Implementation of the Fair and Family Friendly Workplaces Act

Transcription

1 Supervisor Toolkit Implementation of the Fair and Family Friendly Workplaces Act What Supervisors of the Alberta Public Service need to know about the Fair and Family Friendly Workplaces Act and the resulting updates to the Public Service Employment Regulation and Human Resource Directives. Introduction As of January 1, 2018, the new Fair and Family-Friendly Workplaces Act (FFWA) and changes to the Alberta s Employment Standards Code (ESC) came into effect resulting in updates to the Public Service Employment Regulation (PSER) and Human Resource (HR) Directives. Outlined below is key information regarding the changes to HR Directives and PSER based on the newly amended ESC. It is important to note that changes to the ESC will impact all Alberta Public Service (APS) employees as they will now benefit from even higher workplace standards. To carry out your role effectively, you are expected to be familiar with the changes to the PSER and HR Directives. These changes include: Maternity, Parental, and Adoption Leave Supplemental Employment Benefits Plan Hours of Work Averaging Agreements Overtime Compensation for Part-Time Salaried Employees Special Leave Job-Protected Leaves Any questions that you may have should be directed to HR. Overview of Changes and Frequently Asked Questions Maternity, Parental and Adoption Leave Employees were eligible for maternity, parental and adoption leave without pay after one complete year of service. This has been reduced to 90 days of service. Maternity leave is increased from 15 weeks to 16 weeks. Parental leave without pay is increased from a maximum of 37 consecutive weeks to a maximum of 62 consecutive weeks, and must be taken within 78 weeks of the birth of the child. An employee on maternity leave may be granted up to 78 consecutive weeks leave without pay, which includes a combined total of not more than 16 weeks of maternity leave and not more than 62 weeks of parental leave immediately following the last day of maternity leave. An employee who has adopted a child is entitled to up to 62 consecutive weeks of adoption leave without pay, and this must be taken within 78 weeks of the child being placed with the employee.

2 If two employees request a parental (or adoption) leave of absence without pay for the birth or adoption of the same child, the combined amount of leave for both employees cannot exceed 62 consecutive weeks. This leave must be taken within 78 weeks of the birth of their child or their adopted child being placed with them. The Government of Canada recently announced options for individuals to extend their Employment Insurance (EI) benefits for parental leave (including adoption leave) over 12 or 18 months. It is important to direct employees to EI with any questions on the federal EI program. Further information related to Maternity and Parental Leave can be found in the Maternity and Parental Leave Transition Guide for APS Employees and Supervisors. Frequently Asked Questions What is maternity leave? Maternity leave of 16 weeks without pay is available to a pregnant employee. The employee is also eligible for up to 62 weeks of parental leave without pay immediately following the end of the maternity leave for a total of 78 weeks of leave. Who is eligible for job-protected maternity leave? A pregnant employee who has been employed by the same employer for at least 90 calendar days is eligible for this leave without pay. The 90 days of employment begins from the date the employee commenced employment, not the date the ESC changes came into effect. For example, if the employee began working with the Government of Alberta (GoA) in October 2017, they became eligible in January What is adoption leave? Adoption leave of up to 62 weeks without pay can be taken by an adoptive parent, within 78 weeks of the child being placed with the employee or both parents can share the 62 weeks between them. What is parental leave? Parental leave of up to 62 weeks without pay must be taken within the 78 weeks following the birth of the child. Parental leave can be taken under the following circumstances: - the birth mother, immediately following maternity leave - the other parent, within 78 weeks after the birth of the child - or both parents, shared between them Who is eligible for job-protected adoption leave or parental leave? An employee who has been employed by the same employer for at least 90 calendar days is eligible for this leave without pay. The 90 days of employment begins from the date the employee commenced employment, not the date the ESC changes came into effect. For example, if the employee began working with the GoA in October 2017, they became eligible in January An employee started parental leave before December 3, Is the employee eligible for the new extended parental leave? Changes to federal EI benefits came into effect on December 3, Employees should contact the Federal Government for information regarding EI Benefits. Changes to Alberta s job-protected leaves came into effect January 1, Employees who commenced parental leave prior to January 1, 2018 must notify their employer of their intent to take an extended parental leave as soon as possible, but no later than four weeks from the original end date of the leave.

