HSPBA reaches agreement on retroactive pay for members not employed since April 1, 2022

Union members covered by the HSPBA collective agreement urged to reach out to former colleagues with important information about retro pay, including deadlines for eligibility. 

The Health Sciences Professional Bargaining Association (HSBPA) and the Health Employers Association of British Columbia (HEABC) reached a Memorandum of Agreement this month on retroactive pay for eligible members who ceased employment on or after April 1, 2022 – the date that most of the monetary terms and conditions of the 2022-2025 HSPBA collective agreement came into effect.

This retroactive pay agreement, which was concluded on July 21, 2023, ensures that union members covered by the HSPBA Collective Agreement whose employment ended after April 1, 2022, will receive payment for all monetary provisions related to work they performed on or after that date.

This applies to any member who stopped working for a HEABC employer through resignation, retirement, or termination by the employer. It applies only to employees who have severed their employment relationship. For clarity, members who retired but remain casual employees have a continuing employment relationship, so they are not required to apply for retroactive pay under the terms of this Memorandum of Agreement.

Retroactive pay includes all monetary provisions such as wages, premiums, allowances, and leaves and is calculated on all paid hours. Please check the summary of changes for more details.

Eligible members will receive a letter from their employer, at their last known address on record, with details on how to apply for retroactive pay. Under the terms of the agreement, the employers will send these letters no later than August 15, 2023. Eligible members will have 60 days from the date of the letter to respond to the employer. If a former employee does not provide a response within 60 days, the employer will not be required to pay. 

The employer will determine the method and timing of the payment, but it will be no later than December 1, 2023, and will be by cheque or direct deposit.

Important deadlines

  • Letter from employers to former employees: August 15, 2023
  • Last day to apply for retroactive pay: October 14, 2023
  • Retroactive payment to former employees: no later than December 1, 2023

If you know someone who may be eligible for this retroactive payment, please forward this important information to them so they can apply for the money owed to them.

Former employees who are eligible for retroactive payment should contact their Local if they do not receive a letter from their former employer outlining how to apply for the retroactive pay to which they are entitled.

CBA Health Authority Mobility Update

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

Classifications review for all HSPBA members coming this fall

This fall, all members in the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association will have the opportunity to help modernize the healthcare system, ensure your role in that system is clearly recognized, and confirm that you are paid for the full range of the work you do.

Health science professionals work in over 70 different professions. The work is complex and becomes more complex with each passing year.

But for many of BC’s health science professionals, the current classification system has not kept pace with the change in their work.

For over twenty years, previous governments have refused to modernize the classification system. In the last round of bargaining, however, the HSPBA and the current government struck an agreement to complete the design and implementation of the new profile-based redesigned classification system.

Why this matters

Your wage is determined by your classification. Your classification is determined by the health science profession you belong to, and the level of duties and responsibilities of your job. A good classification system keeps pace with the ever-changing ways in which the healthcare system is structured and delivers care. It also ensures that your role in that system is clearly recognized and that you are paid for the full scope of the work you do.

The classification structures have been mostly unchanged since 1990, despite the fact that your work has become more complex and acute. In some cases, there aren’t enough classification/pay levels, leaving health science professionals stuck with little room for career advancement. In other cases, members are paid less than colleagues performing work of the same scope and level of responsibility. The classification system needs to be updated to apply uniformly to workers across the full spectrum of health science professionals to reflect the reality of the healthcare system as a whole.

The bottom line is this: While the healthcare system has become much more complex in the last thirty years and continues to evolve, the system that determines your rate of pay has not kept up. Improvements to the classification system will deliver overdue recognition of specialized work and, perhaps more importantly, create a foundation that can support new levels of specialization as health science professions continue to develop. This means that the system will be able to assign the appropriate level of pay proactively, not reactively.

Who is affected?

All members who work in health science professions under the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA)

How do I know if I am included?

You can contact the union to confirm that you are or are not a member under the HSPBA.

When does this happen?

Employers are currently compiling job descriptions for all HSPBA members and will provide these to you directly in the early fall. While the timing is up to individual employers, they are required to do this by no later than September 22.

What do I need to do?

For now, nothing. The first step will be taken by the employer, who will be preparing to provide you with your job description and notification of what classification profile they’ve assigned to your job. They will provide this to you directly by September 22, 2023.

Between September 22 and November 15, you’ll need to fill out forms provided by CUPE. These will guide you through the assessment of your job to determine if the employer has assigned your job to the right classification profile.

If the employer has misclassified your job, the union will advocate for assignment to the correct classification profile starting in late November.

What are the Next Steps?

CUPE will be providing more information to all HSPBA members later this summer. In the meantime, please ensure that your contact information is correct, and encourage your worksite colleagues to be sure that your Local Union has their contact information as well.

NBA Ratifies new collective agreement

Greetings CUPE 1004 Nurses,

Members of the Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) have successfully ratified a new three-year collective agreement with B.C.’s health employers, effective April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2025. In addition to the terms of the contract, nurses will now see the benefits of hundreds of millions of dollars in funding agreements reached between the NBA and the provincial government.

