Alliance of Canada, Local 901
• Copy available on Faculty Relations Website at
http://queensu.ca/provost/faculty/facultyrelations/Postdoc/CA.html.
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I.
•
•
•
•
Collective Agreement (continued)
Who’s in/Who’s out?
Some obvious exclusions
Interpreting Article 2.01 (a)
“persons who secure their own transferable funding from external
grant-funding agencies and for whom this is the sole source of
funding”
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II. Hiring (“Appointments”)
• Article 12 and Appendix B (Postdoctoral Fellow Form)
– All hiring must be in accordance with Article 12
– You are not obligated to post positions, but if you do post, there are posting
requirements (see 12.02-12.04); there is a posting template on the FRO website
– Term of appointment: appointments shall not normally be for less than 12 months
where funding has been secured
– Postdoctoral Fellow form must be completed (see Appendix B)
• Hiring templates
– Found on the FRO website; the union is to be copied
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II. Hiring (“Appointments”) (continued)
• Probationary period (Article 18)
‒ Every new employee will serve a 3 month probationary period (the first 3 full
months of active employment)
‒ It is a period of time to evaluate the employees skills and qualifications and to
provide the employee with feedback regarding his/her performance and suitability
for the appointment
‒ Probationary period may be extended for up to an additional 6 weeks; If so, you
must provide the employee and the union with 2 weeks notice of this in writing
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II. Hiring (“Appointments”) (continued)
• Term Adjunct teaching
-
Always a separate QUFA appointment if paid from department funds.
-
If teaching is NOT over-and-above Postdoctoral hours, postdoc hrs and
FTE should be reduced for teaching. Please contact Faculty Relations
compensation unit for standard practice
• Re-hire letter of appointment?
-
Strongly recommend both a pared-down new appointment letter and
corresponding datasheet.
-
Require both when compensation is adjusted
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III. Total Compensation
• Article 27 and Appendix A (Wages)
• Salary
– Minimum (“floor”)
Nov 1 2013 - $31,000
July 1 2014 - $31,543
July 1 2015 - $32,174
– ATB increases – (centrally processed)
July 1 2014 - 1.75%
July 1 2015 - 2.00%
*** Be sure to include the increased salary in budget projections & re-hire letters ***
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III. Total Compensation (continued)
– Can the salary ever drop?
With caution, yes.
For example, if a funding reduction necessitates a decrease in salary:
o
o
o
o
Existing contract has to end
Employee notified of revised funding available
New appointment terms offered to employee
New appointment letter produced for signatures
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III. Total Compensation (continued)
• Benefits
– Dental added July 1 2014
– Employer cost estimates for budgets:
Employer benefits cost estimation 2015
Single
Salary
$
Compulsory employer benefit costs
$ 3,331
(CPP, EI, WSIB, EHT and PDF grant tax)
Other benefit
costs
– Collecting
for non-payroll appointments
$ 1,651
$ 32,174
(Life, Supplementary Medical, Dental)
Pension (optional after 2 yrs)
Family
%
$
%
10% $ 3,331
10%
5% $ 3,705
12%
$ 4,982
15% $ 7,036
22%
$ 4,154
13% $ 4,154
13%
28% $ 11,190
35%
Total: $ 9,136
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III. Total Compensation (continued)
– Funding vs Salary
Having reviewed salary increases and benefit costs, it should be clear that:
o Funding ≠ salary
o Appointment letter should state the annual gross salary, not the amount of the
grant funding the fellowship
o It takes a grant of approx. $40,000 to support a fellowship at the minimum
salary of $32,174
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III. Total Compensation (continued)
₋ External funding implications
-
Pre-union: “Your fellowship is 100% funded by (fill in the blank) and therefore
the University has no financial responsibility for your salary”
-
Today: external funding ≠ no responsibility
– Minimum salaries, across-the-board increases, benefit costs
• If external grant does not allow for these, other sources of funding will need to be
allocated to the fellowship
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IV. Time and Labour for Postdoctoral Fellows
• Leave administration for PDFs transitions to HR PeopleSoft effective April 1,
2015
• Process for recording time away and overtime through HR PeopleSoft is
equivalent to existing processes for other staff
• The Employment Standards Act requires employers to maintain accurate records of
all time worked and time away taken by an employee
• Collecting of vacation and sick leave balances from departments will begin later
this month
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IV. Time and Labour for Postdoctoral Fellows
(continued)
•
Article 13 – Hours of Work and Overtime
– 37.5 hours/week = normal workweek for Fulltime Postdoc (although it is anticipated that weekly hours
may be up to 50 hours)
– Hours worked in excess of 162 and up to 173 in a pay period are paid a straight time
– Hours worked in excess of 173 are paid as overtime or lieu time at a rate of 1.5 hours for every
additional hour worked
– Working additional hours (i.e. more than 162 in a pay period) requires the advance written approval of
the Faculty Supervisor
•
Article 30 – Vacations
– Vacation entitlement is based on “Completed Years of Continuous service at the beginning of the
Appointment Year – see Art. 30.01
– The Employee and Faculty supervisor will make every effort to ensure that full vacation entitlement is