3 Supplemental Employment Benefits Plan The GoA s Supplementary Employment Benefits (SEB) are applicable only to maternity leave, and these benefits remain at a maximum of 17 weeks, which includes the waiting period. It is important to note that the GoA does not pay SEB during parental or adoption leaves. The directive has been updated to reflect the updated name of SEB, formerly known as Supplemental Unemployment Benefits. Frequently Asked Questions What is SEB? The SEB plan tops up the employee s EI benefits for a maximum of 17 weeks, including the waiting period, during the health-related period of absence for maternity reasons. The top-up amount is based on the employee s general illness entitlement. The employee must provide a medical certificate identifying the period of the health-related period as well as proof they are in receipt of EI benefits. Hours of Work Averaging Agreements Compressed work week systems that currently exist: - 4/5-day week (two week averaging cycle) - 4-day week (one week averaging cycle) - 3-day week (one week averaging cycle) - Shift schedules that are agreed to in Letters of Understanding (LOU) and form part of the Collective Agreement with Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) - Current arrangements do not have to be in writing, may be any length of time and do not have to be reviewed. New provisions include changing the wording of compressed work week systems to hours of work averaging agreements (HWAA). HWAAs must now be in writing, and must be reviewed every two years; however, current compressed work week arrangements do not have to be converted to HWAAs until January 1, Public Service Commission Labour Relations will work with departments and AUPE to ensure compressed work week systems (i.e. shift schedules) in LOUs meet the HWAA requirements. A sample HWAA template can be found in Appendix A. Frequently Asked Questions What is an HWAA? Previously known as a Compressed Work Week, an HWAA enables a modified work schedule for an employee or a group of employees. Under an HWAA, departments and employees can enter into an agreement to schedule longer hours of work per day (and typically fewer days of work per week) paid at the employee s regular wage rate. How does an HWAA differ from a compressed work week? The department and the employee (or group of employees) must agree to the modified work schedule. A group HWAA can be entered into at the request of a group of employees or a department, with consent to enter the agreement by majority support of the affected employees. If a group agreement is in place, any new employees hired into the workplace are deemed to consent and are bound by the agreement.

4 An HWAA must be in writing and must include: the start and end date - the term of a HWAA cannot exceed two years unless it is part of the collective agreement (e.g. a letter of understanding), in which case it terminates the day a subsequent collective agreement comes into effect the number of weeks over which the hours will be averaged the work schedule, identifying all the work days and the number of hours to be worked on each of the work days in the averaging period - only one work schedule per agreement - scheduled daily and weekly hours of work cannot exceed: o 12 hours per day, and o 44 hours per week or an average of 44 hours per week the manner in which overtime pay and time off with pay will be calculated Employees must be provided with a copy of the HWAA as soon as possible, but no later than the commencement of the HWAA. A copy of a group HWAA must be posted where it can be viewed by affected employees. How do the new HWAA requirements impact an employee currently working a compressed work week? Any existing compressed work week arrangements continue to be in effect, but will need to be reviewed and converted to an HWAA before January 1, 2019 to ensure all new requirements are met. The compressed (modified) work schedule will need to be formalized in writing and signed off by both the employee and the department. If the compressed work week affects a group of employees, the department will require consent from a majority of the affected employees to continue the compressed (modified) schedule. If the compressed (modified) shift schedule is part of a LOU, Public Service Commission, Labour Relations will work with the department and AUPE to ensure the LOU is compliant with HWAA requirements. Some departments do not offer compressed work weeks now. Do they have to offer HWAAs now? An HWAA is a mutual agreement between a department and an employee (or group of employees). A department is not required to offer HWAAs if it is not operationally feasible. Overtime The directive has been updated to reflect the new hours of work averaging agreement, formerly known as compressed work week. There have been no changes to overtime entitlements in the directive. Frequently Asked Questions For approved overtime, are all employees entitled to receive at least time and one half of their regular hourly salary? Excluded Bargaining Unit employees are eligible for overtime as set out in the Collective Agreement. However, in order to comply with Employment Standards, these Excluded Bargaining Unit employees are entitled to overtime compensation of at least time and one half of their regular salary. This means that effective January 1, 2018 for Article (b) and (c) within the Collective Agreement, they will be paid overtime at time and one half of their regular salary instead of straight time. Excluded Administrative Support Classes are currently eligible for approved overtime of at least time and one half of their regular hourly rate and are thus compliant with Employment Standards. As Opted Out or Excluded Professional Classes are excluded from hours of work and overtime provisions