Sixty-one per cent of NBA members voted in favour of the tentative agreement reached on March 31, 2023. The contract applies to nurses working in acute care, community, public health, long-term care, and other settings within the province’s health care system.

The agreement includes the following general wage increases for all employees:

  • Year 1: $0.25 /hr plus 3.24%, retroactive to April 1, 2022
  • Year 2: 6.75%, retroactive to April 1, 2023
  • Year 3: 2% increase, plus a potential cost-of-living adjustment (to a maximum of 3%)

In addition to the general wage increase, the collective agreement includes a significant wage schedule redesign that provides meaningful wage gains, including new increment steps at years 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30. There are also significant increases to shift premiums, on-call rates, responsibility pay and isolation travel allowance.

The agreement also includes significant improvements in job flexibility and access to leaves, as well as investments in workplace health and safety. New contract language will also advance the principles of diversity, equity and inclusivity to ensure that all nurses are welcome in their workplaces. A genuine commitment to truth and reconciliation, cultural safety, and strategies to address Indigenous-specific racism in the healthcare system is also incorporated into the agreement.

The ratification of the collective agreement secures the following historic funding agreements reached between the NBA and provincial government:

  • $750 million to support the establishment of minimum nurse-patient ratios ($200M, $250M and $300M ongoing), making B.C. the first province in Canada to implement this transformative staffing model;
  • $100 million to establish a nurse support fund and career laddering opportunities for LPNs to become RNs; and
  • $108.6 million in ongoing funding to support retention strategies that include, but are not limited to, mentorship and preceptorship incentives.

Yours in solidarity,

Andrew Ledger
CUPE Heath Sector Coordinator

HEABC and Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) reach tentative agreement

The HEABC-led employer bargaining team and the Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) have reached a tentative agreement under the Province’s Shared Recovery Mandate. Negotiations commenced for a new collective agreement on December 8, 2022. Negotiations under the Shared Recovery Mandate support government’s key priorities to improve public services and the health care system, while supporting the province’s continued economic recovery for all.

Highlights of the tentative agreement include:

  • General wage increases (GWI) for all employees effective:
  • April 1, 2022: $0.25 per hour and then 3.24 per cent
  • April 1, 2023: 5.5 per cent plus up to 1.25 per cent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) (Now confirmed that 1.25 per cent COLA will apply)
  • April 1, 2024: 2.0 per cent plus up to 1.0 per cent COLA
  • A revised wage schedule with new increments at 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 25 years, and 30 years
  • Indigenous specific anti-racism language consistent with other health sector agreements
  • Participation with the new Provincial Health Human Resources Coordination Centre (PHHRCC) for bargaining associations and a PHHRCC working group focused on diversity, equity and inclusion
  • A new premium for regular status employees of $2.15 per hour, for each hour worked, excluding overtime
  • Increases to shift premiums, on-call rates, responsibility pay, business allowance and isolation allowance
  • Expansion of voluntary shift exchanges and job share language to enhance flexibility

Further details will be available in the coming weeks as the ratification processes for both union members and employers unfold.

Community Bargaining Association unions ratify new three-year collective agreement

BURNABY— The member unions of the Community Bargaining Association (CBA) have ratified a new three-year collective agreement with the Health Employers Association of British Columbia (HEABC).

The deal, ratified by a vote of more than 94 per cent, is retroactive to April 1, 2022 and effective until March 31, 2025. The CBA made substantial gains in key areas identified by members, including significant wage increases averaging 14 to 16 per cent over three years, protection of workers’ benefits, and greater control over working conditions.

“Working through a global pandemic, overdose death emergency, and housing crisis, our members told us that achieving a fair wage increase that closes the gap with other health sector workers was their top priority,” said CBA Bargaining Committee member Andy Healey.

“CUPE members will experience significant monetary gains and have a stronger Collective Agreement that will improve safety and psychological well-being, with working conditions that will help members provide care and support for the communities we work with.”

CUPE representatives on the CBA negotiating committee—CUPE 1004’s Healey, CUPE 15’s Liza Taylor and CUPE Health Coordinator Andrew Ledger—will now work together with the seven other constituent unions of the bargaining association to implement the new provisions.

The committees and working groups will also begin working on full mobility in Health Authorities, OH&S initiatives, and any further changes or updates to the Joint Community Benefit Trust funding structure.

Nurses’ Bargaining Association Update – Talks Continuing

The Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) Bargaining Committee is back at the table with bargaining representatives from the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC), exchanging article language proposals that address many of the shortcomings in the current contract. In addition to lead negotiator, Jim Gould, other bargaining committee members are presenting to the employer group, and keeping the voices of working nurses in the conversation by providing compelling examples of the ways misinterpreted language is leading to nurses being woefully disrespected.

Gould was sharp in his reminder to the employer representatives: this is an historic opportunity to reset the relationship between nurses and employers. While the Union’s proposals may appear to add more financial pressure to the healthcare system in the short term, Gould has insisted these changes are required for recruitment and retention. Gould strongly asserted that if employers do the right thing today, these changes will result in nurses staying in the profession for the long term, and will also help return qualified nurses back to the workplace.

