HSPBA Classifications Update: Fall 2025

Here is the latest news on the profile-based classification system for health science professionals.

How we got here

The profile-based classification system that was implemented in December 2024 was the first major change to the classification system for health science professionals since 1988.

The implementation of the classification system was gradual, starting with the “P1 Phase-In” wage increases that began on April 1, 2022, followed by the Classification Review in the fall of 2023. Then, finally, the new system was fully implemented in November and December 2024.

(New to HSA? You can read more about the history of your classification system here.)

The profile-based classification system recognizes advanced practice and supervisory/leadership work in the same manner for every profession – unlike the old system – resulting in a system that treats all seventy health science professions fairly and equitably.

How it’s going

For most HSA members working under the health science professionals collective agreement, implementation went smoothly and the new system is working well.

However, the new system is not working well for all members.

In December 2024, HSA filed three policy grievances on behalf of several hundred members working in three groups of jobs that have been classified by the employer has “anomalous/unique”:

• Supervisory/leadership positions with no clearly designated FTEs on the organizational chart;
• Multi-profession jobs (jobs that can be performed by members from multiple health science professions, with multiple wage schedules); and
• Supervisory/leadership positions who supervise teams comprised of multiple health science professions.

These grievances may need to be transferred to our legal department and set for hearing by an arbitrator, which is not a quick process. Our classifications experts believe that this is the best way to ensure that the employer properly classifies and pays members working in these roles.

If you fall into one of these three groups, please make sure that we have your correct contact information.

These three policy grievances are in addition to many, many member grievances filed since the implementation of the profile-based classification system with regard to these exact issues.

P2A Special Procedures/Techniques

Your union also shares the frustration of members who are waiting to have their specialized work added to the P2A profile. This profile is for jobs that “involve a specialized area of practice [within your specific profession] which in turn requires a recognized level of expertise or competency obtained through specialized education, training and experience which is over and above the P1 working level and is required in order to carry out the duties”.

This profile represents a new way to recognize and compensate members who are in jobs requiring learning specialized skills that benefit their patients/clients.

So far, your union has moved forward with 33 P2A submissions covering 10 professions (the full list is posted here: https://hsabc.org/P1P2_Simplified), but we have not had a meaningful response from the employer. This is partially expected, as right now the employer is focussed on bargaining the next HSPBA collective agreement.

If you are classified as P1 and perform work covered in the 33 submissions linked above for less than half of your work time, please begin keeping a record of when you perform this work, as you may need this information to ensure you are coded up for the correct number of hours. (Members classified as P1 who perform this work for the majority of their work time will be reclassified, not coded up, and therefore do not need to track their hours.)
 
If you submitted a special procedure and it is not on the posted list, union staff are continuing to review submissions. For the significant number of submissions not captured in the list of 33, the project team continues to review and gather evidence to determine the strength of our case to see which additional submissions may have merit to be referred to HEABC. Staff working on this project may need additional information, which means that you may be contacted by them. Please be patient as staff continue to investigate submissions, and please respond quickly if they request information from you.

Did you perform higher-level work between May and December 2024?

Your union believes that there may be members who did higher-level work between May and December 2024 (the "retro period") who have received no retroactive payment for temporary work or possibly promotions.

For example, if your department’s practice lead took vacation in summer 2024 and you were appointed to do their work, you may not have received retro pay. Please check your paystubs and make sure you received the correct payment.

If this happened to you and you did not receive your retro pay, please contact your steward and file a grievance.

Resources for members

If you are curious about how the new system has affected your job, please check out the information and resources available on the HSA website.

You may want to begin by using the wage calculator to see how implementation affected the salary structure for your profession, or by taking a look at the profile documents.