5 within the Employment Standards Regulation, their overtime rates will remain at straight time. Management employees are excluded from hours of work and overtime provisions within the Employment Standards Regulations and will continue to remain ineligible for overtime compensation. Compensation for Part-Time Salaried Employees Part-time salaried employees are currently eligible for general holiday pay based on the percentage of time they work. This has been revised so that part-time employees are entitled to holiday pay based on five per cent of their salary earned in the four weeks immediately preceding a holiday. This means employees are entitled to pay on a general holiday regardless of whether they are scheduled to work or not. Part-time salaried employees who work a consistent number of hours each work day (e.g. 80 per cent employee at 5.8 hours per day) are not impacted by this change. Part-time salaried employees who do not work a consistent number of hours each work day (e.g. 80 per cent employee at 7.25 hours for four days a week) must continue to complete the Part-Time Paid Holiday/Christmas Closure Reconciliation Worksheet. The current worksheet will be used for the 2017 calendar year. A revised worksheet will be available for 2018 and onwards. There are no changes to the calculations of salary, benefits, annual vacation, modifiers, allowances and paid leave entitlements, and these continue to be based on the percentage of time the part-time salaried employee works compared to a full-time salaried employee. Note: Service Alberta, Pay and Benefits will send out reconciliation worksheets to part-time employees. Frequently Asked Questions What is the average daily wage and what has changed with its calculation? Effective January 1, 2018, average daily wage will be calculated as five per cent of an employee s salary earned in the four weeks immediately preceding a general holiday. For Wage employees, the calculation includes their hourly rate as well as their provisions for paid holidays (5.2 per cent) and annual vacation (6.0 per cent). How does this affect employees? As is current practice, to ensure appropriate compensation, part-time employees will be required to complete the Part-Time Paid Holiday/Christmas Closure Reconciliation Worksheet on an annual basis or upon termination (whichever occurs sooner). Pay and Benefits will be sending the revised worksheet to part-time employees shortly. The 2018 worksheet will need to be completed by the end of January Once the form has been signed and approved, it should be sent to Pay and Benefits for processing. How does this impact a part-time employee who works a consistent daily work schedule (e.g. 80 per cent at 5.8 hours from Monday through Friday)? As the daily work hours are reflective of the part-time percentage, the employee is paid appropriately through IMAGIS. The revised Directive does not impact the employee s compensation. How does this impact a part-time employee who works an irregular schedule (e.g. 80 per cent at 7.25 hours Tuesday through Friday)? Due to the daily fluctuations in hours worked, the employee will have to complete the Part-Time Paid Holiday/Christmas Closure Reconciliation Worksheet. The employee may owe or be owed time in lieu based on the reconciliation worksheet calculation.