When not presenting proposals to HEABC, the Bargaining Committee meets in smaller groups to review the Employer’s counterproposals carefully. This micro approach gives the team more time to assess and challenge the intention of changes being proposed. Talks remain focused on housekeeping-type changes before moving into more complex language and monetary proposals in the weeks ahead.

The NBA Bargaining Committee is steadfast in its resolve. We will continue to bring the voice of nurses to the table, and call out the disconnect between those negotiating for the HEABC and what the employers are actually doing.

2022 HSPBA Pay Increases Expected in Approximately Six Weeks

CUPE HSPBA members can expect to begin receiving pay raises towards the end of next month.

Timing and delivery of the new pay rates are entirely in the hands of the employer. With the recent agreement on the formulation of wage schedules, the employer is expected to begin making the necessary payroll changes. This is expected to take about six weeks, in line with the implementation seen in comparable contract negotiations.

Pay increases negotiated as part of the 2022-2025 Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association Collective Agreement, ratified by members on December 21, 2022, will also deliver retroactive payments going back to the first pay period after April 1, 2022. Again, in line with the implementation seen in comparable contract negotiations, retroactive payments can be expected to take a further three weeks after members see the new higher rates on their pay statements.

Members can expect an average general wage increase of 3.83 percent in the first year of the new contract, ending March 31, 2023. Pay increases will be at least 5.5 percent and 2 percent in the second and third years respectively, plus any Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) increases should inflation remain above the negotiated percentage wage increases. Over the three-year agreement, all members will see a pay increase of a minimum of approximately 12 percent to 14 percent, plus increases that may result from the comprehensive review of job classifications in 2023 and 2024.

Tentative Agreement for Community Health

We are pleased to announce that the Health Services & Support – Community Subsector Association (CBA) reached a tentative agreement in the early hours of Sunday, January 15, 2023.

The CBA Spokesperson was joined at the bargaining table by eight unions, including CUPE, representing workers covered by the agreement. Representatives on the bargaining committee from every union unanimously support the tentative agreement and encourage all members to vote in favour of ratification.

In the coming days, we will share details of the tentative agreement along with invitations to upcoming information sessions and information on how and when you can vote.

Thank you for standing with our bargaining committee through this challenging round of bargaining. Your support and solidarity gave our committee the courage to reject previous offers from the employer and keep fighting until we secured the best possible deal.

Thanks to you, we have secured an agreement that we are proud to recommend. We are excited to share more details on the significant wage increases, stronger language, and the benefits included in this agreement.

 

Yours in solidarity,

CUPE CBA Bargaining Committee

Health science professionals ratify new collective agreement

Members of the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association have voted 77 per cent in favour of accept a new collective agreement effective April 21, 2022 to March 31, 2025.

Highlights of the contract include a general wage increase of about 12-14 per cent over three years for all members, plus additional increases for most members based on a review of all classifications over this period. The general wage increase is retroactive to April 1, 2022.

“The CUPE bargaining committee went to the table with our members’ priorities clear from the start. These included making significant wage increases, given that we had fallen behind our colleagues in other provinces and even other health authorities within B.C.” said HSPBA bargaining committee and CUPE 15 member Jennifer Kassimatis.

“Our members also wanted us to address recruitment and retention, as so many health science professionals continue to struggle with unsustainable workloads. We were determined to achieve an agreement that would reflect the true importance of health science professionals within the health care system.”

HSPBA lead negotiator Jeanne Meyers said the new collective agreement also includes strategies and action addressing severe staff shortages in the health science professions.

“This contract is important for health science professionals, not just because it raises wages to competitive levels across the country but also because it establishes ongoing processes to address shortages and vacancies, and it recognizes the critical role health science professionals play on the health care team, including asserting their right to a safe and healthy workplace,” said Meyers.

For the first time in decades, the contract provides significant pay increases. In addition:

  • Cost of Living Adjustments are built in to protect pay against longer-term increases in inflation.
  • Improvements to premiums for on-call, short-notice, super shifts and weekend shifts will put more money in many members’ pockets.
  • A long-overdue update to the classification system provides more recognition of the complexity and scope of work, more opportunity for career advancement, and more respect.
  • Specific provisions address the recruitment and retention crisis.
  • Occupational health and safety changes address mental health under duress, unsafe workloads, infection control standards, access to personal protective equipment and prevention of violence in the workplace.
  • Enhanced education leaves support professional development.
  • A new focus on implementing recommendations to support the inclusion of Indigenous workers, patients and clients will work toward reconciliation and culturally-safe health care.
  • Inclusion of communities that experience marginalization in the health care system is a major priority.

In addition to Indigenous-specific anti-racism measures agreed to in the collective agreement, HSPBA was successful in negotiating a ground-pilot project to explore alternatives to the Christian/colonial focus on statutory holidays to better reflect the diverse cultures and practices of health care workers.

The general wage increases are retroactive to the first pay period after April 1, 2022, and the new premium rates are effective as of December 22, 2022.