Tuesday, December 06, 2022
Last week, nearly one hundred members on fixed-term or contract status in the Ontario Public Service joined President/CEO Dave Bulmer, Vice-President Cynthia Watt, Dispute Resolution Officer Elisa Mesiti, and Labour Relations Specialist Leah Rowlinson for a webinar with updates on the recently ratified OPS Collective Agreement and its improvements to provisions for fixed-term employees.
One of the major changes highlighted during this webinar was that full-time fixed-term employees hired as of January 1, 2023 onwards will be immediately advanced 3.75 vacation credits for the first three months of employment.
Similarly, full-time fixed-term employees hired as of January 1, 2023 onwards will be immediately advanced 3.75 attendance credits for the first three months of employment.
These changes represent significant improvements over previous provisions for members on fixed-term contracts—under the previous agreement, fixed-term members did not have these credits advanced to them. This meant newly hired fixed-term employees were not able to take paid time off if they fell ill.
During the webinar, attendees were also informed that, under the new Collective Agreement, all fixed-term employees—regardless of when they were hired—will have a one-time opportunity to opt into the OPS benefits plan if they have not already done so. This new opt-in window will be for a period of 31 days.
AMAPCEO and the Employer have formed a Collective Agreement implementation committee that has begun meeting and that will jointly agree on the opening date for that opt-in window.
Interested members were encouraged to keep an eye on their inbox for advance notice of the opt-in window and instructions.
Members were then encouraged to ask any questions they might have about the changes or the new Collective Agreement during a live Q&A session, and reminded to refer to the FXT Fact Sheet for more information.