Archived - Innovative Workplace Practices

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Second Quarter 2011

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The Labour Program publishes a quarterly overview of innovative workplace practices.[1] This overview is based on 105 collective agreements ratified between April to June 2011 inclusively. A number of innovative practices were observed in the second quarter of 2011.

Working Time Management

Capital District Health Authority and the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, Local 42, have agreed to allow employees to take time off in lieu of Good Friday, Easter Monday, Christmas Day and/or Boxing Day in order to observe a holy day of their own faith.

The Canadian Forces Base in Petawawa, Ontario, and the Public Service Alliance of Canada have negotiated the addition of grandchildren to family definition for paid leave granted for appointments and needs related to the birth or adoption of a child. Usually, such leave is granted at the discretion of management.

Compensation System

Construction Labour Relations Association, Alberta, along with several Alberta Building Trades Unions representing 40,000 construction employees working on industrial projects, agreed to implement a new compensation system. This will be determined in large part by a semi-annual calculation tracking the average price posted for West Texas Intermediate (WTI), over the six-month period prior to the month of each calculation.

The calculation will also include a cost-of-living allowance variable based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index over the final three years of the agreement. Such an approach to wage determination will provide a measure of long term stability to the industry by matching wage adjustments with the most current information and indicators near the period for which those adjustments would take place.

Previous agreements would normally prescribe wage adjustments to take place three and four years into the future, a feature at odds with the uncertainty and volatility often associated with the Alberta construction industry.

Social Contracts

The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and 4,500 longshoremen represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Canada ratified a new collective agreement lasting an unprecedented period of eight years. Previous agreements negotiated by the parties had normally been for periods ranging in duration from 36 to 51 months. The new agreement offers long-term labour peace for an industry that has seen the threat of work stoppage affect just-in-time supply shipments into Port Metro Vancouver. The deal also gives the Pacific Gateway and Canadian railways a competitive advantage over competing ports with shorter longshore contracts such as Seattle, Washington, and Long Beach, California.

The BCMEA offered annual wage increases in the 2.5% - 3.5% range, a lump sum payment in the first year of the agreement averaging $5,500 for full-time employees, and a cost-of-living allowance in the final three years of the agreement.

Union‑Management Co‑operation

The City of Montreal and Local 301 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) have agreed to set up a committee whose task will be to draw up an overall profile of employees' presence at work and study measures to be implemented to reduce the rate of absenteeism.

The Committee will also set objectives and time lines for reducing the rate of absenteeism. On December 31, 2012, if the overall objective of reducing the absenteeism rate is achieved, the employer will pay to the union a maximum lump‑sum amount of 0.3% of the total payroll. In subsequent years, the lump‑sum amount will either be maintained, if the lower absenteeism rate remains unchanged, or reduced, if the objectives are not achieved. In addition, if there is a reduction in the absenteeism rate resulting in additional savings for the employer, the parties will agree on formula for sharing the benefits that may result in a lump‑sum payment higher than 0.3% of the total payroll.

Previous articles on innovative workplace practices are available under Innovative Workplace Practices.

Note:

[1] The Workplace Information Division, Labour Program, defines innovative workplace practices as being a creative and new idea collectively bargained between a union and an employer. Included in this overview are innovations found in settlements covering 500 employees or more within provincial jurisdictions and 100 employees or more under federal jurisdiction.

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Date Modified:
2012-04-27