FAQ: New Regular Status Rules LOU
Useful Information for Language Teachers
Residence Life Workers
Useful Information for Language Teachers
New Members Information
Second Language Instructors Orientation Package (English Language Centre and the French Language Programme).
Cultural Assistants Orientation Package.
Collective Agreement – Comp 2 only
For the latest collective agreemnt, edited to include only Comp 2 related items, go here , or download the (PDF)
Component Two Payroll & EI
A year or so back, UVic Payroll gave a presentation explaining how Comp 2 payroll and EI works. Download the Powerpoint show.
Employment Insurance and ROEs
Most CUPE 4163 members are hired on a term-by-term basis. As a result, we get a number of questions around whether our members are eligible to receive Employment Insurance (EI) if they are not rehired for a term.
Am I eligible to receive EI?
If you are not rehired after your current term of appointment ends, you may be eligible for EI. In order to receive EI, you must have worked at least the required insurable hours in the 52 weeks prior to the termination of your employment. The insurable hours required are based on the unemployment rates in the region in which you live. Currently, for the Victoria region (including all of the Capital Regional District), the qualifying number is 630 hours (at the time of writing). Please note, if you live outside of the CRD, the qualifying number may be different.
If you are not reappointed for the next term, you will receive a Record of Employment (ROE) from the University. The ROE will show the number of insurable hours you have in the previous 53 weeks, as well as your earnings for the most recent 27 weeks prior to the termination of your employment. Note that if you are fired for just cause or if you quit, you are not usually eligible for EI benefits.
How do I determine my insurable hours?
English Language Centre instructors teaching in full-time programs, including both ELPI and short-term programs, are credited with 38.5 hours per week. Elective teachers in the ELC are credited with 3.85 hours for each elective taught (2 contact hours per elective, times 1.925 hours for preparation and other non-classroom duties).
French Language Program instructors in La Maison Française summer program are credited with 38.5 hours per week. Other full-time instructors in the FLP are credited with 35 hours per week. Part-time instructors in the FLP receive 1.75 hours prep for each hour of contact time.
Cultural Assistants, like TAs, are appointed to a specific number of hours for the term of their appointment.
How much EI will I receive?
Generally, EI benefits are 55% of your average weekly earnings for the most recent 26 weeks prior to the termination of your employment, up to a maximum of $413 per week. Please note, in certain parts of the province outside of Victoria and Vancouver, there is a pilot project that uses your best 14 weeks out of the last 52, rather than simply looking at your most recent 26 weeks. This pilot could be very important for sessionals, who often have wide fluctuations in the number of courses they teach in different terms.
The length of time for which you can receive EI benefits varies, depending on your region and the number of insurable hours you have. For example, in Victoria, you can receive benefits for a minimum of 14 weeks (for 700 insurable hours) to a maximum of 36 weeks (more than 1820 insurable hours). Of course, if you find a new job, your EI benefits will cease when you start working again.
Besides offering EI benefits for people who are out of work, there are also EI programs for Maternity, Parental or Sickness benefits, and for Compassionate Care benefits. For more information, or to fill out a claim for EI benefits, contact your local Service Canada Centre (federal government offices), or check out the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development website:
http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ei/menu/eihome.shtml
FAQ: New Regular Status Rules LOU
Frequently Asked Questions RE: the New ELC Regular Status Letter of Understanding
What are the new requirements for moving from Term to Regular status?
To attain Regular status, teachers must teach 4 consecutive ELPI/ELAI sessions. Teachers may opt (or be laid off) for (one of) either April or ELAI session and still qualify.
For example:
1) The “classic” method – teaching 4 consecutive long term (or equivalent) programs (usually Fall, Winter and Spring but ELAI may also be used). The progression can start with any session.
2) The “new” method – teaching 4 consecutive appointments in ELAI, Fall, and Winter (thus the inability to be appointed to the Spring 12 week program will not prevent them from getting Regular Status). The 4 term progression can start with any session. [ref: LOU Term i)]
For the calculation of moving from Term to Regular status, when did the new deal kick in?
In the LOU, the process was backdated to begin in September of 2014.
If you qualify for regularized status by teaching ELAI will you always have to teach ELAI?
As a Regular, you must teach three 12 week sessions in a year (with the exception of a year in which you take a session out [see below for session out rule]).
If there is enough work in Fall, Winter and Spring sessions, you will not be required to teach ELAI, no matter how you gained entry to Regular status. However, if Management forecasts that there is not enough work in the Spring session (for example) you would be required to teach ELAI. [ref: Term i]
A teacher can substitute a combination of short term programs for one of their three sessions. What are the criteria for stitching together spring and summer programs to make “a full session”?
Teachers may stitch together any combination of Spring and Summer programs adding up to 11 weeks of full time work to comprise a full session for the purpose of maintaining regular status.
This holds true for Winter and Summer short term programs or Winter and Spring programs (although stitching together Winter & Spring programs would necessitate teaching ELAI).
[ref: Term ii]
Note: You may not do this to qualify for regular status.
Regular teachers may take a session out only every three years. Could someone take a session out two years running as long as the total number still comes out to two in six years?
The intent of the LOA was for members to be able to take a session out only every 3 calendar years and not to have back to back sessions out. So if you take a session out, it would be three years before you could take another session out. [ref: Term iii]
I scheduled a session out for 2015. Does this count as one of my sessions out?
You would have scheduled your session out before the Letter of Understanding. As you were unable to factor the rule change into your decision, you would be “grandfathered”, meaning in this case that your 2015 session out would not count as one in three years.
When do I have to declare my schedule and can I change?
You must declare your yearly schedule by Nov 15 of the preceding year. This should include whether or not you want to teach in summer, take a session out, and what programs you hope to teach. Management will assess requests and based on seniority and projected enrollments approve or alter your schedule (you will be informed so you can make decisions as per predications if your schedule needs to be altered).
Once your schedule is set you cannot alter it EXCEPT:
1) You can add summer programs up to May 1 and drop summer programs up to May 15 of the applicable year.
2) If you requested work that was not deemed available and the work becomes available, you will be offered the opportunity to switch.
For example. Joe wanted to work April ELPI and take the summer off but was informed that given usual enrollment numbers, he would not be eligible for April work based on his seniority. In April, work suddenly becomes available. Joe would be offered the position and he could opt to take the work or stay with his set schedule. If Joe had not indicated he was interested in April work, he would not then be offered it.
In another example: Esmerelda’s schedule was set to work in April but enrollment does not materialize. She would then have the option to work in ELAI or teach P3 + P4 to make up her third full time session. She could also opt for a session out that year if she had not taken a session out in the previous two years.