CNS Bulletin – Employer Intends to Change Pay Schedule

The employer representatives at CNS reached out to us June 7^th to advise us of their intention to unilaterally change their payroll policies from “In advance” to “In arrears”.

We advised the employer at that time that the proposed change would be in violation of several collective agreement articles, including Article 11. We detailed alternative solutions in our response to the employer that would not place our members in a position of financial hardship.

We filed a policy grievance regarding the proposed changes on June 12^th and suspended the timelines to open a line of communication between the union and the employer to discuss alternatives that could be mutually agreeable to both parties.

We met with the employer for the final time on September 27^th to discuss the alternative solutions and have agreed to the following :

• The proposed change in payroll will continue as communicated by the employer. The final “in advance” pay cycle will be paid out on October 25^th, 2018.
• The employer will shift the payroll to “in arrears”. This will not lead to any loss of pay with employees but will lead to a 3-week delay in regular pay, as opposed to biweekly. The next pay cycle will be paid out on November 16^th, 2018.
• The employer will provide an optional one week bridging adjustment payable on November 9^th. If accepted, the one week bridging adjustment must be repaid in predetermined deductions to the next 6 pay cycles. This is not considered an interest-free loan under CRA guidelines, so you will not need to claim it as such on your 2019 tax assessment.
• The employer will advance the deferred signing bonus from 2019 to November 8^th, 2018. This advance is not contingent on acceptance of the one week bridging adjustment. The deferred signing bonus will not need to be repaid, it is simply advanced from the first pay cycle in January as stipulated in the collective agreement.
• The employer has also agreed to close the CNS office on Christmas Eve and to grant all affected employees Christmas Eve off with pay. This amounts to between $138.75 to $383.70 in form of settlement depending where you are in the salary grid. Members who have already applied for time off on the day can cancel in your time reporting system and reuse the reimbursed allotment as you wish and within the applicable collective agreement requirements.

Based on the aforementioned settlement, we consider the matter resolved and will be withdrawing our policy grievance. Please contact myself or your job stewards with any questions, concerns or inquiries.

In solidarity,

Nathan Beausoleil
Union Representative

File Number: 18/CNS/BLTN/Employer Tends to Change Pay Schedule/Sep 27

Union Label: NB/ec-usw2009

Reply to: echilman@moveuptogether.ca