scheduled and taken during the appointment year
– Unused vacation time cannot be carried forward without the express written consent of the Faculty
Supervisor
•
Article 31.29 - Sick Leave
– Up to 6 days of paid sick leave available annually. Unused sick leave may be carried over into the next
calendar year
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V. Termination of Employment
• Ending employment during the probationary period (Article 18)
– As their supervisor, it is important to evaluate their work and provide
feedback during the probationary period
– Communicate clear and reasonable expectations and provide them with
the opportunity (time) to meet those expectations
– “Problematic Employees” and due diligence
– Article 18.04: Discharge on Probation – you must meet with the
employee, offer them the opportunity to bring union representation and
provide reasons in writing
– Employees discharged on probation have no recourse to the grievance or
arbitration procedure UNLESS they can demonstrate the dismissal was
“exercised in a manner that is arbitrary, discriminatory or in bad faith”
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V. Termination of Employment (continued)
• Ending employment during term of appointment but after
probationary period
‒ Onus is on the Employer to prove “just cause”
‒ Termination after the probationary period may be grieved and
adjudicated (Employee/Union does not have to establish the
dismissal was arbitrary, discriminatory or in bad faith)
‒ Requires further performance management regarding their ability
to do their job; any misconduct must be monitored and addressed
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V. Termination of Employment (continued)
• Discipline, Suspension and Discharge (Article 16)
‒ Cannot discipline, suspend or discharge an employee without just
cause
‒ Progressive discipline; verbal reprimand or written warning
should normally precede suspension or discharge
‒ The onus is on the Employer to establish it has just cause to
terminate the employee (prove that it is justified in dismissing
him/her)
‒ Was there misconduct? Can it be proven? Is the nature and degree
of the misconduct sufficient to dismiss the employee?
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VI. Reasonable Accommodation of Disability
• Ontario’s Human Rights Code
• “Disability” is but one of a number of specified grounds in
employment
• Employer’s duty to accommodate disability to the point of undue
hardship
• Who is the employer?
• Expectations of the party seeking accommodation
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VI. Reasonable Accommodation of Disability
(continued)
• Ontario’s Human Rights Code (“the Code”) is the governing
legislation
• The Code prohibits “discrimination” and “harassment” on specified
grounds. “Disability” is one such ground
• Focus on “employment”; every person has a right to equal treatment
with respect to employment without discrimination because of …
“disability”
• “Disability” is very broadly defined
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VI. Reasonable Accommodation of Disability
(continued)
• “Disability” means:
(a) any degree of physical disability, infirmity, malformation or disfigurement
that is caused by bodily injury, birth defect or illness and, without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, includes diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, a brain injury,
any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical co-ordination, blindness or
visual impediment, deafness or hearing impediment, muteness or speech
impediment, or physical reliance on a guide dog or other animal or on a
wheelchair or other remedial appliance or device,
(b) a condition of mental impairment or a developmental disability,
(c) a learning disability, or a dysfunction in one or more of the processes involved
in understanding or using symbols or spoken language,
(d) a mental disorder, or
(e) an injury or disability for which benefits were claimed or received under the
insurance plan established under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997;
(“handicap”)
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VI. Reasonable Accommodation of Disability
(continued)
• An employee who is disabled has a right to have their disability
accommodated; the employer has a corresponding duty to accommodate
disability
• Reasonable accommodation to the point of undue hardship
• Reasonable ≠ perfect
• All workplace parties are required to participate in accommodation,
including the individual seeking the accommodation
• Some resources:
– Return to Work Services ext 77818
– Faculty Relations Office
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VII. Faculty Relations Office
• Part of the Office of the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic)
• Advice and services to the University with respect to academic staff,
including faculty, librarians and archivists, adjuncts, clinicians, TA’s,
TF’s, Postdoctoral Fellows, and Senior Academic Administrators
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VII. Faculty Relations Office (continued)
• Dan Bradshaw, Associate Vice-Principal (Faculty Relations)
613-533-6000 ext. 77522
• Dan McKeown, Associate Director, Faculty Relations
613-533-6000 ext. 78286
• Jada McNaughton, Senior Labour Relations Advisor
613-533-6000 ext. 78746
• Monica Stewart, Coordinator, Faculty Recruitment and Support
613-533-3167
• Ian Bearman, Specialist, Academic Compensation
613-533-6000 ext 78287
• Linda Horton, Specialist, Academic Compensation
613-533-6000 ext 74361
• Jackie Cleary, Faculty Relations Analyst
613-533-3133
• Amanda Curran, Assistant to the Associate Vice-Principal (Faculty Relations)
613-533-6000 ext. 79532
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