Union News - September 2021
Off Phone Time
During the last round of collective bargaining, your Union, the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE), was successful in negotiating a provision to assist Call Centre members in enjoying a reprieve from the continuous engagement of responding to enquiries and requests for assistance from taxpayers. The following clause was agreed to during bargaining by the UTE and the employer (the CRA):
60.01 Employees working in call centres shall be provided five (5) consecutive minutes not on a call for each hour not interrupted by a regular break or meal period.
Although this clause was to have been given effect as of the date of signing of the collective agreement (November 13, 2020), the employer delayed the implementation of this provision. Accordingly, UTE immediately engaged in discussions with the employer to ensure compliance with the collective agreement and to provide remedy to members as a result of the late implementation of this clause resulting in a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on this matter. The remedy in this MOA included the immediate implementation of this clause, as well as an allotment of 275 minutes not on a call to be used for professional and skill development activities.
Notwithstanding the conclusion of this MOA, representatives from UTE and the CRA continues discussions on this matter with a view to establishing guidelines on the use of this Off Phone Time. At the time of the writing of this article, draft guidelines have been created by the employer and approved by UTE.
UTE encourages our Call Centre members to avail of this newly negotiated provision and to speak with a local Union representative should they have any concerns or questions.
Hours of Work/Work Schedules
The Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) has engaged in a series of consultations with Headquarters representatives of the employer over the last several months with respect to the issue of Hours of Work in the employer’s Assessment, Benefit and Services Branch (ABSB) Call Centres. More specifically, UTE has opposed the matters of the employer’s unilateral assignment of hours of work (including extended hours), the implementation of a Tuesday to Saturday schedule, scheduling of work on Saturdays with unpaid overtime, the decision of the employer to schedule Day Workers to Shift Work, and issues of compensation surrounding these matters. Throughout these consultations, UTE was committed to protecting the rights of our members and ensuring compliance with the collective agreement.
On an interim basis, however, we have agreed to a Tuesday to Saturday schedule for new hires where such schedule is advertised on the Notice of Employment Opportunity and where this schedule is listed as a condition of employment for new hires. We have not agreed to such a schedule for existing employees and have insisted that if current employees are scheduled to work on Saturdays, the appropriate rate of overtime compensation must be paid.
Following these consultations, the parties have reached an agreement in principle which effectively addresses our concerns and allows the employer, within the confines of the collective agreement, to schedule hours of work to meet their operational needs. More specifically, the parties have agreed that the most effective instrument to address each of our issues and concerns are the provisions of clause 25.23 of the collective agreement with respect to Variable Shift Schedule Arrangements (VSSA).
To conclude our discussions in this matter and execute the terms of our agreement in principle, the parties have agreed to the creation of a joint task force to review and analyse the issues surrounding the implementation of VSSA, including but not limited to, the provisions of the collective agreement, employee preferences, the operational needs of the employer with respect to call volumes, service requirements and extended hours, and other such matters. The parties have also agreed that we would also collaborate in the creation of guidelines for the implementation and administration of the VSSA provisions of the collective agreement.
Even though the clause pertaining to VSSA schedules have been in the collective agreement for some time, they have not been applied to our members previously and it will take some time to identify all of the issues and details concerning this matter before implementation. The parties have committed to addressing this matter as a priority and will be earnestly dealing with this matter over the coming months.
D.Shane O'Brien
Senior Labour Relations Officer