19. Seniority
19.01 Seniority for members of the Bargaining Unit, shall be defined as length of service in the Bargaining Unit and shall date from the most recent entry into a Bargaining Unit position. Seniority shall operate on a bargaining unit wide basis.
19.02 The seniority of an employee shall be lost and all rights forfeited and there shall be no obligation to rehire when the employee:
- resigns or otherwise terminates the employee’s services by voluntary act and does not withdraw the resignation within two (2) working days of its submission;
- is discharged for just and reasonable cause and is not reinstated;
- fails to return to work upon expiration of leave of absence;
- is absent without leave for three (3) working days without notification to the Employer; when such notification is reasonably possible;
- is laid off for a period of twenty-four (24) months or more (it shall be the responsibility of the employee to keep the Employer informed of the employee’s current mailing address for recall purposes);
- is not re-employed within twenty-four (24) months after the employee’s last contract of employment lapsed.
19.03
- The Employer shall maintain a seniority list of permanent (including sessional) and contractual employees showing the date upon which each employee’s service commenced.
- When applying the seniority provision of the Collective Agreement, the procedure used to determine preference where seniority entitlements are equal shall be achieved through a random draw by drawing names out of a hat. This procedure shall be witnessed by the local president or designate. Any affected individuals, who wish to do so, shall have the right to witness the procedure.
- An up-to-date seniority list shall be sent to the Union and posted on all bulletin boards in January and July of each year, such list to be correct to January 1 and July 1 of that year. Any objections must be filed with the Employer in writing within thirty (30) days of posting. After that period, the Seniority List shall be deemed as correct, until next posted.
19.04 After completion of the probationary period, seniority shall be effective from the original date of employment.
19.05 Except as provided under Article 22 (Resignations and Terminations) no employee shall be transferred to a position outside the Bargaining Unit without the employee’s consent.
19.06 Role of Seniority in Layoffs
- In the event of a layoff, employees shall be laid off in reverse order of their seniority, provided that those being retained have sufficient qualifications to perform the work required.
- Subject to Clause 19.07, contractual employees within a classification within a department shall be laid off before any permanent employees within the classification within the department are laid off provided that the permanent employees retained have sufficient qualifications to perform the
work required.
19.07 Permanent and Contractual Employees
- Subject to 19.07(d) for layoff purposes there shall be two (2) distinct groups of employees as follows:
- Permanent (including sessional employees)
- Contractual employees.
- Permanent employees shall be entitled to displace any permanent or contractual employee in the following manner:
- A permanent employee whose position is affected by the Employer’s decision to make the position redundant shall either accept layoff or displace one of the three most junior permanent employees in their classification at the same or lower band level provided that they have the education, training and qualifications to perform the work required.A displaced permanent employee shall displace one of the three most junior permanent employees at the same or lower band level provided that they have the education, training and qualifications to perform the work required.
- Contractual employees shall be entitled to displace only contractual employees in the following manner:A contractual employee affected by a lay-off or bumping shall displace any contractual employee in the same or lower band level who has less seniority, provided the contractual employee has the qualifications and capability to perform the work required. The displaced contractual employee may displace any contractual employee with less seniority in the same or lower band level than that of the displaced contractual employee provided the contractual employee has the qualifications and capability to perform the work required.
- The original employee affected and each subsequent employee shall exercise the right to displace an employee within ten (10) days of being given notice of layoff. The time limit may be extended by mutual agreement.
- For periods of temporary layoff of twenty-two (22) weeks or less, sessional employees shall be laid off in reverse order of seniority within a classification without the right to bump or displace any other employee. If the layoff extends beyond twenty-two (22) weeks, a sessional employee shall reactivate full layoff and bumping rights in accordance with the preceding provisions of this clause.
19.08 Permanent Full-Time, Permanent Part-Time and Sessional employees on layoff shall be recalled in the order of seniority, provided that the employees being recalled have sufficient qualifications to perform the work required.
19.09 No new employee shall be hired until those on layoff have been given an
opportunity for recall providing they have sufficient qualifications to perform the
work required.
19.10 Permanent employees who have received notice of layoff and who are placed into or appointed to or bump into a contractual position shall retain full layoff and bumping rights as a permanent employee in accordance with this Article upon discontinuation of the contractual position.
19.11 Seniority shall accumulate during any leave with pay or any approved leave without pay, temporary appointment to a position outside the bargaining unit, including secondment to another employer, and during periods of Long Term Disability. (There shall be retroactive credit.)
19.12 Layoff Notice and Employee Option on Layoff
A permanent employee who has been affected by a layoff shall be eligible, after twenty-four (24) months, for all the severance benefits outlined in Article 22.03, including three (3) months pay in lieu of notice.
19.13 An employee who has been displaced as a result of layoff or bumping and who bumps to a position with a lower band level than the employee’s existing position and is subsequently laid off or displaced shall retain the right to bump from the band level at which the employee was originally laid off or bumped, for a period of twelve (12) months from the employee’s initial lay-off or bump. After twelve (12) months have lapsed the employee must bump from the band level of their existing position.