Unclassified staff: Don’t be short-changed
Under the Employment Standards Act (ESA), you are entitled to 16 weeks notice of termination, because the switch from the OPS to Serco is a mass termination.
If you have received notice, take a close look at the dates. Should the transfer to Serco happen less than 16 weeks from the date of your notice, you could have money coming.
You are entitled to pay for the time between the transfer date and the end of the 16 week notice period including four per cent of gross salary for vacation pay. You are also entitled, under the ESA, to be covered by the benefit plan. For unclassified staff, that means six per cent of your basic hourly rate for all
hours worked excluding overtime.
As an example:
Say you got a letter June 30 extending your contract to Dec. 31, saying that Dec. 31 would be the end of your contract and the letter also gave you the required 16 weeks notice of termination.
But, say the switch to Serco happens Sept. 1.
There are only nine weeks between June 30 and Sept. 1. This means you are entitled to an additional seven weeks notice (16 – 9 = 7).
That’s seven weeks of pay, plus the vacation pay and the benefits percentage in lieu.
Make sure you get it.
There are some cases where this would not apply. If you refuse reasonable alternative work with the employer, you forfeit your right to be paid out. If you work under an arrangement where you can elect to work or not when you are called, you are not covered. And if you turn 65 during the notice period, you may not be
covered.
Read that offer with great care
Serco’s not kidding when it asks you to read your offer of employment letter carefully. When you do, you will find there is less there than meets the eye.
Pay rates, for example, “will be reviewed regularly according to Serco policy.” Don’t assume that regular review means regular raises. Your pay might go up, but it might also go down – or just stay the same for a very long time.
Serco also promises a performance incentive or bonus system. Now here’s a wonderful opportunity for an employer to exercise favouritism and discrimination. You get along well with the boss? You get a bonus. You complain about harassment? No bonus for you.
Serco says there is no probationary period. Does that mean that you have a permanent job from Day 1? Not at all. It means you are covered by the Employment Standards Act, and they can let you go any time within three months with no questions asked. It certainly does not mean you start with full job security. Don’t be
misled.
Has Serco denied you a job offer?
We know many people have been offered jobs with Serco, but we also know many have not received job offers.
OPSEU wants to see if there are any patterns as to who has not been given a chance to work with Serco.
Some of the reasons for denying people a job offer are illegal, and if Serco is starting out its operation in driver examinations by violating Ontario labour law, we want to put a stop to it right now.
If you believe you have been unfairly denied a job offer with Serco, give us a call.
If Serco would not answer your concerns, give us a call. See the contact list below and get in touch with us.
OPSEU is still your union
We continue to represent you, and we will do our utmost to make sure that everyone is treated fairly in this period of transition.
Obviously we want to continue to represent you after the switch, because there is no union that understands your situation better than OPSEU does.
When Serco’s website talks about “a dispute settlement policy” and “employee input” and a “well-structured and effective staff association” it may sound good, but think about it.
With a union, you have an organization with the staff and resources to make a grievance system work. Not an employer-created dispute settlement policy. Your union pays for your representation in the grievance system, and you don’t have to take on the employer alone.
With a union, you have a legal right to negotiate your working conditions, which is much stronger than employee input. What does employee input mean? Which employees get the input? Who chooses them?
And what is a “staff association?” It’s known as a company union. It will only have the resources the company lets it have. If you want people who work for you and who have expertise in job security, health and safety, collective bargaining and grievance handling, you need more than a company-decreed staff association.
You need a union.
We’re coming to talk with you
OPSEU reps will be meeting with Driver Examination staff across the province in the next few weeks.
We’ll be there for off-site meetings where you can raise all kinds of questions and concerns about job security, health and safety, and a wide range of other measures to protect staff who accept jobs with Serco DES.
This newsletter
Please forward this newsletter to as many of your colleagues as possible. it may be their only source for the “straight goods” on Serco so they can make an informed decision about their future. Let us know what you want to see in future issues. To receive it by e-mail, send your e-mail address to
dcox@opseu.org .
Contact OPSEU
Organizing: Contact OPSEU at 1-800-268-7376. Organizers for the DEC campaign are Paul Dunseith at ext.355 pdunseith@opseu.org, Ed Ogibowski at ext. 362, Connie Huziak at ext. 327 and Stefan Michnowiec
at (416) 405-0050.
Your Job Security Officer is: Judith Marion, OPSEU x 370 jmarion@opseu.org
Your Reasonable Efforts Committee is: John O’Brien, Hm. (807)-628-8066; cell (807)-628-4364; jobrien2@tbaytel.net ; Gail Kreutzkamp home (519)-742-4017;
gailkreutzkamp@hotmail.com; Stephan Michnowiec, pager, 416-405-0050
Your MERC Team is: John O’Brien (as above), Serge Valcourt (705) 472-7900 x 6490, Robert Houston (519) 372-4045, Peggy Maybury (416) 235-4218. Or contact your Staff Representative or the steward in your workplace.
DEC Notes is published as a regular update for OPSEU staff in Driver Examiner Centres. More information on the government’s planned transfer of services can be viewed at:
http://www.opseu.org/campaign/mtooindex.htm on the OPSEU web site.
Authorized for Distribution:
Leah Casselman, President
