In a misguided attempt to save a few dollars on the backs of its employees, Treasury Board recently provided direction to Departments advising of changes to the method employed to calculate rates of pay upon promotions, deployments and actings for employees covered by the SV collective agreement. While this might have seemed as a good idea by those at TBS, they apparently forgot that their employees (our members) are covered by a very special document called the collective agreement.
This Direction has resulted in some employees finding themselves in a position where their basic rate of pay while acting or when appointed is lower than the basic rate of pay of their substantive. TBS has directed Departments to calculate the new rate of pay upon promotion in such a way that it should provide the employee an increase (inclusive of the Supervisory Differential and Inmate Training Differential), even if the basic rate of pay (exclusive of SD and ITD) for the higher position is lower than the basic rate of pay of the substantive. TBS has advised that although the SD and ITD form part of basic pay and are to be used in determining if an appointment is a promotion or deployment as well as in the calculation used to determine the new rate pay, the two differentials are not to be included in determining the lowest pay increment.
While we do not dispute that the Employer has the right to determine the methods of calculation to determine the lowest pay increment an employee is entitled to receive when acting or promoted or deployed, it does have an obligation to respect the provisions of the collective agreement.
Employees have filed a number of individual grievances on this matter and PSAC has advised us that they have also filed a policy grievance contesting the Employers new methods of pay calculation. As such, employees covered by the SV collective agreement who find themselves in the situation where their basic rate of pay upon promotion or when acting is lower than their substantive basic rate of pay can file individual grievances contesting their rate of pay. Grievors should know that their grievances will be held in abeyance pending the outcome of the policy grievance.