HSPBA Classifications Transition: June Update

Here’s the latest news that you should know about the transition to the new classification system for health science professionals. 

Highlights:

•    The new classification system won’t take effect until either later this year or early in 2025 – this date is part of ongoing discussions with the employer, and we’ll update you when the date is confirmed.

•    Scroll down for a link to simple, plain-language explanations of the new working professional profiles.

•    If you filed a classification objection, you should have been notified of your result. Didn’t receive the email? Please send a note to matchingoutcomes [at] hsabc.org

Improvements

Change is hard and, understandably, some folks are finding this transitional period stressful. We thought it might help to remember why this is happening: our current classification system has long needed to be modernized.

The new profile-based system will finally give all health science professionals, in all 70+ professions, equitable recognition for the scope and level of work that they do. For example, in the current classification system there are only three professions with a special procedures/techniques classification; in the new system, every profession can have special procedures/techniques recognized and paid at the P2A rate.

Another example is how under the current classification system, some professions have no supervisory classification, others have one supervisor classification, and other professions have between two and seven different supervisory levels. Under the new system, each profession will have the same number of supervisory levels.

The new classification system is uniform across professions and significantly simpler and more streamlined, which will make it easier for you to understand how your job is classified.

There will be challenges whenever something this complex is implemented, and we anticipated there would be bumps along the way. Some professions are facing especially difficult changes, and HSA is advocating for solutions to the special issues confronting them.

And not surprisingly, some members feel the employer has failed to match them to the correct job profile of the new classification system. If that’s you, HSA is here to help you through the process of sorting that out — first through the  objection process, and then (if needed) through classification grievances once the new system is implemented. 

Working Professional Profiles

One request we’re hearing is for a simple, plain-language explanation of the new working professional profiles (also called P1, P2A, and P2B). Want to know what they are? Please click:
 
Tell me about the new working professional profiles

How to Make Improvements

If you’ve discovered a part of the new classification system that you’d like to change or improve, please keep an eye on your email inbox. The bargaining process for our next collective agreement will start this fall, and you’ll be invited to a chapter meeting to discuss what changes you’d like to see to any part of the collective agreement, including the classification system.

Intimidated by the concept of collective bargaining? Please don’t be. Check out this explainer, think about what changes you’d like to see, and show up at your chapter meeting – that’s all it takes to start making change. 

I want to learn more!

Fantastic! There’s more information on the new profile-based classification system here (that page will be updated as we move towards implementation). If you have questions that the website doesn’t answer, please send them to redesign [at] hsabc.org