Article 19 - Employee Benefit Plans

There shall be a Joint Union-Management Committee on Employee Well-being and Benefit Plans (EWBP) with equal representation for the Employer and the Union to study, review and make recommendations concerning the group insurance, long-term disability, dental and extended health care plans. Recommendations to make any substantive change to any EBP provision shall be subject to negotiation by the parties to this Collective Agreement and documented in a memorandum of agreement.

The Employer shall make available a detailed statement which outlines in clear terms each of the benefit plans under which the employee is covered, and the benefits which the employee derives from the plan.

Where a benefit plan provides for a benefit to a spouse that benefit shall be available or payable to a same sex spouse and where the plan provides for benefit to a child that benefit shall be available to the child of a same sex spouse.

The meaning of spouse for benefit plan purposes shall be as defined in Section 2-1 of The Saskatchewan Employment Act. A child shall mean a child of an employee or spouse.

All employees shall enroll in EBPs for which they are eligible according to the terms of those plans. Detailed information concerning the following benefit plans will be provided by Human Resources and updated regularly;

• Group Life Insurance Plan
• Extended Health Care Plan
• Dental Plan
• Flexible Spending Program Effective January 1 following the date of ratification, increase the annual allocation to five-hundred dollars ($500) in accordance with the terms of the plan.)
• Short-Term Disability Plan
• Colleges of Applied Arts & Technology (CAAT) (effective September 1, 2019)

19.3.1 Long-Term Disability Plan

Each full-time or part-time permanent employee, working at least half the normal working hours, shall be covered by a Long-Term Disability Plan which makes payments to employees after one-hundred and twelve (112) days of approved disability or illness. The plan is paid for by the employees. It is agreed and understood that adjudication decisions made by the Long-Term Disability Plan insurance carrier(s), their agents or assigns shall not be subject to the grievance and arbitration provisions contained in this Collective Agreement.

This plan is administered according to the terms of the policy.

19.3.2 Pension Plan

(a) Non Academic Pension Plan

Closed to new entrants as of August 31, 2019

The plan is administered in accordance with the terms of the plan and the Memorandum of Agreement dated June 28, 2019 and benefits are in accordance with the terms of the plan and the Memorandum of Agreement dated June 28, 2019.

The Employer shall make contributions to the plan in accordance with the terms of the plan.

The parties agree that the pension plan defines a form of deferred compensation which exists for the sole benefit of the members of the pension plan and their beneficiaries. On the advice of the actuary, after having established adequate reserves, any remaining surplus will be used for the benefit of members and beneficiaries.

(b) Colleges of Applied Arts & Technology (CAAT) DBplus

Each full-time or part-time permanent employee shall enroll in the Colleges of Applied Arts & Technology "CAAT" DBplus Plan in accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement dated June 28, 2019.

The Employer and employees shall each make contributions to the plan in accordance with the terms of the plan and the Memorandum of Agreement dated June 28, 2019.

An employee drawing benefits from either the Short-Term Disability Plan or the Long-Term Disability Plan will retain seniority rights in the same manner as if at work. The employee will retain coverage in the benefit plans, for which he/she was enrolled in prior to going on disability. Pension contributions are per Article 19.6.3.

An employee who returns to work after being on the Short-Term Disability Plan or the Long-Term Disability Plan and who is able to satisfactorily carry out the duties of the position which was held immediately prior to the commencement of the disability will be placed in the position the employee left or, if that is not possible, in one with the same job title, salary, Job Family and Phase.

An employee whose position has been declared redundant will be provided with options as per Article 12.1 provided thirty (30) days' notice has been given by the employee prior to returning to work.

19.6.1

An employee who is on the Short-Term Disability Plan or the Long-Term Disability Plan will be considered to be on leave of absence for application of Article 19.6.2 and Articles 17.1 and 18.2.

