Program and Administrative Services (PA) group New Collective Agreement (expiring June 20, 2021)

Clause 12.03 stipulates that a duly accredited representative of the Alliance may be permitted access to the Employer's premises to assist in the resolution of a complaint or grievance and to attend meetings called by management.

The addition of "Such permission shall not be unreasonably withheld" to this clause signifies that managers should only deny such requests based on legitimate reasons.

Accredited representatives of the Alliance may normally be granted access to attend a grievance hearing or a disciplinary meeting. However, access to the Employer facilities should not be granted for the purpose of activities that are in clear conflict with the Employer's interests. For all denial situations, Labour Relations must be consulted.

Introduction of clause 28.04 (b) requires managers to make every reasonable effort to allocate overtime work to employees at the same group and level as the position to be filled.

Granting overtime to an employee at a different group and level as that of the position where overtime is being allocated as a last recourse.

Effective within one hundred and eighty (180) days after the date of signing, the overtime meal allowance is increased from $10 to $12 for clauses (a) and (b).

Note: The new rate will be updated in Phoenix pay system in the coming months.

40.01 Parental leave without pay

The introduction of a second option for an extended leave without pay period of up to sixty-three (63) consecutive weeks in the seventy-eight (78) week period beginning on the day on which the child is born or the day on which the child comes into the employee's care.

40.02 Parental allowance

The new extended leave option is available at a reduced parental allowance percentage top up of 55.8%. This ensures the overall allowance paid remains the same, regardless of whether the employee chooses the standard leave option of 37 consecutive weeks (93% top up) or the extended leave option of 63 consecutive weeks (55.8% top up).

Expansion of the definition of family with the addition of clause 41.02 (a) to include a person who stands in the place of a relative for the employee whether or not there is any degree of consanguinity between such person and the employee.

This person can be anyone that the employee considers to be a relative even though there is no degree of consanguinity between them. It does not have to be a person who stands in the place of a family member as per the definition of family.

The compassionate care leave is renamed "caregiving leave".

The leave without pay period shall not exceed twenty-six (26) weeks for compassionate care benefits, thirty-five (35) weeks for family caregiver benefits for children and fifteen (15) weeks for family caregiver benefits for adults, in addition to any applicable waiting period.

Expansion of the definition of family with the addition of clause 44.01 (g) to include a person who stands in the place of a relative for the employee whether or not there is any degree of consanguinity between such person and the employee.

This person can be anyone that the employee considers to be a relative even though there is no degree of consanguinity between them. It does not have to be a person who stands in the place of a family member as per the definition of family.

The definition of family is expanded with the addition of clause 47.01 (a) to include a person who stands in the place of a relative for the employee whether or not there is any degree of consanguinity between such person and the employee.

This person can be anyone that the employee considers to be a relative even though there is no degree of consanguinity between them. It does not have to be a person who stands in the place of a family member as per the definition of family.

With respect to clause 47.01 (a), an employee shall be entitled to bereavement leave with pay only once in their career with the Public Service.

Introduction of a domestic violence leave providing for seventy-five (75) hours of leave with pay for an employee who is subject to domestic violence or who is the parent of a child subject to domestic violence.

Clause (c) stipulates that the maximum of leave granted under this article is not to exceed 75 hours per fiscal year.

Clause (d) stipulates that managers shall accept a signed statement by the employee stating they meet the conditions of this article as meeting the requirements of this article.

Employees must submit a GC-178 form with leave code 655 to request Domestic Violence Leave. Managers must preserve the approved leave form and signed statement in the employee's file.

Note: For confidentiality reasons, managers should not submit the leave form for input into PeopleSoft. At this time, leave 655 cannot be recorded in the system. Further instructions will be forthcoming regarding the capture of this leave.

The addition of 59.02 clause (a), that introduces a minimum of one (1) day of facilitated training on crisis intervention for all call centre employees and facilitated training on coping skills upon initial hire.

Note: As of February 8, 2021, the new training ‟Dealing with Crisis in a Call Centre Environment," started to be delivered to Call Centre employees. The College is currently developing a new training on coping skills for new hires.