Policy Committee Meeting

January 23, 2008

Minutes

Present: David Phillips, Jennifer Yu, Nina Sedaghat, Manprit Natt, Ellen Nemeth, Ed Fontaine, Chris Lee, Rekha Ra= niga, Susan Nicol, David Akbary= , Ernie Baatz

Introductions
Wages 2008 – CLBC has confirmed that we will receive funding for wage increases effective April 1, 2008 of 2%. Last year, employees decided= they wanted an across the board increase rather than focusing the increase= on a particular position or seniority level. A web survey was used to col= lect feedback from all employees. The choices offered were:

Across the Board Increases would provide an approximate 4% increase to all = payscales
Increases targeted to the lowest rates would provide a smaller increase to the= top of the payscales and a greater increase = to sleep night and starting CSW rates.
Increases targeted to recognizing long service would provide more of an increa= se to the 4500 hour rate and less of an increase to the starting rate for = each position
Increases targeted to benefits improvements could be used to increase the comp= any's matching RRSP contribution or removing the employee contribution to Medical Services Plan (MSP) Premiums.

Last year, the 4% across= the board increases meant that Sleep Night rates were increased by approximate= ly $0.40/hour while the CSW rates were increased by an average of $0.70/ hour. See the Wage Equity Bu= lletins of March and April 2007 at:

=3D"*" &nbs= p; March 28, 2007 – Wage Equity Bulletin= #19

=3D"*" &nbs= p; http://www.spectrumsociety.org/WageEquity/Bulletins/WageEquity19.htm

&nbs= p; April 25, 2007 – Wage Equity Bulletin= #20

=3D"*" &nbs= p; http://www.spectrumsociety.org/WageEquity/Bulletins/WageEquity20.pdf

Policy representatives d= iscussed two options for using the approximately 2% of funding for wage increases:<= /p>

a) Across the Board Increases of 2% to all rates.&n= bsp; This would provide approximately $0.17 per hour for sleep nights, $= 0.32 per hour for CSW’s and $0.38 for manager= s, or

b) Across the Board increase of a fixed dollar amount – approximately $0.29/ho= ur for all positions. This would provide a different kind of equity – equity of increased $$ in the p= ocket for all employees.

Ernie will create a web = survey similar to last year’s survey where all employees will be able to pr= ovide their input. Policy represen= tatives asked that there be appropriate background information on the choices avai= lable and what was discussed last year. <= /span>

Benefits 2010 – With confirmation of wage increases for non-union employ= ees for the next two years, we have a commitment to similar wages and ben= efits through to March 31, 2010.

On March 31, 2010, unionized employees will have the option to be enrol= led in the Municipal Pension Plan – = http://mpp.pensionsbc.ca for = more information, or http://www.spectrumsociety.org/policy/Document%20Library1= /1/MPP_AR_2006.pdf (Annual Report of Municipal Pension Plan). In February, CSSEA (Unioniz= ed Employers’ Association) is beginning an information campaign f= or employers and employees.
The Non-Union agencies in BC have formed a new organization called Commu= nity Living Agencies Network (www.clanb= c.ca ) and will use the organization to ensure we receive equivalent fund= ing for wage increases, benefits and pensions.

CSBT Benefits – First six months feedback – Spectrum began receiving group benefits from Community Services Benefits Trust on September 1, 2007. Tran= sitions can be bumpy and there was a problem with the direct pay system for medications. Many emplo= yees’ birth dates were entered incorrectly and their requests for payment w= ere declined when the system birthdate did no= t match their real birthdate. These problems were resolved in November. The policy representatives present commented on= the quick turnaround on claims payment.&= nbsp; Recently, the health and dental claims provider updated their member cards so that the member card is now a plastic card that also doubles as the direct pay card – reducing the number of cards t= hat employees receive. Only= new employees and employees with changes to their coverage will receive t= he new cards right now.
Mileage Rate Review – The policy committee reviews wage rates and milea= ge rates in June each year. Last year, the mileage rate was increased to 0.45/km from 0.41/km effective July 1, 2007. The incre= ased rate was paid on all employee claims from that date, but our funders did not update their contracts which be= gan April 1, 07 and ended March 31, 2008. So Spectrum lost out on 0.04 / km of funding… The ABI te= am, the group that does most of the contracts that include a funded milea= ge rate, suggested that we move the mileage rate review to January each = year so that the new rate could be included in the annual contracts that a= re established in April each year. The policy committee agreed that this made sense. The next review of mileage r= ates will be at the January 2009 policy committee meeting.
Sick time to RRSP – as outlined in the personnel policy and procedur= es manual, employees with more than 80 hours saved in the Sick Hours Ban= k can transfer the excess hours to their RRSP at a rate of 50%. For example:

Employee has 100 hours in their sick Hours Bank. 80 hours must be saved, so = 20 hours are available to be transferred to RRSP. 20 Hours X 50% X Hourly Rat= e ($17 for example) =3D $170.00 transferred to RRSP.

Excess Vacation $$ in Vacation Pool – employers are required by law to= ensure their employees take the vacation they have earned each year. Paying out accrued vacation = as cash instead of taking a vacation is not allowed. Excess vacation funds could = accrue though – more than are necessary to take required weeks of vacation. If this is th= e case, then staff could take their vacation and take an additional lump sum = of funds for vacation expenses. Other staff have requested that vacation $$ be transferred to = their RRSP. This is possible,= but only after a review of their vacation time taken to ensure staff are taking the required vacation time.
Paid time for First Aid – People applying for employment at Spectrum= are responsible for having up-to-date First Aid training. When their First Aid comes u= p for renewal, Spectrum will be the fee for the First Aid Course, but emplo= yees attend on their own time. For Spectrum to pay for the time employees spend taking their course it w= ould cost $16,000.00 per year. (200 employees X ½ (renewal every two years) X 8 hrs X $16.00/hour)= . Because First Aid is a basic= occupational requirement, Spectrum will still require that staff take the course on their own time. Staff c= an used hours from their time bank for the day they take first aid, if they h= ave hours in their time bank.
Training Allowance $150 per year – Spectrum will re-imburse employees for up to $150 in course fees for training each year, after= they have completed their first year of employment. It is not possible to = carry over funds from one year to the next year and accumulate your training allowance. Managers sho= uld review training opportunities at the staff person’s annual evaluation as one opportunity to plan some training activities.
Benefits for Relief staff. There= are relief staff who have been working more th= an 20 hours per week for more than three months. Could these staff get enroll= ed in the group benefits plan? Right now our contract with the benefits provider states that employees must have permanent positions of 20 hours per week or more. Our intention with benefits = is to encourage people to take and keep full-time positions to increase the consistency and stability of the services for the folks we support. <= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> There are a couple of options= :

We had a full-time relief person – guaranteed 40 hours per week &= #8211; but was the first person called by all pr= ograms so that his week was fully booked. We tried this for about one year = and the staff person rarely worked 40 hours per week. Programs and teams had thei= r own relief processes.
We could consider relief worked / or temporary positions worked –= as part of the three month waiting period when people do take permanent positions. This would = depend on the number of hours per week they worked while they were relief.<= /li>

Next Meeting: April 16, 2008 – 4pm to 7pm - Office