19.6.2 Sick Leave, Vacation Leave and Increment Date

If leave of absence (except as provided in Articles 15.1 and 15.3) exceeds thirty-one (31) calendar days, credits for sick leave and vacation leave will not be accumulated during the period of absence. If the leave of absence is for less than thirty-one (31) calendar days, the employee will continue to accumulate sick leave credits and vacation credits in the normal fashion.

An employee will continue to accumulate sick leave credits and vacation credits in the normal fashion during the fifteen (15) weeks of Supplementary Employment Benefits (Article 15.8.3) or during the twelve (12) weeks of Supplementary Employment Benefits (Article 15.4.5.6). Sick leave credits and vacation credits will not accumulate during any other period of maternity/adoption/parental leave.

19.6.3 Pension Plan

If the leave of absence (except as provided in Article 15.1 and 15.3) is less than fifteen (15) calendar days, contributions to the pension plan will not be affected.

If the leave is for greater than fifteen (15) days in any one (1) month, contributions to the pension plan will be discontinued unless prior arrangements are made with the Employer.

When an employee is on Short-Term Disability or Long-Term Disability, the employer agrees to maintain both employee and employer contributions.

When an employee is receiving fifteen (15) weeks of Supplementary Employment Benefits (Article 15.8.3) or during the twelve (12) weeks of Supplementary Employment Benefits (Article 15.4.5.6), regular contributions will be made to the pension plan and matched by the employer. At the completion of the fifteen (15) weeks of Supplementary Employment Benefits (Article 15.8.3) contributions to the pension plan will be discontinued unless prior arrangements are made with the Employer. After the twelve (12) weeks of Supplementary Employment Benefits (Article 15.4.5.6) contributions to the pension plan will be discontinued unless prior arrangements are made with the pension plan.

19.6.4

Group Life Insurance, Dental Plan, Long-Term Disability Plan, Short-Term Disability Plan, Extended Health Plan.

If the leave is for less than thirty-one (31) days, the employee will continue to be covered. An employee receiving the fifteen (15) weeks of Supplementary Employment Benefits (Article 15.8.3) or during the twelve (12) weeks of Supplementary Employment Benefits (Article 15.4.5.6) will also be covered and normal Employer/employee deductions apply.

For other leaves in excess of thirty (30) calendar days, an employee may elect to continue group life insurance coverage, dental plan coverage, long-term disability plan coverage, short-term disability plan coverage and extended health care plan coverage providing they make prior arrangements to pay the premiums required for continuance of the plans.

If an employee is on leave without pay and is covered by the Long-Term Disability Plan, the employee is insured, but no benefit is payable until the employee is scheduled to return from leave.

The Employer may, without prejudice, propose to an employee an early retirement package which may include a financial settlement. The Union will be informed of such an arrangement.

The Employer shall make available an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that will provide referral and counseling services for any employee and employee family member.

EAP staff will accept self-referrals from employees and recommended referrals from employee's representatives, including the Union. When considered appropriate, the Employer and the Union may recommend a referral to EAP services to address an issue that is impacting upon an employee's work. In the event that an employee is referred by the Employer or the Union, there is no requirement that the employee follow-up the referral. In these cases, the Employer and the Union may contact the EAP to let the staff know that the referral was made. In the case of a referral, contact between the EAP provider and the referral source will only be permitted by expressed written consent of the employee.

All EAP records shall be treated as confidential, and shall be distinct from and not to be placed in the employee's personal file held by the Employer. No party to this agreement shall have access to any information in an EAP file or subpoena any service provider to give evidence in any arbitration proceeding concerning an individual client's participation in the program.

Employees are entitled to consent to the use of client information in an EAP file or the testimony of a service provider if such information is relevant in any proceedings taken under the Collective Agreement or in any legal action external to the University. Reports prepared for circulation external to the EAP shall consist only of information in aggregated form so that no information could be used to identify a single client of the EAP service.

Notification to the Employer and/or the Union that an employee is utilizing the EAP services will only be provided if the client so requests in writing.