6 How does this impact a part-time employee who works an irregular schedule (e.g. 80 per cent at 7.25 hours Tuesday through Friday)? The employee was previously a full-time employee and started part-time on January 1. Due to the daily fluctuations in hours worked, the employee will have to complete the Part-Time Paid Holiday/Christmas Closure Reconciliation Worksheet. The reconciliation worksheet provides instructions on how the employee needs to adjust their hours in the worksheet to ensure at least compliance with Employment Standards. The employee may owe or be owed time in lieu based on the reconciliation worksheet calculation. Special Leave The directive has been updated to include a link to the Job-Protected Leave Directive. There have been no changes to Special Leave entitlements. Job Protected Leaves There are number of new types of unpaid job protected leaves. APS employees are eligible for these unpaid leaves after 90 days of employment. - Personal and family responsibility up to five days per calendar year - Long-term illness and injury up to 16 weeks per calendar year - Bereavement up to three days per calendar year - Domestic violence up to 10 days per calendar year - Citizenship ceremony up to half a day, upon the employee acquiring Canadian citizenship - Critical illness of an adult family member up to 16 weeks - Critical illness of a child up to 36 weeks - Death or disappearance of a child up to 52 weeks if the disappearance is as a result of a crime or up to 104 weeks if a child dies as a result of a crime. Compassionate care leave without pay is extended from eight weeks to up to 27 weeks. The new leaves can be approved as a Leave of Absence without Pay, similar to the way compassionate care leave is currently administered. Where applicable paid leave entitlement is available to an employee (e.g. casual illness, general illness, and special leave), an employee can use all the paid leave entitlement and remain entitled to additional unpaid leave. For example, under the current special leave entitlement, an employee may use all 10 days of paid special leave for family illness and still be entitled to an additional three days of unpaid bereavement leave. There may be circumstances when employees will be entitled to unpaid personal and family responsibility leave and bereavement leave even if they are not entitled to paid special leave for these purposes. Frequently Asked Questions What is the difference between long term illness and injury leave and the GoA s General Illness leave? For full and part-time salaried employees (temporary and permanent), 80 days of paid General Illness leave is equivalent to 16 weeks of long term illness and injury leave. An employee who takes 80 days of General Illness leave is not automatically entitled to an additional 16 weeks of unpaid long term illness and injury leave. Wage employees who are not entitled to paid General Illness leave are entitled to unpaid long term illness and injury leave if they have been employed with the GoA for at least 90 days.

7 What is personal and family responsibility leave? Under the ESC, an employee is entitled to leave without pay of up to five days per calendar year for health issues or family responsibilities. Full- and part-time salaried employees (temporary and permanent) are entitled to 10 days of paid Casual Illness leave for illness or medical appointments; and to up to 10 days of paid Special Leave for illness of the employee s spouse, benefit partner, child, parent, spouse s parent or benefit partner s parent. Employees are not automatically entitled to additional unpaid personal and family leave if they have already taken at least five days of Casual Illness leave or five days of Special Leave for family illness (or a combination of the two e.g. three days of Casual Illness and two days of Special Leave for family illness). Wage employees who are not entitled to paid Casual Illness and Special Leave are entitled to up to five days of unpaid personal and family responsibility leave if they have been employed with the GoA for at least 90 days. What is domestic violence leave? If an employee, the employee s dependent child or a protected adult who lives with the employee is a victim of domestic violence, the employee is eligible for up to 10 days of unpaid leave in a calendar year. An employee may take domestic violence leave for the following purposes: to allow the employee, employee s dependent child or the protected adult to seek medical attention for physical or psychological injury caused by domestic violence to obtain services from a victim services organization to allow the employee, employee s dependent child or the protected adult to obtain psychological or other professional counselling to relocate (temporarily or permanently) to seek legal or law enforcement assistance, including time relating to legal proceedings What is critical illness leave? Critical illness leave is intended to provide employees with time off work to provide care or support to a critically ill or injured family member. Employees are eligible for unpaid critical illness leave if they have been employed with the GoA for at least 90 days and if they provide a medical certificate (signed by a physician or nurse practitioner) stating that the family member is critically ill and requires the support of one or more family members. The medical certificate must also specify the period of time in which the care or support is required. Eligible employees can receive up to 16 weeks to care for an adult family member or up to 36 weeks to care for a child. How is critical illness different from compassionate care leave? While critical illness leave requires the family members to be critically ill or injured and in need of care, critical illness leave does not require the family member to be at significant risk of death. Compassionate care leave is only accessible when an employee needs to provide care to a family member (of any age) who has a serious medical condition and is at significant risk of death within a 26 week period. What is death or disappearance of a child leave? An employee may take unpaid leave of up to 52 weeks if the employee s child disappeared, or up to 104 weeks if the child died, as a result of a probable Criminal Code offence. The employee must: provide verification of the employee s entitlement to the leave as soon as is reasonable and practicable in the circumstances provide written notice as soon as is reasonable and practicable in the circumstances, which must include the estimated date of the employee s return to work provide notice of any change to the estimated date of the employee s return to work provide at least one week s written notice to return to work

