Collective Bargaining (PHO)

A new Collective Agreement!

We are pleased to report that an independent, third-party arbitrator arrived at an interest arbitration award for AMAPCEO-represented employees at Public Health Ontario (PHO).

The changes resulting from this arbitration award, as well as items previously agreed to between your AMAPCEO Bargaining Team and the Employer, will be integrated into the existing agreement and will constitute the new PHO Collective Agreement, with a term of April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2025.

This was a challenging, extended round of negotiations, but your Bargaining Team fought for the issues that matter most to AMAPCEO members, and saw the process through all the way to arbitration. We are incredibly grateful for your ongoing engagement and support.

Below, you will find a link to the arbitration award, as well as a list of the agreed items.

On June 26 and 27, AMAPCEO will be hosting meetings for all members at PHO to discuss the new Collective Agreement, as well as answer any questions you may have. In the coming days, we will also be updating fact sheets on the website to reflect the changes achieved.

We encourage you to keep your eyes on your inbox and ensure your subscription preferences are up to date.

If you have any questions about the new agreement, please contact Matthew Hill at hill@amapceo.on.ca.

Highlights

The new Collective Agreement includes a number of improvements for AMAPCEO members at PHO, including wage increases, improvements to benefits, and agreements to. Below are a few highlights of the new agreement. Please refer to the arbitration award and agreed items for detailed language and information about these changes. All changes will be discussed in detail at the upcoming meeting.  

Across-the-board wage increases

• The arbitrator awarded the following across-the-board salary increases:
  • 3% effective April 1, 2022
  • 3.5% effective April 1, 2023
  • 3 % effective April 1, 2024

Retroactive pay: Current employees

• The award requires retroactive payment to be made to all current employees within 90 days of the date of the award (June 10, 2024). Retroactive pay will apply back to April 1, 2022.

Retroactive pay: Former employees

• Within 30 days of the date of the award, the Employer must notify former employees at their last known physical and email address (if available) of their right to retroactive payment, with AMAPCEO copied on this notification. These former employees then have a further 45 days to request payment. If no request is made, no payment need be made. If a request is made, the payment must be made within 120 days of the award.
• Note: Current employees are encouraged to contact their former colleagues who worked at PHO after April 1, 2022, to let them know about the arbitration award and retroactive pay.                                                          

Expanding and improving health benefits

The following improvements to existing health benefits will go into effect July 1, 2024:

• Coverage for chiropractor, osteopath, naturopath, podiatrist, chiropodist, physiotherapist and masseur services increase from $35 per visit to $60 per visit.
• Coverage for speech therapy services will increase from $40 per half hour to $80 per visit.
• Psychotherapists will now be included in the plan as eligible practitioners for mental health services.
• Coverage for psychological services (provided by a psychologist, social Worker or psychotherapist) will increase from $40 per half hour to reimbursement based on the reasonable and customary rate established by the insurance company.

LTIP premiums

• The Employer will now be responsible for paying 100% of the Long-term Income Protection (LTIP) premiums, up from 85%. Employees previously paid 15% of the premiums through payroll deduction.

Payout of overtime at employee request twice per year

• Employees can now  request a payout of any or all of their compensating leave in lieu (overtime) twice per year, with the provision that the lieu requested must be paid out within four weeks of the request.

Commitment to consultation with AMAPCEO on remote work

• In a Letter of Understanding ordered by the arbitrator, the Employer is required to consult with AMAPCEO to allow input and feedback on any change to the minimum number of days in the workplace.

Consultation with AMAPCEO on any new anti-racism and equity initiatives

• In a new item enshrined in the collective agreement, the Employer and AMAPCEO recognize a shared commitment in the workplace to equity, diversity and inclusion, including anti-racism. The Employer will ensure that AMAPCEO is consulted on the establishment of any equity, diversity and inclusion (including anti-racism) systems, policies or practices,

Changes to Pregnancy and Parental Leave

• Pregnancy and Parental Leave Articles have been amended to reflect several changes to the Employment Standards Act and the Employment Insurance Act. These changes will take effect for pregnancy or parental leaves beginning on or after September 9, 2024. The Pregnancy and Parental Leave fact sheet will be updated shortly to reflect the full changes.

Communications outside the Collective Agreement

• In communications with AMAPCEO outside the Collective Agreement, the Employer has made the following two commitments:
  • Pay administration policies: The Employer will post its pay administration policies related to AMAPCEO-represented employees on the employee intranet within 60 days of today’s date.
  • Research technicians’ requests for remote work: Per an email from the Employer, “the manager and HR Business Partner are in the process of addressing requests for remote work from research technicians. In the event they are not able to resolve this issue, the employer agrees that it will meet with AMAPCEO to discuss this issue.”

Merit pay: Transition to a common April 1 anniversary date

• For all employees in who are not at the maximum of their salary range, there will be a transition to a common April 1 merit anniversary date, from individual anniversary dates. This merit pay date change is compensation-neutral, but will change the time period in which performance is assessed and merit is calculated in the transition year. A full description of these changes is available as an appendix.

Gender neutral collective agreement language

• The Collective Agreement will be updated to reflect gender neutral language throughout.

Other housekeeping and technical changes to the Collective Agreement

The changes below are housekeeping or technical.

• Article 13.1: Remove fax machine as method of communication.
• Articles EF6.1, PT2.1, FXT.9, and student positions: All articles applicable to externally funded (EF), permanent part time (PT), fixed term (FXT), and student positions will be revised to be in the positive (e.g. to say “the following articles apply”) and to ensure names and numbers are correct.
• Article 14: Updates the position title of the management employee who receives Stage 2 Disputes, Group Disputes, or Association Disputes to “Manager Labour Relations and Occupational Health and Safety or designated human resources representative.”
• Article 15: Housekeeping item to article on seniority replacing reference to pregnancy or parental leave and Family Medical Leave and replaces them with “approved Employment Standards Act, 2000 leaves” to clarify that all Employment Standards Act leave (which include pregnancy and parental leave and Family Medical Leave) count for seniority as required by the Act.
• Article 15.4: Change posting of seniority lists from physical posting in each workplace to an online location available to all employees.
• Article 22.7.1: This was deleted as it was duplicated 22.8.1.
• Article 24.7: Housekeeping change to update previous Article on Health and Safety Committees and the letter on RICNS to follow requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
• Article 28.1: Updated to add the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Day to the holidays section of the Collective Agreement.
• Article 35: Housekeeping changes to sick leave provisions to remove reference to COC days, as COC days no longer exist, and to change name of management representative to “designated occupational health HR representative” for the receipt of medical certificates.
• Article 45: Article on COC days to be deleted as of January 1, 2024, as COC days no longer exist.
• Article FXT 3.5: A new provision that allows for an Externally Funded employee who selected EF employee benefits and who has since moved to Fixed Term status to carry over their EF benefits selection to their subsequent Fixed Term contract if the break between contracts is less than 13 weeks. If the break is greater than 13 weeks, then the rules for FXT benefits apply.