CAUT Collective Bargaining Town Hall. 23 November 2017, 1pm EST

Transcription

1 CAUT Collective Bargaining Town Hall 23 November 2017, 1pm EST

2 Territorial Acknowledgement We would like to begin by acknowledging that the land on which this webinar is being hosted is traditional unceded Algonquin territory.

3 Agenda 1. Pregnancy, Parental, and Caregiver Leaves: Recent Developments and Bargaining Opportunities 2. Bargaining Reports

4 Pregnancy, Parental, and Caregiver Leaves: Recent Developments and Bargaining Opportunities Andrea Harrington, CAUT

5 Context Most provinces require employers to provide little or no paid pregnancy, parental, or caregiver leave Eligibility for even unpaid leave varies by province and excludes many workers The level of income support paid under the Employment Insurance (EI) maternity and parental leave benefits plan is lower than the OECD average EI work hours requirements exclude many part-time and precarious workers Only 50% of employed mothers and 10% of fathers of children under one year old take government-paid parental leave 1. Collective bargaining is therefore critical to securing adequate paid leave 1 OECD Family Database, 2013

6 Legislative Changes Reduction of the waiting period for EI benefits from 2 weeks to 1 week (Jan ) As of December 3: EI benefits for maternity leave payable as early as 12 weeks before due date (up from 8 weeks) Choice between 35 weeks of parental leave benefits at 55% of weekly insurable earnings or 61 weeks at 33% of weekly insurable earnings New 15-week adult caregiving benefit for family members in need of support to recover from a critical illness or injury Parents of critically ill children can share leave benefit with other family members Expect some changes to provincial legislation

7 Collective Agreement Implications Paid leave provisions must be adjusted to one-week waiting period to avoid EI claw backs Leave eligibility, timing, and duration may need to be adjusted to comply with legislated minimums Review your agreement and if necessary initiate discussions with the employer even if you are not in bargaining

8 Example Pregnancy Leave A pregnant member is entitled to 17 weeks paid pregnancy leave During the period of pregnancy leave, a member will receive from the employer: (a) for the first two weeks any week during which the member does not receive EI benefits, 100% of the member s nominal salary; (b) for up to a maximum of fifteen additional weeks any week during which the member receives EI benefits, the difference between the EI benefits received by the member and 100% of the member s nominal salary. Duration of Pregnancy Leave Pregnancy leave may begin no earlier than eight thirteen weeks before the date on which member is expected to give birth, unless the member stops working earlier because of complications with the pregnancy or because of a birth, still birth, or miscarriage.

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10 Parental leave programs The new 18-month option is not an increase to the EI benefit. It allows the parental leave benefit to be extended over 61 weeks instead of the current 35 at a lower benefit rate Language that provides top-up to a certain percentage of salary over a set number of weeks will likely continue to apply regardless of whether an employee chooses the regular or the extended period Employers may seek modifications since the cost of topping up from 33% is higher to them Some plans provide a top-up for the entire period that an employee collects EI benefits. Expect employers to try to renegotiate these Employers may propose cost-neutral options such as allowing members to take the same total top-up amount but extend it over a longer period of time

11 Caregiver Leave Many agreements do not explicitly provide paid or unpaid caregiver leave, allow it for a narrower group of familial relationships than the EI leave, or allow it at the employer s discretion In some cases this may be at odds with provincial legislation Though eligible members would generally be entitled to at least the provincial minimums if they exceed the collective agreement, members and employer staff may not know this Improving caregiver leave provisions is important to realizing equity.

12 Example 1. Caregiver Leave i. A member will be granted a compassionate care leave for up to twenty-seven (27) weeks to care for a gravely ill family member at significant risk of dying within six months. ii. iii. A member will be granted caregiver leave of up to sixteen (16) weeks to provide care to an adult family member who requires significant care or support to recover from a critical illness or injury. A member will be granted a critically ill child leave of up to thirty-six (36) weeks to care for a child who is critically ill. 2. During the period of leave, a member will receive from the employer: i. Where a member is subject to a waiting period before receiving Employment Insurance Compassionate Care, Caregiver, or Critically Ill Child Benefits, the member will receive an amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of their normal weekly rate of pay for each week of the waiting period. ii. For each week in which the member receives Employment Insurance Compassionate Care, Caregiver, or Critically Ill Child Benefits, the member will receive an amount equal to the difference between the gross weekly amount of the Employment Insurance Benefit and one hundred percent (100%) of their normal weekly rate of pay.

13 Human Rights It is essential to keep up with legal developments to make sure your collective agreement provisions aren t discriminatory Potential issues: Articles that exclude certain groups may be discriminatory ex. members who take paid maternity leave can t take paid parental leave Some discrimination is permissible because of its purpose or because it is intended to help a disadvantaged group ex. Maternity leave for birth mothers only, because the purpose is physical recovery; a special leave for only adoptive fathers found to be special program Watch out for entitlements not available to members on certain leaves, impact of leaves on benefits related to seniority and length of service The duty to accommodate on the basis of family status law is still evolving Remember that the association shares responsibility for accommodation

14 Best practices All members should be eligible for paid leave Top-up to 100% of salary and for the full duration of EI benefit Ensure continuity of benefits and pension contributions Members who take leave must not be disadvantaged in seniority, tenure and promotion, sabbatical, other entitlements based on length of service Allow non-continuous parental and caregiver leaves Employer should pay full benefit if the member does not qualify for EI Protect the benefit against potential legislative changes

15 Other issues: Paternity/second parent leave: Designated leave dramatically increases the percentage of fathers who take leave. Québec reserves 5 weeks for fathers/same-sex partners Encouraging men to take parental leave promotes gender equity Flexible/part-time work arrangements: Under an EI pilot program, parental and caregiver leave recipients were allowed to keep a share of employment earnings. If this is made permanent, there may be opportunities to negotiate new programs with employers Protecting career trajectory: Many associations have tenure stop-out arrangements for pregnancy and parental leaves. Some also allow stop out even without leave for circumstances (parenting, caregiving) that could affect productivity. Childcare/caregiving: Cost and availability of childcare can sometimes be addressed though subsidies and reserved spots

16 Discussion

17 Bargaining Reports 1. Paul Belliveau, Association des bibliothécaires, professeures et professeurs de l'université de Moncton 2. Kimberly Nugent, University of Ontario Institute of Technology Faculty Association 3. Kevin Mackay, Ontario Public Service Employees Union

18 Feedback and Suggestions John Eustace at