Author Archives: Pierre St-Jacques

PSAC celebrates 699 leave victory

In a major victory for federal public service workers hardest hit by the pandemic, an arbitration board ruled that Treasury Board cannot force employees to exhaust all their other leave before accessing 699 leave for COVID-19-related reasons.

This decision means that PSAC members who filed individual grievances related to 699 leave — where members were forced to use other available leave like sick leave, vacation leave or family leave before accessing 699 leave — can now request the leave be reimbursed to their leave banks.

Treasury Board’s heavy hand during the pandemic

The 699 leave provision is for “other leave with pay” and members can request it through their manager when they are unable to report to work for reasons beyond their control. This is different from sick leave and vacation time.

PSAC members relied on 699 leave to grapple with radical work-life changes during the pandemic. Parents were often left with no choice but to apply for 699 leave when schools and daycares were closed or went remote, but the government heavily restricted its use.

The restrictions disproportionately impact marginalized groups who have been the hardest hit by the pandemic, including women, Black, Indigenous and racialized employees, workers with disabilities, high-risk workers and workers with family obligations.

PSAC filed several policy grievances with Treasury Board, CFIA and other agencies for restricting the use of 699 leave. Two of these grievances were then brought before the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board.

The Board found the 699 leave policy breached PSAC’s collective agreement by requiring employees to exhaust other leave before 699 leave could be granted. The Board ruled this posed an undue burden on employees and violated members’ collective agreements.

On parental leave specifically, the Board ruled that denial of 699 leave to parents who “chose” not to send their children to school or daycare is not discriminatory or a violation of the collective agreement. Although parents may have a right to choose to keep their children at home” this was a choice and not a right that is protected by human rights legislation, the Board ruled. PSAC is reviewing this aspect of the decision for potential grounds for judicial review given the evidence that parents had little to no choice regarding childcare during the pandemic as well as the state of human rights jurisprudence on the issue of sex and family status discrimination.

Requesting 699 leave

If you need leave related to COVID-19, you should continue to request 699 leave. If your request is denied or you are forced to take other types of leave, reach out immediately to your PSAC regional office or your component labour relations officer to discuss whether you should file an individual or group grievance, including a grievance citing discrimination on the grounds of sex, family status or disability.

Stay up to date about 699 leave and other important issues by updating your contact information and signing up for our latest updates.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

PSAC files policy grievances against federal vaccination policy

PSAC continues to support vaccination as a critical public health measure to protect our workplaces and our communities. Yet as public health restrictions begin to lift across the country, it’s important to take a critical look at the federal government’s vaccination policy and how it is applied to PSAC members.

As the pandemic has evolved and the science has developed, we believe continuing to put unvaccinated employees on leave without pay is a harsh administrative measure that can be considered disciplinary and without just cause.

PSAC has filed policy grievances on behalf of all members in the federal public service – including Treasury Board, Canada Revenue Agency, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Parks Canada – who have been put on leave without pay because of their vaccination status.

As part of the remedy, we have requested compensation for members should they continue to be placed on leave without pay because of the government’s policy. PSAC’s grievances come as the government begins to review its vaccination policy six months after its implementation.

Throughout the pandemic, we have continued to support members who have had their human rights or workplace rights violated because of their vaccination status.

PSAC continues to consult with the federal government on its vaccination policy to ensure it reflects the latest public health guidelines while protecting the health and safety of our members and their rights in the workplace.

Policy grievance for remote workers remains active

Though all workers are included in this latest policy grievance, PSAC had previously submitted a different policy grievance covering only remote Treasury Board employees in December 2021, with a subsequent submission for remote CRA employees earlier this month.

PSAC argued at the time that the federal government’s mandatory vaccination policies to place remote workers on leave without pay constituted an abuse of management authority because remote workers, who had little to no prospect of returning to physical workplaces in the long term, posed no reasonable threat to the health and safety of their workplaces.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

International Women’s Day 2022

A woman’s place is in her union

March 8 marks International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate the historical, cultural and political achievements of women.

In honour of this, the CIU National Women’s Committee would like to celebrate all CIU members who identify as women and who have contributed to the union since its inception — members such as CIU Life Members Sue Neumann, Sheila Dunnachie and Diane Lacombe. Battling gender bias in a male dominated workplace and union, these women forged the way, signalling that there was a place for women in our union. As new women activists, seeing women in positions of leadership at CIU was key in inspiring us to become more involved in our union.

Break the bias in the workplace

We would also like to highlight the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, #breakthebias.

Studies have found that women face a greater number of microaggressions in the workplace than men, and this is amplified for women of colour, indigenous women, women with disabilities and women who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+. Women have their competence challenged, are interrupted or spoken over, and have their judgement questioned more often than men. Women also receive more negative feedback on how they present themselves or act, like being told they are argumentative or confrontational. Intersectional women also face the ‘only’ challenge — being the only woman in a meeting and being expected to speak for all people with whom they share an identity.