8 Does an employee need to be in receipt of a financial benefit (e.g. EI) to be entitled to leave for compassionate care, critical illness, or the death or disappearance of a child? No. Eligibility for the unpaid, job-protected leaves is not dependent on the employee receiving a corresponding financial benefit. To be eligible for the leaves, the employee must have been employed with the GoA for at least 90 days and must have provided the specific requirements for the type of leave they are requesting (e.g. a medical certificate for compassionate care leave). If an employee has used all of their paid Special Leave, is the employee eligible for any additional unpaid bereavement leave? If an employee has used all 10 days of their paid Special Leave, but has not used Special Leave for the purpose of bereavement, the employee may still be eligible for unpaid bereavement leave. However, if the employee has used at least three days of Special Leave for bereavement purposes, the employee is not automatically entitled to an additional three days of unpaid bereavement leave. The department is still required to consider the request and, if operational requirements permit, grant the leave without pay. Who is considered a family member? For the purposes of paid Special Leave, there are no changes to the definition of family members. Paid Special Leave may be granted for: up to 10 days for illness of the employee s spouse, benefit partner, child, parent, spouse s parent or benefit partner s parent up to 10 days in the event of the death of the employee s spouse or benefit partner or the death of any of the following relatives of an employee, spouse or benefit partner: father, mother, guardian, parent-in-law, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, or the spouse or benefit partner of any of them For the purposes of unpaid compassionate care leave, critical illness leave and bereavement leave, a family member is more broadly defined as: the employee s: - spouse, adult interdependent partner or common-law partner - children (and their partner/spouse) - current or former foster children (and their partner/spouse) - current or former wards - parents, step-parents and/or current or former guardians (and their partner/spouse) - current or former foster parents - siblings, half-siblings, step-siblings (and their partner/spouse) - grandchildren, step-grandchildren (and their partner/spouse) - grandparents, step-grandparents - aunts, uncles, step-aunts, step-uncles (and their partner/spouse) - nieces, nephews (and their partner/spouse) - a person the employee isn t related to but considers to be like a close relative the employee s partner/spouse s: - children (and their partner/spouse) - current or former wards - parents, step-parents, foster parents - sibling, half-sibling, step-sibling - grandparents - grandchildren - aunts, uncles - nieces, nephews

9 For the purpose of unpaid personal and family responsibility leave, a family member is the employee s: partner (spouse, adult interdependent or common-law) parents, foster parents, guardians children, foster children, wards, partner s children siblings grandchildren grandparents any other person living with the employee as a member of their family Are Wage employees eligible for these new unpaid job-protected leaves? Yes, all employees are eligible for unpaid leaves if they have been employed with the GoA for at least 90 days. Eligible Wage employees who are not entitled to paid leaves (e.g. Special Leave, Casual Illness Leave or General Illness) leave are still entitled to take unpaid leaves. Can a Wage or Temporary Salaried employee be terminated while on a job-protected leave? An employee cannot be terminated while on a job-protected leave unless the employee s term of employment ends (and would not otherwise be renewed) while the employee is on the leave or the reason for the termination is unrelated to the employee requesting or taking the leave. Contact Information To find out more on ESC changes click here. For more information on this Supervisor Toolkit, please contact HR.

