HSPBA Classification Implementation: Vancouver Coastal, Providence, PHSA, and Affiliate Employers

Posted
December 6, 2024

Vancouver Coastal Health, Providence Health Care, PHSA, and affiliate employers are all implementing the new profile-based classification system for health science professionals today.

What does this mean?
 
Though the vast majority of HSA members won’t see any change to their pay, your job’s classification and salary structure will formally change today.
 
Your job’s classification will now be one of the seven profiles of the new classification system: P1, P2A, P2B, or S1 – S4.
 
Most HSA members have been matched with the P1 Working Professional profile and will not see a change in their pay as part of today’s implementation. This is because the new P1 salary structure was phased in over the past few years and fully implemented on April 1, 2024.
 
However, some members in classifications above P1 will see their salary structure increase or decrease with today’s pay.
 
If your salary structure has increased, you are entitled to retroactive pay back to April 1, 2024. The employer will pay you this retroactive pay by February 28, 2025.
 
If your salary structure has decreased – you won’t actually be paid less. That’s because your union insisted on “green-circling”, which means members in this situation will continue to be paid at their previous rate, and receive all general wage increases, for as long as they remain in those positions. The employer was required to notify you before today and in writing if you have been green-circled at your rate on December 6, 2024. If you have been green-circled, we strongly encourage you to read this FAQ on green-circling.

What does my union suggest I do?
 
We’re encouraging all members to check their paystubs to ensure that you’ve been transitioned to the correct salary structure.
 
You can use the new wage calculator to quickly check if you’re receiving the correct hourly wage or, if you’d like more detailed information, by looking at the complete wage schedules.

How does the new classification system work?
 
The new classification system has two types of classifications:

  • Working Professionals, which are P1, P2A, and P2B. P2B has five sub-profiles: P2B(E), P2B(I), P2B(Q), P2B(R), and P2B(S).
     
  • Supervisory/Leadership, which are S1, S2, S3, and S4.


You can find a simple, plain-language explanation of the different Working Professional profiles on the HSA website.
 
The Supervisory/Leadership profiles are more straightforward; they are based on the highest classification of staff supervised and the total number of FTEs supervised.

What should I do if something’s wrong?
 
If you notice that you’re being paid the wrong rate, please notify payroll and ask them to correct it. We suggest that you do this by email so there’s a record of your request. If this doesn’t resolve the issue, please reach out to a steward for assistance.
 
If you think that your job has been matched to the wrong classification profile, there are two options, depending on which profile you’re seeking:

  • If you think that your job requires you to perform a special procedure or technique that is not already listed on the P2A profile, you do not need to speak to a steward nor file a grievance. There is a separate process to notify your union so that we can advocate to add new special procedures and techniques to the P2A Special Procedures profile that you can read about here under “P2A Special Procedures/Techniques”. Please follow this process as quickly as you can.
     
  • If you think that your job should be matched to the P2B or S1 – S4 profiles, or if you perform a special procedure or technique that is already listed on the P2A profile,  please reach out to a steward. Your steward will be able to advise you what evidence you need to gather to support your grievance, and assist you in filing a classification grievance.

 
Our next opportunity to refine and improve the profile-based classifications system will be as part of bargaining our next collective agreement in 2025. Preparations for this round of bargaining have already begun; this fall, HSA chapters across BC submitted over one thousand bargaining proposals, including several hundred proposing changes to the classifications system, to the union.

Delegates to the HSA Bargaining Proposal Conference spent three days in early November discussing and prioritizing the proposals and electing the Bargaining Committee who will take the prioritized proposals to the bargaining table next year.

Challenges and Concerns
 
Your union is aware that for some members, and for some specific professions like pharmacists and supervisors working in medical imaging and medical laboratories, there have been substantive and serious problems with the transition. Your union takes these concerns very seriously.
 
The status of these issues varies: some have been resolved at arbitration, some are still being discussed by the union and the employer, and some cannot be resolved until after full implementation in December. There are also bargaining proposals related to these issues that will be tabled as part of negotiations for the next HSPBA collective agreement in 2025.
 
Here are some of the issues that members and the union are working to resolve:

Concerns with the salary schedule
 
Your union and the employer were not always able to smoothly negotiate the details of the new salary structures that came with this transition. Where the union and the employer were unable to reach agreement, the disputes were resolved through arbitration.
 
This includes:

  • P2B: Your union took the position that there should be more than one rate for P2B jobs, particularly since they include jobs that were previously classified at four different levels; the arbitrator did not agree. This is why there is only one wage rate for each P2B sub-profile.
     
  • P2B(S): Your union took the position that the P2B(S) sub-profile should be paid at the same rate as the other four P2B sub-profiles; the arbitrator disagreed. This is why the wage rate for the P2B(S) sub-profile is lower than the rate for the other P2B sub-profiles.
     
  • Supervisory FTE Ranges: Your union took the position that there should be more than four FTE ranges for each supervisory/leadership profile, but our argument was not successful at arbitration. This is why there are only four FTE ranges, and why the largest range is so big, applying to members who supervise 25 FTEs as well as those who supervise 125 FTEs.

 
We are now in a situation where, despite our shared concerns, these are the salary structures that are in place. Our next opportunity to correct these problems is through bargaining as we negotiate our next collective agreement.

Clinical Pharmacists

The new profile-based classification system combines the previous Grade 1 and Grade 2 into a new full-scope classification called P1 Working Professional. This works well for almost all professions, but not pharmacists, because it places both dispensing and clinical pharmacists in the same profile even though their work and training is very different.

Your union believes that a solution can be reached by using the new P2A special procedures/techniques profile. Now that the system is finally fully implemented, HSA will seek to have the specialized work of clinical pharmacists added to the P2A profile. We plan to update pharmacist members about this in December.
 
Jobs with Multiple Professions
 
Some members are in jobs that can be filled by members of multiple professions, which has led to confusion about which wage schedule should apply. Your union believes that the highest of the possible salary structures should apply, but discussions with the employer are still ongoing. When discussions conclude, we will notify members.
 
In the meantime, members in these jobs who feel that they are classified or paid incorrectly should reach out to a steward for assistance with filing a grievance.

Where can I learn more?
 
There are many resources available on the HSA website, including:

 

Topic
Health Science Professionals
Type
Bulletins

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