During the last round of negotiations, we made significant progress in achieving full mobility for all Health Authority employees covered by the Community Health Bargaining Association (CBA). Each Health Authority is currently divided into separate ‘Appendix 1 Employers’ in the Collective Agreement. Previously, Health Authority employees worked for a separate employer within the Health Authority. In many cases, this meant that they were not considered an internal applicant at other workplaces covered by the same agreement and limited their ability to transfer seniority, benefits, and accruals.
Stage 1 – Transfer of Seniority, Steps, and Accruals
In the new CA, if a worker is a successful applicant for a position in the same Health Authority where they are currently employed, they can choose to transfer all seniority, benefits, increment steps, and accruals to the new position. Workers will still be considered external applicants if they are applying to work for another Health Authority.
Workers will only port their seniority if they choose to resign from the position they currently hold and are not allowed to utilize this provision if they maintain their employment and seniority with another Appendix 1 Employer within a Health Authority. While they may apply to work at other Appendix 1 Employers within their Health Authority, they will be considered a new employee for that job.
Example 1 – A worker in Victoria (VIHA) is a successful applicant for a position in Nanaimo (VIHA). They can now transfer all their seniority, benefits, increment steps, and accruals to the new position if they are resigning from the position in Victoria.
Example 2 – A worker who holds two CBA positions in Burnaby (FHA) and is a successful applicant for a position in Chilliwack (FHA). They can now transfer all seniority, benefits, increment steps, and accruals to the new position if they resign from both positions in Burnaby.
Example 3 – A worker in Vancouver (VCH) who wishes to maintain their current position and apply for a job in Richmond (VCH), will be considered a new employee in Richmond.
Stage 2 – Dovetailing and Full Mobility
The second stage of mobility will occur in April of 2024 when all seniority lists for a Health Authority in the CBA will be merged. They will have full mobility throughout and will be considered internal candidates for all CBA positions, regardless of where they work in the Health Authority. Your Union will update you as the details for this second stage are established.
However, this process will include limiting all CBA employees in a Health Authority to holding a maximum of 1.0 FTE. This means that workers who currently have two or more positions that are more than 1.0 FTE will have to choose which position they will be keeping. This will also impact employees who work more than 37.5 hours per week at straight time. Once the second stage is implemented, all hours worked over 37.5 per week will be considered overtime, and those hours will likely be distributed to other employees at straight time where possible.
If you wish to continue working more than 37.5 hours per week at straight time, you are advised to seek additional employment outside of your health authority or outside the CBA.
In solidarity,
Andrew Ledger
Health Sector Coordinator