Wage Equity Update #13
March 14th , 2001

 

Second Retro Pay Arrives!


Retro Pay will be deposited March 15, 2001

Phase 3 of our wage and benefits improvement plan has finally been funded. We received funding for the April 2000 5% increase for benefits last month and also received payments from our funders other than MCF (Ministry of Health, Microboards, and Health Board). These payments mostly cover retroactive wages for the period February 1, 2000 to August 8, 2000. In August, we increased the payscales to reflect two 5% funding increases and began our adjustments to the benefits plans.

The 5% benefits increase was subject to a review by AON Consulting to ensure our benefits were priced favorably in comparison to the CSSEA benefits. Recommendations from AON for our benefits plan included those that you - the Spectrum team - had requested in our survey in March 2000. Their suggestions for improvements to benefits will be phased in along with employee recommendations with our next benefits renewal, July 2001. In lieu of the benefits increases back to April , they suggest that the retro pay be paid into employees’ RRSP’s. As there are employees who do not have RRSP’s and other employees may have maximized their contributions, we are paying out the retro pay on your paycheques, and recommending that you transfer these funds to your RRSP. The retro pay was calculated based on employees’ gross pay from February 2000 to August 2000 and will be approximately 50% more than the retro pay received in October. Employment income from October through February received some retro pay as well, although most of the additional funding was allocated to enhanced benefits.

New Pay Scale
As of February 24th, 2001, our third pay increase takes effect.
Position Start 1 year 2 years 3 years
Asleep Overnight 8.10 8.40 8.70 9.00
Awake Overnight 11.90 12.65 13.30 13.80
CSW 14.00 14.50 15.00 15.50
Key Worker 14.25 14.75 15.25 15.75
Program Supervisor 16.75 17.50 18.25 19.00

You will see these rates reflected on your March 15th payroll.

Key Worker Increment
Included in the new payscale is a new key worker rate. This rate provides a little recognition of the increased responsibility and workload for key workers. As well, we attempt to ensure key workers have time within their shifts to get the work done and have the support of their team in delegating tasks that can be done by other team members. Key workers assist the people we support by providing one person who ensures that the details are taken care of in their life.

Benefits Plan Improvements
The benefits review through AON comprised two reviews. They compared our benefits to the Munroe Recommendations for the union settlement and compared our benefits with the CSSEA Group Benefits plan to ensure we were getting value for our money. Our benefits cost 47% less than the CSSEA benefits plan that is mandated for all unionized agencies. The biggest single area of savings was the Long Term Disability plan where the CSSEA plan costs 200% more than ours. Their life insurance costs 50% more than ours. Dental and Extended Health plans were similar in cost and coverage. Areas in our benefits that need improvement include dental coverage (moving toward 100%, 60%, 60% from our current 80%, 50%, 50%), increasing vision care ($225 from $150 every 24 months), and increasing our RRSP matching contributions. As our benefits plan with Sun Life comes up for renewal on June 30, 2001, we can look at the cost of implementing these enhancements to our benefits.
As planned last summer we are taking the next step in enhancing the group RRSP plan on April 1, 2001, so that now your contribution will be matched by Spectrum up to $75 per month.
Effective April 1, 2001 the Level 3 benefits are available:
Contribution Level Spectrum Provides: If Employee Contributes: Total Monthly
Level 1 $25 per month $0 - $49 $25 - $74
Level 2 $50 per month $50 - $74 $100 - $124
Level 3 $75 per month $75 or more $150 or more


Web Access to Benefits Information:
Sun Life: All employees can access information on their benefits usage on the internet. If you don’t have an access code (they send you one on claims statements) you can call1-800-661-7334 to get an access code. With this access, you can see when you last made a vision care claim, whether Sun Life has received your latest expense claim, and provide direct deposit information to save time in receiving reimbursement. www.sunlife.ca

Standard Life: Group RRSP contributors can also get lots of information from the Standard Life website. Employees can review their contributions, change their investment options, transfer funds from one investment to another, and change their personal information such as address. www.standardlife.ca

Wage and Benefits Increases for 2001
Treasury Board has approved in principle two increases for the fiscal year 2001. On April 1, 2001, there is a 2.5% increase for benefits costs and in October 2001 there is a 9% increase in wages planned. As you know, there is some uncertainty in the BC political climate right now, but we are working with the Ministries and CSSEA to ensure the government’s ongoing commitment to fair wages for all community support workers.

For more information:
Call Ernie at the office 604-323-1433 or ernie@spectrumsociety.org  or check the website at www.spectrumsociety.org  .