Today, our committee asks our Brothers, Sisters and friends to look closely at our biases towards women so that we can begin to confront them. One way bias is displayed is in the adjectives often used to describe women at work. Try challenging these adjectives to replace them with more positive ones.

Examples:

Knowledgeable vs. Know-it-all or argumentative
Passionate vs. Emotional, confrontational
Leadership vs. Bossy
Persistent vs. Nag
Driven vs. Ambitious
Detailed oriented vs. High maintenance

When we use negative adjectives to describe women, it undermines their talents and contributions. Women and men alike use this type of language. Confronting our biases together is one way we can help build a more positive space for women in the union, where their contributions are appreciated for their content. In this way, we can make sure that there is truly a place for women in their union.

In solidarity,

The CIU National Women’s Committee

PSAC members urged to file individual tax appeals for Phoenix damages

PSAC is encouraging members to fight for Phoenix general damages compensation to be tax-free by filing individual tax appeals to the Canada Revenue Agency this tax season.

By filing an appeal, you will force CRA to review the taxability of your personal damages payment. If we generate tens of thousands of tax appeals from members across the country, there is greater pressure to review the tax treatment of the damages for all PSAC members rather than ruling on thousands of individual appeals.

In 2020, PSAC negotiated $2,500 in Phoenix general damages for 165,000 PSAC members to compensate for the stress, aggravation and pain and suffering they endured because of the broken pay system.

Treasury Board treated Phoenix general damages as taxable income – deducting tax from the payment PSAC members received – but we maintain that these damages should be tax-free like just like other damages agreements.

Despite numerous appeals by PSAC, Treasury Board and the CRA have refused to revisit the taxability of Phoenix general damages. Unfortunately, time has run out to resolve this problem proactively.

Now, we’re urging PSAC members to formally object to the tax treatment of Phoenix damages once they file their 2021 tax returns and received their “Notice of Assessment” from the CRA, which you can expect to receive roughly two to eight weeks after filing your taxes.

File your Phoenix damages tax appeal

You can object to the taxability of Phoenix damages by completing a form T400A and filling out your personal contact information and the required details from your notice of assessment.

The form includes a section for issues, reasons and relevant facts. You can include the text provided below in that section to appeal for the Phoenix damages compensation you received to be non-taxable:

A portion of the income reported on the taxpayer’s T4 for 2021 represents general damages paid under a settlement agreement negotiated by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) as compensation for stress, aggravation, and pain and suffering, payable to all members of PSAC in recognition of the effect of the Phoenix pay system and the delayed implementation of a collective agreement on the membership. The payment was not dependent upon or in any way related to any grievance previously filed by the taxpayer, or any demonstrated financial loss suffered by the taxpayer. Rather, the payment was compensation for the stress felt by all employees, regardless of their personal circumstances, due to the delays, confusion, and general chaos that resulted from the Phoenix implementation. As such, the amounts received as damages for pain and suffering should not have been subject to tax. The taxpayer asks that their 2021 tax return be reassessed to reflect the non-taxable nature of the general damages received.

We understand that everyone’s individual circumstances may vary, and PSAC does not provide legal advice on individual tax appeals. We encourage you to consult a professional tax advisor if you have specific questions about filing your income taxes.

Ongoing Phoenix damages compensation

PSAC will also begin the work of fighting for ongoing general damages for the Phoenix pay disaster as soon as possible. The damages PSAC negotiated were to compensate members for the hardships they experienced from 2016 to 2019, but the pay problems never stopped.

Since then, many PSAC members still haven’t been paid properly, and deserve additional compensation for the hardships they still endure. We will also work to ensure that the claims process negotiated in our last agreement for expenses and major losses also remain available to our members for as long as they continue to experience Phoenix pay problems.

Learn more about all our work to help PSAC members impacted by Phoenix as we look back on six years of the pay fiasco.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

PSAC extends solidarity to the people of Ukraine 

PSAC condemns Russia’s senseless attack on Ukraine and extends its full solidarity to the people of Ukraine.

Canada’s unions, including PSAC, continue to urge the Canadian government to welcome all those fleeing Ukraine and to provide more humanitarian aid to those displaced by the war and those still in Ukraine. The government must take action to ensure refugees can reach Canada quickly and safely.

PSAC members are encouraged to aid victims by donating to the Red Cross’s Humanitarian Crisis Appeal online at www.redcross.ca.

PSAC also extends its solidarity to the people of Russia openly opposing the war. The Canadian government must work with the international community to do everything possible to de-escalate the crisis and find a peaceful solution.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

See also CIU’s statement shared on February 25.