10 Appendix A - Sample Individual Hours of Work Averaging Agreement i Employee Name: Click here to enter text. Employee Number: Click here to enter text. Supervisor Name: Click here to enter text. Department: Click here to enter text. Division: Click here to enter text. Branch: Click here to enter text. Work Location: Click here to enter text. 1. Employee Information: a. Job Title: Click here to enter text. b. Classification: Click here to enter text. c. Bargaining Unit Opted Out or Excluded Management d. Full Time Part Time Part Time %: Click here to enter text. 2. Hours of Work: a. Normal (weekly) hours of work ii : Choose an item. if other: Click here to enter text. b. Meal period: Choose an item. if other: Click here to enter text. 3. Hours of Work Averaging: a. Number of weeks in averaging cycle iii : Click here to enter text. b. Start and end times iv : i. Daily start time: Click here to enter text. ii. Daily end time: Click here to enter text. c. In the table below, please indicate the hours of work per day and days of rest. Week 1 Week 2 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Average Weekly Hours v Total Weekly Hours 4. Term of Agreement: a. Averaging start date vi : Click here to enter a date. b. Averaging end date vii : Click here to enter a date. Hours of Work Averaging Agreement Page 1 of 3

11 Appendix A - Sample 5. Overtime: a. Overtime provisions apply when employees are authorized to work hours in excess of the daily hours requirements set out in 3(b) of this agreement. i. Bargaining unit employees are paid overtime according to the Master Agreement and Subsidiary Agreements. ii. Opted out and excluded employees are paid overtime according to the Overtime Directive. 6. Leaves and Paid Holidays: a. Casual Illness Leave, General Illness Leave, Vacation Leave, Paid Holiday and time off without pay will be calculated in accordance with the Hours of Work Averaging Agreement Directive. 7. Alternate Work Arrangements a. An employee participating in an Hours of Work Averaging Agreement shall not participate in a flex time system of hours of work. 8. Authorizations: This agreement is entered into pursuant to the Public Service Employment Regulation and the Hours of Work Averaging Agreement Directive. Employee Print Name Signature Date Delegated Authority viii : Choose an item. Print Name Signature Date Signed copies of this agreement should be saved on the employee s file and sent to: Pay and Benefits Administration Human Resources Hours of Work Averaging Agreement Page 2 of 3

12 Appendix A - Sample Hours of Work Averaging Agreement Instructions i This purpose of this form is an Hours of Work Averaging Agreement between an individual employee and the employing Department. Please contact your Human Resources office for assistance regarding an Hours of Work Averaging Agreement for a group of employees. Hours of Work ii The normal weekly hours of work are the hours of work for the employee s classification, as established under Article 16 of the Master Agreement, a Subsidiary Agreement or the Office Hours and Hours of Work Directive. Hours of Work Averaging iii If the number of weeks in the averaging cycle is greater than 2 weeks, please attach a table that includes a row for each week in the averaging cycle. The attached averaging cycle cannot exceed 12 weeks and must be pre-approved by the Public Service Commissioner. Please contact your Human Resources office for more information. iv If the daily start and end times are not the same for each shift, please attach a table with the daily start and end times for each work day in the cycle. v The average weekly hours must be equal to the normal weekly hours of work in 2(a) for full-time employees. For part-time employees, the average weekly hours must equal the part-time equivalent of the normal weekly hours (e.g., for a 50% employee whose normal (full-time) weekly hours would be 40, average weekly hours would equal 20). Term of the Agreement vi The averaging start date must be the first work day in Week 1. vii The averaging end date must be within 2 years of the averaging start date. An Hours of Work Averaging Agreement must be reviewed and, if required, re-signed at least every 2 years. Authorizations viii Please review the Department s Human Resources Delegated Authority to ensure the appropriate designation signature is obtained. Hours of Work Averaging Agreement Page 3 of 3