Agreement in principle reached on 37.5 hour work week grievances

Earlier this summer, unions belonging to the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association reached a settlement agreement in principle with respect to outstanding grievances about 37.5 hour work week process at Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. As a result of this agreement in principle, schedules will not change, but grievors will receive one of two different possible settlements:

1. A bank of three days of straight time paid leave per year for each of 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 will be provided to grievors who were covered by the grievances when they were filed and who remain employed in a VCH department or unit covered by the grievances. For any part-time grievors, this will be prorated based on FTE. This list of names will be Appendix A of the settlement.
2. A one-time payout lump sum amount equal to four days' pay will be provided to grievors who were covered by the grievances when they were filed, but before the date the agreement is finalized have been transferred to another VCH department or unit that is not covered by the grievances. This list of names will be Appendix B of the settlement. The final details of how the settlement will apply to affected grievors is still being worked out between the unions and employer. We will update you when the agreement is finalized and set to be implemented.

After this agreement is finalized, any Appendix A employee choosing to move from a department that is covered to a department that is not will lose their entitlement to extra days off as of the day they transfer to their new department, and will not have the banked days paid out. Appendix A employees who retire or resign from VCH before the end of 2018 will not have the banked days paid out. The banked days cannot be carried over from one year to the next.

Appendix A employees and managers will work together in good faith to mutually agree on when employees will take the banked days. If an employee and his/her manager cannot mutually agree to schedule the days, any unused days will be paid out at the end of that year. Appendix A employees and their managers may mutually agree to payment in lieu of the days off (or a portion of the days) in a given year.

If you have any questions about this memo, please email @email. In particular, please contact us if you are considering or planning to transfer to a different department and have questions about how that will affect your entitlement under the settlement agreement.